About the Associate Provost
Dr. Norah McRae
Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education
Adjunct faculty member, Department of Psychology
WACE Secretariat
University of Waterloo
Norah McRae, PhD, is associate provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) at the University of Waterloo. Her involvement in co-operative and work-integrated education spans more than 20 years, over which time she has led strategic program development and research on student engagement, community-engaged learning and intercultural competency development.
In 2020, McRae was awarded the Dean Herman Schneider Award from the Co-operative Education and Internship Association (CEIA). This award recognizes McRae for her significant and comprehensive record of contributions to the advancement of the philosophy and practice of co-operative education. In 2017, she was awarded the Donald McLaren Jr. Academic Award from the World Association for professional achievement in co-operative and work-integrated education. In 2016, she was awarded the Albert S. Barber Award from the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) for outstanding contributions to the field of co-operative education in Canada and was co-recipient for the BCCIE Award for Outstanding Program in International Education.
Her doctoral research examined conditions that enabled transformative learning during work-integrated education and led to the development of a preliminary theoretical model for learning during work-integrated education. McRae has been published in the International Handbook for Co-operative and Work-Integrated Education, the Asia-Pacific Journal for Co-operative Education, CEIA Journal and The World is my Classroom: International Learning and Canadian Higher Education.
McRae is a graduate of Rotman Directors Education Program (2023) — a leading national program for experienced board directors. She has served as a faculty member for the WACE Planning Institute for Global and Experiential Education and the WACE Assessment Institute. McRae also served as President of the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education and is a member of the World Association for Co-operative and Work-integrated Education Executive Council and Global Strategy Council.
About Co-operative Experiential Education
At Waterloo, CEE is the unit responsible for preparing students for the future of work and lifelong learning through global leadership in co-operative and career education and experiential and work-integrated learning (WIL). Our mission to equip and empower learners includes advancing research and delivering quality programming to strengthen Waterloo’s sustainable and diverse communities. We do so through the work of our many portfolios, including:
Strategic Enablement Team
The Strategic Enablement Team plays a stewardship role in providing centralized services to all CEE departments including systems, processes, data, resources, communications and technology. As stewards, the Strategic Enablement Team are accountable for ensuring solutions are equitable, documented, secure, compliant and maintainable.
Centre for Career Development
The Centre for Career Development (CCD) supports all students, alumni and employees. Career advisors help with career planning, career management strategies, graduate and professional school preparation, work search methods and setting career goals. The CCD supports CEE’s mission through high-quality in-person and online services for students, alumni, employers, faculty and staff.
Visit our website: Centre for Career Development
Centre for WIL
The Centre for Work-Integrated Learning (Centre for WIL) is a leader in pedagogy and practice of work-integrated learning. The department offers a range of courses and programs to support students to be ready for the future of work, see how their WIL experiences and classroom learning are connected, and find their sense of purpose. Alongside WIL experts, faculty, students, and community and industry partners help design and deliver our courses and programs including, PD courses, EDGE, and Waterloo Experience (WE) Accelerate.
Visit our websites: Professional Development Program | EDGE | WE Accelerate
Co-operative Education
The University is home to the world's largest co-operative education program with more than 25,000 active students enrolled in 120+ accredited co-op programs across six faculties. Co-op opportunities come from our global hire waterloo network of 7,500 employers in more than 65 different countries and are an important way to help students develop critical skills for a complex future workforce.
Vist our websites: Hire Waterloo | Co-operative Education
International and Strategic Initiatives
The International Strategic Initiatives (ISI) portfolio designs and delivers CEE's internationalization strategy. In collaboration with CEE units, ISI helps to advance CEE as a global leader in work-integrated learning via sustainable pathways for quality growth and innovation.
Visit our webpage: International Strategic Initiatives
Work-Learn Insitute
The Work-Learn Institute (WxL) establishes quality standards for meaningful, high-quality co-operative education and work-integrated learning programs. Leveraging the world’s largest co-operative education program in the world, WxL uses its large data set to study, understand, and advance research that informs programming and helps employers improve their talent pipelines. It is the only research unit of its kind researching the development of talent through quality work-integrated learning (WIL) programs.
Visit our website: Work-Learn Institute
Reporting Structure
The organization chart for the associate provost, CEE outlines the high-level reporting structure of the unit and to the vice-president, academic & provost. View the organization chart on the Secretariat website under item number fifteen.
Awards and Accolades
International CANEU Co-op program wins CBIE Award, celebrates 10th anniversary
The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) recognizes the landmark international student work/study exchange program for its achievements and a decade of successful experiences abroad.
University of Waterloo’s Anne Fannon recognized with prestigious work-integrated learning award
Anne-Marie Fannon wins the 2019 Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL) Volunteer Service Award for her incredible work in the WIL field.
University of Waterloo’s Dr. Judene Pretti recognized with prestigious Graham Branton Research Award
Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada) awards Dr. Judene Pretti, director of Waterloo’s Work-Learn Institute (WxL), the Dr. Graham Branton Research Award.
McRae is awarded The Dean Herman Schneider Award for her significant and comprehensive record of contributions towards the advancement of the philosophy and practice of co-operative education.