Waterloo Experience (WE) Accelerate: Frequently asked questions

Yes, WE Accelerate counts for a co-op credit! Eligible students who participate in WE Accelerate will earn a flexible work term credit that counts toward their co-op degree designation. WE Accelerate will show up on your co-op work term history just as any other work term would, and you’ll also receive a Student Performance Evaluation at the end of your WE Accelerate experience.

Each WE Accelerate stream involves industry collaborator-led skill development work, project work and career curriculum components that together add up to the ~280 hours required for a flexible work term Credit. This means that you don’t need to search for additional work on top of what's included in the WE Accelerate stream you are assigned to – just completing the components below are enough!

• Complete approximately 60 hours of career curriculum delivered by the Centre for Career Development (two parts, beginning and end).
• Complete approximately 100 hours of skill development content and activities provided by the industry collaborator of your assigned stream.
• Complete approximately 120 hours of industry collaborator project work (working in teams of 5, must receive at least a "marginal performance" on your Project Evaluation).

Please note: To graduate, undergraduate co-op students must complete a minimum of three standard work terms plus an additional one to three work terms that meet standard or flexible work term criteria depending on your academic program's study/work sequence. Because WE Accelerate counts as a flexible work term credit, please ensure you have enough remaining work terms in your sequence to complete the required three standard work terms.

For more information about co-op degree requirements and standard/flexible work terms, visit the co-op roles and responsibilities webpage or reach out to your co-op advisor.

WE Accelerate is an alternative co-op pathway that qualifies for a flexible work term credit. Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) created WE Accelerate specifically for students who are entering their first work term and face challenges finding their first job.

Flexible pathways represent a set of temporary, term-specific measures put in place to help ALL students find work and maintain their co-op credits. These flexible pathways have been in place since spring 2020 and we’ll continue to assess them on a term-by-term basis.

WE Accelerate is a completely virtual program. Students will complete all components of the program virtually. The components include career content, skills development and project experience.

It is important to note most collaborators and employers will be working on Eastern time, which may pose challenges for students located internationally. All streams will feature synchronous elements, though we attempt to schedule them at times that are workable internationally. You will have access to all synchronous sessions that we'll record and make available in LEARN for asynchronous viewing (across all streams).

There is some additional information international students should consider:

• Visa students who are located outside Canada for the duration of the program do not require Canadian permits and/or a SIN to participate in WE Accelerate. If you are considering coming to Canada, please connect with the Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants in the Student Success Office for further advice.
• All streams will include programming with synchronous components. We attempt to schedule these sessions at times that may work best across international time zones.
• We strongly recommend that you make every attempt to join the live/synchronous virtual sessions. We will record all sessions and make them available in LEARN for asynchronous viewing (across all streams) after the live/synchronous session.

Please note: if you are outside of the Eastern time zone you may need to adjust your schedule throughout the duration of the program and all streams feature synchronous elements you must attend live. Although the program is virtual, we expect students to treat it with the same importance as they would an in-person work term. For example, employers may expect your team to work on projects during a specific time. The project work time may not align with your time zone.

If you have questions about the University’s location requirements, please reach out to your co-op advisor.

No, you don't need any specific skills to participate in the WE Accelerate program. We've designed the program for any first work term student to be able to successfully complete the following three components:

• Career development
• Skills training
• Project work experience

To participate in the Manulife Modern Web Application Design stream (when offered), we recommend students have some familiarity with basic coding principles. Knowledge of coding fundamentals will help you to quickly develop your skills and successfully contribute to your industry project.

The total time commitment for a WE Accelerate work term is approximately 280 hours (roughly 25 hours per week).

The exact breakdown of your time will vary from stream to stream, but generally speaking you can expect the following breakdown of time throughout the term:

• Approximately 60 hours devoted to career and onboarding content (at the beginning and end)
• Approximately 100 hours devoted to career and skill development content
• Approximately 120 hours devoted to the project component

All streams will feature synchronous elements, though we’re attempting to schedule them at times that are workable internationally. It is STRONGLY recommended that you attend all live sessions. We'll record all synchronous sessions and make them available for you to access in LEARN to view asynchronously (across all streams).

WE Accelerate is open to undergraduate students from all faculties who are going into their first work experience and haven’t yet found employment. If you missed your first scheduled work term and are currently looking for your second, you may also be able to take part. However, if you are going into your second work term and only have four work terms in your sequence, you will not be eligible as WE Accelerate counts as a flexible work term credit and you need at least three standard work terms to graduate.

Any student who is eligible for the program should have received an invite to the WE Accelerate Virtual Information Day event, as well as an official invitation to opt-in to the program.

If you end up finding a creditable co-op job at any point before the deadline to opt-out, you will no longer be eligible for the program as WE Accelerate is intended as an alternative to a traditional co-op work term.

Please note: Graduate students, upper-year students, Pharmacy and EDGE students are not eligible for the WE Accelerate program. If you have questions about your eligibility, please reach out to your co-op advisor.

Each term, we send a message via Waterloo Works to all students who are eligible for WE Accelerate. Check your messages in Waterloo Works to find out when you can sign-up for the program.

To sign up, students must fill out our opt-in form on WaterlooWorks by the opt-in deadline each term. In this form, you'll rank each of the available skill streams to indicate your interests. We'll use this information to assign students to streams on a first-come, first-served basis. Each stream has different enrollment caps based on how many students the industry collaborators can accommodate.   

Not sure if you want to commit? Even if you choose to opt-in to reserve your spot, you can opt-out of the program if you change your mind any time before the opt-out deadline.

Yes, you can continue searching for a co-op work term employment after opting into WE Accelerate until the opt-out deadline of Friday, January 24 for the Winter 2025 term.

If you receive and accept an offer for a job that counts towards co-op credit, you are no longer eligible for WE Accelerate. WE Accelerate is only intended as an alternative for first work term students who are not employed. In this case, you can either submit an opt-out form in WaterlooWorks to let us know that you're employed, or we can remove you from the program directly if we see your status change to indicate that you are employed or start the process to become employed before the opt-out deadline above.

Please note: After the opt-out deadline, we expect that you will be committed to fulfilling the requirements for your stream to earn your co-op credit. Withdrawing from WE Accelerate after the opt-out deadline may result in consequences to your work term status. Please contact your co-op advisor for more details. 

Yes! Students who have opted-in for the fall 2024 term, can choose to opt-out until the deadline of Friday, September 20 using the opt-out form on WaterlooWorks.

If you’re still enrolled after this deadline, we expect that you will be committed to fulfilling the requirements for your stream to earn your co-op credit. WE Accelerate is a work term credit, so withdrawing from it after the deadline is considered leaving a work term early and may involve consequences. 

For circumstances where you may be awaiting a potential offer for co-op employment, please contact your co-op advisor for more details. 

We know you want as much choice as possible within the program. You’ll be able to indicate which stream(s) you’re interested in on the WaterlooWorks opt-in form, but there is no guarantee that you’ll be matched with your top choice(s). Streams will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. 

After registration closes for the fall term on September 13, the WE Accelerate team will sort students into streams based on preference (first-come, first-served) and enrolment caps. We’ll ensure you know which stream you’re in before the opt-out deadline of Friday, September 20.