Arts Co-operative Education Program

Shirley Neuman, Dean / Professor, English, Faculty of Arts

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Julie Walchli, Director, Co-operative Education Program, Faculty of Arts

In 1999/2000, the Dean of Arts, Shirley Neuman, and Associate Dean Neil Guppy successfully obtained the first year of funding from the TLEF to begin a Co-operative Education Program in the Faculty of Arts. The Program’s goal is to enhance undergraduate education in the Faculty by integrating relevant work experience with students’ academic studies. We hope within five years to grow to accommodate approximately 400 students, as articulated in the original proposal.

The Co-op Program admitted its first students in April 1999 and this group of approximately 60 students will begin work terms in January 2000. The second group of students will be admitted in fall 1999 and will begin work terms in May 2000. We will have an annual intake of approximately 50-75 students each fall until we reach our goal of approximately 400 students.

We are on target with the plans outlined in the original grant application, as indicated in the Progress Report on Year One attached to this application. However, to continue the work begun in March 1999, it is imperative that we receive another year of full funding from the TLEF, as we will not receive significant provincial government funding until July 2001.

A second year of funding will allow us to see the fulfilment of projects begun this year, including: Overseeing work terms of approximately 60-100 students in January, May, and September 2000; Continuing to market the program to employers in order to find an adequate number of placements for work terms outlined above, enabling us to achieve our targets for growth; continuing to develop and teach leading-edge pre-employment training for our students; improving current marketing materials.

Julie Walchli, Director, Co-operative Education Program, Faculty of Arts

The Program's goal is to enhance undergraduate education in the Faculty of Arts by integrating relevant work experience with students' academic studies, thereby providing hands-on, experiential learning. We hope within five years to grow to accommodate 5-7% of the students in the Faculty, as articulated in the original proposal.

We are on target with the plans outlined in the original TLEF application and in last year's update, as indicated in the Progress Report on Year Two attached to this application. However, to continue the work begun in March 1999, it is imperative that we receive a final year of full funding from the TLEF. Although we began to receive a small amount of provincial government funding in July 2001, this amount fell short of our projections because the government funding per co-op placement in BC decreased. We are now working towards securing stable, on going funding from other sources.

During the 2000 calendar year, we have had 133 co-op placements, exceeding the target we set for this period. We estimate 200 placements during 2001 and continued rapid growth in subsequent years to meet high student demand.