WIL 611: Interdisciplinary Community/Industry Research Project

WIL 611 allows graduate students to engage in work-integrated learning (WIL) as part of an interdisciplinary team, working on projects with an industry or community partner focused on one of the five Global Futures. 

There are two phases to this course. For the first four weeks, students will engage in a series of lectures that focus on building specific skills and knowledge to prepare for the project experience. There will also be opportunities to engage with peers and reflect individually on career curriculum focused on identity, goal setting, networking and articulating your unique skillset.   

Typically, starting in week five, students will, in an assigned team, engage and respond to a real industry client’s project brief. Students will function as consultants, analyzing the organization’s challenge, conducting research and analysis and presenting their findings and recommendations in a tailored report and presentation. This consulting experience will enable students to develop and track their professional skills during an authentic industry engagement. Typically, there is one client per team and each team will have a custom project brief aligned to their client’s challenge.  

Each student is expected to input 120 hours of effort across the project. This includes content review, teamwork, research and client deliverable creation and reflection activities.  

The course is open to graduate students in all programs/departments/schools and faculties and is taught by a faculty instructor.  

What will students do in WIL 611?

  • Apply academic expertise in a practical setting to real-world work situations

  • Develop research and evidence-informed solutions

  • Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team

  • Engage in planning, organizing, and managing projects, including setting objectives, allocating resources and meeting deadlines

  • Build professional relationships with industry and/or community partners

  • Reflect upon strengths and gaps in current knowledge, skills and abilities

What will students get out of WIL 611?

  • Apply your domain specific knowledge to real-world work situations with real industry or community partners 

  • Develop communication, teamwork, problem solving, time management, decision-making, critical thinking and reasoning skills 

  • Gain interpersonal and workplace communication skills 

two straight yellow lines acting as a line divider on the page

Student testimonials

Working with my peers from other faculties allowed us to identify and leverage each other’s strengths for the best result. The experience was a great representation of the real world, working with an interdisciplinary team, accepting each other's thoughts because they can differ greatly when people have different backgrounds.

two straight yellow lines acting as a line divider on the page

Frequently asked questions

HOW DO I ENROL FOR WIL 611?

Enrolment in WIL 611 starts with an expression of interest. Students expressions of interest will be evaluated for eligibility and selected students will be contacted to submit a course add/drop form.  

Students must receive department consent (supervisor and/or graduate officer) to submit a course add/drop form. As a result it is strongly recommended that students speak to their supervisors prior to submitting and expression of interest.  

Only students selected will be contacted for course add/drop forms.  

You should discuss participation with your supervisor or program officer to confirm their support for you to participate before requesting enrolment. 

DO WIL 611 STUDENTS RECEIVE COMPENSATION?

WIL 611 is an unpaid WIL experience, and therefore, no compensation is offered for taking part in the course.

However, funding is available broadly for unpaid WIL through various funding sources. We’ve outlined the application and eligibility requirements on the work-integrated learning awards page.