Best Practices

Ensuring a positive experience for the employer and student is a prime goal of UBC Science Co-op.

To assist in reaching this goal, the program has implemented several steps that both students and employers take part in during and upon completion of the work term. To facilitate these steps, a Co-op Coordinator will work with the employer and their student during and upon completion of the work term.

Contact our Coordinators

After Hiring, Before the Work Term

1. Prepare onboarding training and resources for your Co-op Student
2. Communicate your expectations and the student's responsibilities, as well as goals for the term

During the Work Term

1. Mentor Your Student. To gain the maximum benefit from their placement, we strongly recommend our students to formulate learning objectives and tangible goals with their Supervisors at the beginning of their placement. This should be done at the start of the second week.
2. Participate in the Co-op Check-In Meeting. Midway through the work term, a Co-op Coordinator from the Co-op program will connect with you and the student to discuss the student's work progress and student work term assignment. Most check-ins are conducted over video conferencing (e.g. Zoom, MS Teams, etc.); however, telephone and in person check-ins are options, as well.
3. Guide the Student’s Work Term Assignment. During their work term, students are required to write a scientific or technical report or presentation discussing their project(s) and what they learned during their work term. They're required to complete this assignment by the end of the term. These projects help students develop writing skills and provide the employer and UBC with documentation of the students' work term. Employers should provide some guidance to the students on what content they could include in their report/assignment. See “After the Work Term”, following, for more details on formats this assignment can take.

At the End of the Work Term

The two required evaluations include:

1 - Employer Evaluation of Student

To ensure that UBC Science Co-op students receive a passing grade for their work term, UBC requires an evaluation from be completed by the student’s supervisor. This evaluation also provides insights on the student's performance and area's of improvement for future work-terms. Supervisors will receive an email from our office on how to proceed when it's time to complete these forms. We highly recommend that employers discuss their evaluation with their students before their last day of work, to ensure that the student can ask any questions for clarification if needed.

2 - Work Term Report/Assignment Evaluation

Based on discussion with supervisors, students may submit their report/assignment in one of the following four formats:

• Confidential work term report. We respect that student projects may contain sensitive data or content that are the intellectual property of your organization. Please grade the student's report and submit your evaluation to our office. This evaluation can be found in Part B of the Employer Evaluation in SCOPE. For further information, refer to the Guidelines for Marking Work Term Reports.
• Non-confidential work term report. We thank supervisors for your help in grading your student's assignment. Alternatively, if the report does not contain sensitive or confidential information, the assignment can be sent to the UBC Science Co-op office for grading. 
• Oral presentation. Many employers like the idea of having their Co-op student prepare an oral presentation at the end of the work term for their team, managers and/or other Co-op students. Not only does this experience provide an excellent public speaking opportunity for the student, it is also beneficial for other members of the company to learn about the student's accomplishments during the work term. The Oral Presentation Evaluation can be completed in our online database, SCOPE. Please refer to the Presentation Evaluation Form.
• Progress report. Used in work terms longer than 4 months. Students may write a progress report if they are working for more than one term at the same organization. Progress reports are usually non-confidential and are evaluated by UBC markers after being reviewed by supervisors.
• Option Created by the Supervisor. We also encourage supervisors to create assignment options that work best for the role of the student.