Expectations: When hiring co-op students, employers expect productive work and professional behaviour in exchange for salary and training time. As a co-op student, we expect you to be an ambassador for SFU in the community. This means that you will be expected to adhere to company policies and seize the opportunity to learn. You should be courteous and respectful of all co-workers, arrive and leave work according to the norm set by the company, and dress appropriately. If problems involving work arise, you should contact a coordinator for assistance.
Employers also expect students to work full-time, and you may be required to work overtime. If you plan on getting or keeping a part-time job or taking courses while on a work term, the employer and co-op office should be notified of the situation and must agree to it.
Confidentiality: If your project involves any degree of confidential information, your employer and the School expect you to respect their policies on confidentiality and proprietary information.
Pre-Departure: Before you begin your work term, there will be a Pre-Departure session held. At this session, you will learn more about expectations on the work term, work term requirements, and the site visit. You will also be offered a Co-op log book for use in documenting your work on your co-op term.
Learning Objectives: These are goals that you set out for yourself to ensure that you are learning, contributing, and gaining what you want from this work term. You are required to complete a minimum of 3 learning objectives in your Symplicity placement profile in the first month on your work term
A coordinator will visit students and supervisors on the job. The purpose of the visit is to discuss the student's progress, performance, work report, and future plans. The coordinator will also wish to learn more about current developments within the company and to explore possible university/industry research links.
A telephone interview or email may be substituted for a site visit if an in-person visit is not feasible. Students working internationally will get an email site visit or a visit from another SFU representative.
Content under construction
All Engineering Science students are required to complete 3 items for each co-op work term:
- Supervisor Evaluation
- Student Evaluation
- Work Term Assignment (see below)
Work Term Assignment for Burnaby Engineering Science students:
Work Term #1: Oral Presentation
Work Term #2: Technical Report
Work Term #3: Executive Summary and Updated Resume
Work Term Assignment for Surrey Mechatronic Systems Engineering Science students:
Work Term #1: Technical Report I (~1500 words)
Work Term #2: Technical Report II (~1500 words) and Oral Presentation (10 min PowerPoint)
Work Term #3: Technical Report III (~3000 words)
Additional Work Terms: Executive Summary
Deadlines:
- Spring Semester: April 15th
- Summer Semester: August 15th
- Fall Semester: December 15th
(Oral presentations must be RSVP’d in Symplicity by this deadline)
Since work term placements are short term, employers do not expect to provide time off. Therefore, any request for time off should be discussed with the employer prior to the start of the work term. Generally, students will receive vacation pay (at a current rate of four percent) as part of salary and will be paid for statutory holidays following a thirty-day employment period.
Sick leave or any absence due to illness may mean a loss in pay. If the nature of your illness is such that it will interfere with your work term, notify a Coordinator immediately.