By Samantha Johns, WatCACE/GreenHouse Co-op Program Coordinator
Experiential education plays a critical role in the development of career-ready undergraduate students. To provide more opportunities for experiential education, the St. Paul’s GreenHouse and the WatCACE research team have re-launched the GreenHouse co-op pilot, run previously in the Winter of 2014.
As part of the University’s strategic plan, the pilot contributes to the employment and development of first work term students, while building relationships with potential new co-op employers. The pilot offers 12 first work term co-ops the opportunity to experience being a “Social Entrepreneur in Training”, rotating through three different social start-ups from February to April. The students are provided with a comprehensive training week prior to working in the first organization, to ensure they are prepared for the demands and culture of the start-up environment.
In addition to the support provided by their co-op student advisor, the students will also have the support of a program coordinator who will act as the liaison between the students and their employers. Unlike a typical co-op program, students will be matched in pairs and assigned to specific employers by the program coordinator who will have a good understanding of the students’ skills and interests for learning and development.
This term, we have selected a very diverse group of students to participate in the pilot. The students come from a wide variety of academic programs, and many have previous experience contributing to various social causes. The passion and determination of these students is unmatched – they are ideal candidates for success in this pilot.
Social start-ups interested in being part of this Winter 2016 program can contact Samantha Johns for more information: sljohns@uwaterloo.ca
