Frequently asked questions

If you're working with a student who has questions about EDGE, you can invite them to send us an email at edge@uwaterloo.ca. A member of our team can help them register for EDGE or plan their path through the certificate.

The EDGE team's offices are located in East Campus 1 (EC1). EC1 is located in the northeast corner of campus at the intersection of Columbia Street and Phillip Street. If you need a little more help finding us, our building is circled in red on the map on the EDGE homepage.

EDGE helps students develop their professional skills and career readiness. With that purpose in mind, you may want to recommend EDGE to students who are anxious about their employment prospects or post-graduation plans.

There are also some majors and programs (like Drama and Therapeutic Recreation, for example) that align particularly well with EDGE. Advisors responsible for students in those programs may find it appropriate to recommend EDGE more readily.

Finally, EDGE is a great fit of students who are active in on-campus positions (e.g. Residence Dons, intramural referees, Food Services employees, etc.) If you're working with a student completing these kinds of experiences, you may want to encourage them to complete EDGE.

The EDGE team is happy to answer any questions or address any concerns you have about the program. Consider visiting our list of contacts to find a specific staff member who can handle your issue. If you're not sure which staff member to contact, you can always send an email to our general address at edge@uwaterloo.ca.

If you're looking for documents or marketing materials related to EDGE, contact us at edge@uwaterloo.ca.

Students who have opted into EDGE will have the plan code EXPEDUCCT (Experiential Education Certificate) applied to their student record. This will always show up as the final listed plan on a student's record within ASIS and Quest — never as a plan 10. A note will also be added within ASIS indicating that a student has opted into EDGE.

Students can opt into EDGE by filling out the registration form available on our website.

Students don't need to fill out a plan modification form to opt into EDGE. All students need to do to opt into the program is fill out the registration form available on our website. The EDGE team will evaluate their eligibility and add the EDGE plan code to the student's record if they're accepted into the program.

If students decide to disenrol from EDGE, they can do so by filling out the disenrolment form available on our website.

There are no fees associated with EDGE. If students are interested in EDGE, all they need to do is opt into the certificate.

Any student enrolled in a traditional (non-co-op) undergraduate degree is eligible for EDGE. There are no prerequisite credits required for entry, nor a specific academic average that a student must maintain to enter or remain in the program. However, students must be completing a degree term during the term in which they decide to opt into EDGE.

If students opt into EDGE during a degree term and then complete a non-degree term in the future, they can continue working towards the completion of EDGE without issue. Students can't opt into EDGE during a non-degree term.

Students can find lists of all pre-approved EDGE courses and experiences by visiting our EDGE course list and EDGE experience list, respectively.

You can learn more about the Waterloo Professional Development (WatPD) program by visiting the WatPD website.

Students complete EDGE by earning six milestones:

• A skills identification and articulation workshop, in which they recognize their skills and practice expressing them to employers in a confident, concise fashion;
• A career development course, in which they develop core career-seeking skills and align their career goals with their values, skills and interests;
• Three work or community experiences, in which they explore opportunities inside and outside of the classroom and reflect on their personal growth;
• A capstone workshop, in which they tie everything together and develop an action plan for post-graduation success.

If students complete EDGE by their graduation date, they'll receive an EDGE certificate signifying their work through the program at convocation. Students will be awarded the certificate in addition to their degree. If students opt into EDGE but don't complete the program before graduating, any milestones they've completed will still appear on their academic transcript. Milestones that haven't been completed will be removed from their academic transcript.

International students can complete EDGE, though their paths through the certificate may depend on the status of their student visa and/or work permits. If you're working with an international student interested in EDGE, encourage them to send us an email at edge@uwaterloo.ca before making any detailed plans.

Part-time students can complete EDGE. If you're working with a part-time student interested in the program, encourage them to send us an email at edge@uwaterloo.ca for help with planning their journey through EDGE.

EDGE is designed to be flexible, so students can complete their milestones during any term and in almost any order. The only exception is the capstone workshop, which can only be completed by students who have earned all of their other EDGE milestones or are on track to do so in the same term.

Students can complete milestones during non-academic terms. It may be convenient for many students to earn work or community experience milestones during the summer with full-time work, part-time work, volunteering or other experiences. We recommend inviting students to contact us at edge@uwaterloo.ca for help with planning milestone completion during non-academic terms.

There's no cutoff point at which students can no longer opt into EDGE; they can opt into the program even if they're in their final term before graduation. It may be difficult for students in these situations to finish EDGE before graduating, but our philosophy is that some professional development is better than none at all. If students are able to earn one or two milestones by completing a workshop or experience in their remaining time on campus, they'll benefit.

With that said, starting EDGE as early as possible will give students more time to earn all of their milestones and complete the certificate. We recommend encouraging students to finish EDGE either before or during their final academic term on campus.

You can learn more about students' eligibility for milestones based on prior activity by visiting our EDGE milestone eligibility page.

You're not formally responsible for continued work or support once one of your students opts into EDGE. The EDGE team is happy to provide support and advice to students regarding their EDGE milestones or any other part of the program. You're welcome to invite students with these questions to contact us at edge@uwaterloo.ca.

Some students may have questions about enrolling in pre-approved EDGE courses and the related impact on their degree/sequence requirements. If you need information about the program as part of answering these questions, feel free to contact the EDGE team for assistance.

If you're looking for data regarding participation in EDGE, contact us at edge@uwaterloo.ca.