The Waterloo Experience (WE) Accelerate program will help you develop in-demand skills. We collaborated with industry leaders to offer you this innovative option in your first work term. Through content provided by industry collaborators and team-based project experiences, you’ll learn skills while gaining real-world experience - all while earning a flexible work term credit.
WE Accelerate was wonderful. You learned skills, you practiced them and went out to try it out in the real world. That is probably the most crystal clear idea I have had of work-integrated learning.
How the WE Accelerate program can help:
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Build the skills employers are looking for.
- Apply new skills to real world projects.
- Learn from content created by industry experts.
- Leverage your experience in future job searches through career education.
- Participate remotely from any location.
- Earn a flexible work term credit (learn more about standard vs. flexible work term requirements and how many of each you need to graduate).
- Opt-in to the program and continue to look for a traditional work term. Your spot in the program is secured until the opt-out date of May 26.
- Receive a $1,000 award for completing the program.
How WE Accelerate works
Career component
Complete approximately 60 hours total of career programming.
Project experience
Complete approximately 120 hours of team-based, real-world project work (roughly 25 hours per week across a 5-week span).
Skills development
Complete approximately 100 hours of skills development provided by an industry collaborator.
WE Accelerate streams being offered in Spring 2023
MICROSOFT AZURE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | MICROSOFT
Microsoft offers the Azure Artificial Intelligence stream. It is an introduction to AI and its application across industry. You'll learn about:
- Azure Fundamentals content and certification
- Azure AI Fundamentals content and certification
- Design Thinking
Watch the Microsoft overview to learn more about what the stream offers.
Enrollment cap: Flexible
| Career component |
The first week of the program (May 29 - June 2) will feature onboarding and career programming through a one-hour synchronous session daily, followed by asynchronous activities totalling 25 hours for the entire week. An additional 10 hours of career programming will occur throughout the skills and project experience portion. In the final week of the program (August 8 - 14) you will reflect on the career program conducted earlier and complete your summative assignment. This will total approximately 25 hours for the entire week. |
|---|---|
| Skills training experience |
The skills training for the Microsoft Azure AI stream will focus primarily on the Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) and the Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900) certifications. You’ll study for these certifications and will have access to hands-on tutorials within the content so you can practice the skills associated with using Azure. The Azure and Azure AI content will be supplemented with Microsoft’s AI Business School content and material from our colleagues at Microsoft about Design Thinking and what it’s like to work at Microsoft. |
| Synchronous sessions |
There will be an introductory session on June 5 and a project information session on July 4. We strongly recommend attending these events. There will be additional live sessions, group meetings and office hours starting during the skills training phase of the program. These will be ongoing throughout the project experience section of the program. To successfully complete the program, it is mandatory to sign up for a proctored examination for the AI-900 and AZ-900 certifications. AZ-900 Exam Dates: June 12 - 16 AI-900 Exam Dates: June 26 - 30 As part of the project experience, you must meet with your Microsoft Mentors once a week for 15 minutes. These meetings are mandatory and will be scheduled by the mentor. It is also mandatory that you attend a final presentation session in the last week of the project (July 31 to August 4) with your group. These will be scheduled and you will be notified as early as possible. |
| Total synchronous time commitment | Your certification exams for AZ-900 and AI-900 are mandatory course requirements. Attendance at other synchronous sessions is technically optional, but we strongly recommend that you attend. We’ll post recordings of synchronous session on Learn for you to watch if you are unable to make it. To successfully complete your project experience, you’ll need to find time to meet virtually with teammates and Microsoft Mentors on a weekly basis to successfully. |
| Skills curriculum assessment | You must successfully pass the AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals) and the AI-900 (Azure AI Fundamentals) examinations in order to pass the skills curriculum component of this stream of programming. |
| Project experience | Projects in this stream are provided by Microsoft. Project teams will use their Azure and AI skills to complete deliverables in tandem with industry partners or propose solutions to important global issues. Students in the Microsoft stream will have access to mentors from Microsoft to assist in project completion. Staff from Microsoft will assess your final project deliverable, resulting in your final overall evaluation. At the discretion of your Microsoft mentor, the evaluation may be team-based or an individual evaluation. |
| Project mentors | You’ll be mentored by staff from Microsoft as you work on your team-based project experience. |
| Privacy notice from Microsoft | Please note Microsoft’s Privacy Statement. |
BRIGHTSPACE TRAINING STREAM DETAILS
MODERN WEB APPLICATION DESIGN STREAM | MANULIFE
Manulife offers the Modern Web Application Design stream. It is focused on web application development. You'll learn about:
• Front-end and back-end design
• Continuous operation planning for web apps
• Building a microservices backend
Please note: While no previous knowledge is required to take this stream, we recommend familiarity with basic coding principles for participants. Watch the Manulife overview to learn more about this stream.
Enrollment cap: 75 students
| Career component |
The first week of the program (May 29 - June 2) will feature onboarding and career programming through a daily one-hour synchronous session, followed by asynchronous activities totaling 25 hours for the entire week. An additional 10 hours of career programming will occur throughout the skills and project experience portion. In the final week of the program (August 8 - 14) you will reflect on the career program conducted earlier and complete your summative assignment. This will total approximately 25 hours for the entire week. |
|---|---|
| Skills training experience |
The skills training for the Modern Web Application Design Stream will focus on introducing the technologies that all modern web applications are built from.
