DT G3 WIL

Addresses objectives: 
T3A Leverage employer, industry, government, and alumni networks 
T3B Recruit and retain future ready talent 
T3C Increase interdisciplinary research opportunities for co-op students

Waterloo Experience (WE) Accelerate is a significant innovation to the University of Waterloo's co-op program. For students in their first co-op work term, gaining employment is a historic challenge. In 2021, this problem was exacerbated by COVID-19, an increase in enrolment resulting in a higher than usual number of students looking for work in spring 2021, and a first-year cohort of which two-thirds were from equity-deserving groups who already face challenges in gaining employment. Moreover, pandemic travel restrictions meant that a sizable proportion of international students remained in their home countries across different time zones. To address these challenges, and build student readiness for subsequent work terms, Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) created WE Accelerate: an honorarium-based program that provides in-demand skills co-developed with industry partners, real work project experience, and career coaching throughout the term.

WE Accelerate was funded initially through internal University resources and a government grant in partnership with industry partners such as Deloitte, Desire2Learn, Manulife, Microsoft and with Waterloo’s Concept program. Waterloo expanded new employer relationships to provide students with interdisciplinary, intercultural team experiential projects. Career readiness programming was provided to students throughout the WE Accelerate program through peer mentors and focused on many of the competencies within the Future Ready Talent Framework (FRTF). Together, the skills development, project experience, and career coaching met the requirements for a flexible work term credit, providing a strong foundation for students to successfully secure their next work term.

Nearly 800 students across all faculties completed the program in 2021-2022. Of these students, about 94 per cent received a work term credit, more than half were satisfied with the program, and three out of five felt they were prepared for their next work term. WE Accelerate students who completed the program in spring 2021 and also had a work term in winter 2022, had an employment rate of 94 per cent while first work term students who were not able to secure employment in spring 2021 and also had a work term in winter 2022 had an employment rate of 90 per cent. This data will be tracked over the longer term to understand the impact of the program on student employability and retention.

The University of Waterloo is the only institution in Canada offering this type of program for first year co-op students. In the future, WE Accelerate could be considered a key Waterloo differentiator by allowing the University to guarantee all first-year students the opportunity to engage in a first work-term experience through traditional co-op first work-term employment or through WE Accelerate. In addition, the less intensive nature of the program attracts small and medium-sized employers, broadening the potential employer pool.

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