Upon completion of this stream, you will be able to confidently build a web application that is well-designed and tested, armed with effective problem-solving methodology that can be leveraged later in your university and professional career! |
| Synchronous sessions |
Manulife will have multiple synchronous sessions throughout the skills training component. Dates and times are tentatively as follows:
|
| Total synchronous time commitment |
There are approximately 28 hours of live, hands-on sessions with Manulife Engineering instructors that we’ll record for later review. Technically, attendance at other synchronous sessions optional, but we strongly recommend that you attendance. In addition to these synchronous sessions, you’ll spend a majority of your time reviewing content, practicing, and completing lab exercises, and working on your final project. |
| Skills curriculum assessment | While there will be various hands-on activities for you to complete in each synchronous session, you must submit a total of six individual lab exercises and successfully pass the final project to pass the skills curriculum component of this stream of programming. |
| Project experience | You’ll apply your new web application development skills by working on a web application development project provided by Manulife or one of the Co-operative and Experiential Education’s employer partners. |
| Project mentors | You’ll work with employers sourced through Co-operative Education’s employment relations team. |
DIGITAL BOOTCAMP
The Digital Bootcamp stream features various mentors throughout the stream. It focuses on a variety of digital strategies to attract, engage and market content to users. You'll learn about:
• Website design for desktop and mobile
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content, email, and video marketing
• Office productivity software (optional)
Enrollment cap: 75 students
| Career component |
The first week of the program (May 29 - June 2) will feature onboarding and career programming through a daily one-hour synchronous session, followed by asynchronous activities totaling 25 hours for the entire week. An additional 10 hours of career programming will occur throughout the skills and project experience portion. In the final week of the program (August 8 - 14) you’ll reflect on the career program conducted earlier and complete your summative assignment. This will total approximately 25 hours for the entire week. |
|---|---|
| Skills training experience |
Students in this stream will begin by learning about a marketing philosophy known as Inbound and how this applies to a company's digital presence, both in terms of its website and its social media activity. Students will learn
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| Synchronous sessions |
There will be an introductory session on June 5 and a showcase session during the last week of skills training. There will be weekly Tuesday and Thursday live sessions during skills training. Synchronous discussions and workshops will be scheduled for no more than five hours weekly. We strongly recommended that you attend all live sessions. If for some reason you are unable to attend the live sessions, we wil make recordings available. Each week, you’ll also need to find time to meet with you team lead and work together with group members to complete several team-based activities. |
| Total synchronous time commitment |
Synchronous discussions and workshops will be scheduled for no more than five hours weekly, and all discussions and workshops will be recorded for asynchronous viewing. Students will also need to work together with their teams to complete several team-based activities. Most of the time commitment associated with Digital Bootcamp will be asynchronous in nature. |
| Skills curriculum assessment |
To pass the skills development portion of this stream, you need to do the following: 1. Submit proof of earning the following
2. Submit proof of having completed the following online courses
3. Pass the 7 included quizzes with a grade of at least 70% each after three attempts |
| Project experience | You’ll apply your Digital Bootcamp skills working on a web design and digital marketing project provided by one of Co-operative and Experiential Education’s employer partners. |
| Project employers | Students will work with employers sourced through Co-operative Education’s employment relations team. |
Timeline and what to expect
| WE Accelerate opt-in/opt-out period | Beginning April 12 |
|---|---|
| WE Accelerate Virtual Information Day | Wednesday, April 12
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| Deadline to opt-in | Friday, May 19 at 4 p.m. (ET)
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| Streams assigned | Tuesday, May 23
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| Deadline to opt-out | Friday, May 26 at 9 a.m. (ET)
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| WE Accelerate work term begins | May 26 |
| Career programming (part 1) | May 29 - June 2
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| Skill development programming | Beginning June 5
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| Project experience | July 4 - August 4 (exact timing will depend on the stream/project)
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| Career programming (part 2) | August 8 - August 14
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Opt-in to WE Accelerate
We invite you to opt-in for WE Accelerate by filling out our opt-in form on WaterlooWorks by Friday, May 19 at 4 p.m. (ET). In this form, you'll indicate your interest in the skill streams. The WE Accelerate team will 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 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 Friday, May 26 at 9 a.m. (ET).
Follow the steps below to opt-in by Friday, May 19 at 4 p.m. (ET):
- Login to WaterlooWorks and select Submit a form.
- Complete the form below:
- Category: Waterloo Experience (WE) Accelerate Program
- Sub-category: Opt-in – WE Accelerate (5026)
- After completing the opt-in form, you’ll be assigned to a stream on a first-come, first-served basis depending on how you ranked your streams of interest. We’ll let you know which stream you’ve been assigned to sometime after the deadline to opt-in (Friday, May 19 at 4 p.m. ET) but before the deadline to opt-out (Friday, May 26 at 9 a.m. ET).
- Please note: You do NOT need to complete an Arrange Own Job form or search for additional part-time work on top of WE Accelerate - just submitting the opt-in form and completing the components of your assigned stream is enough to get you co-op credit!
If you change your mind, follow the steps below to opt-out by Friday, May 26 at 9 a.m. (ET):
- Login to WaterlooWorks and select Submit a form.
- Complete the form below:
- Category: Waterloo Experience (WE) Accelerate Program
- Sub-category: Opt-out – WE Accelerate (5027)
- If we receive your opt-out form by the deadline of Friday, May 26 at 9 a.m. (ET), we'll remove you from the program.
- 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. Please contact your co-op advisor for more details.
