With employers seeking graduates with increasing professional skills, the university standard of required courses is not cutting it.
Co-op, placement courses, research practicums and internships are some of the experiential education opportunities the faculty of science offers its students. Although there are various opportunities for science students to gain an experiential education, this is not necessarily the most known option as students begin their university careers.
Unless a student begins university intending to partake in co-op, these learning opportunities are not widely discussed. Luckily, McMaster offers courses such as LIFESCI 2AA3 and SCIENCE 2C00 spread awareness about the opportunity and benefits of experiential learning.
LIFESCI 2AA3 hosts a lecturelecture dedicated to having a panel of third and fourth-year science students speak about their experiences in an experiential learning course. At the same time, SCIENCE 2C00 is a prerequisite course for students to develop professional skills before entering co-op in their third year.
Although not many experiential educational courses are offered to science students, the different learning methods that are offered allows students to get involved in the ones that best suit them.
For example, co-op is provided to a limited number of programs within the Faculty of Science here at McMaster. Whereas there are only 16 different experiential education offered to all science students.
The traditional co-op route entails students adding an extra year to their degree. For many students, this is not attractive due to the length it takes to complete as well as hindering their professional school plans.
However, by making experiential education courses mandatory, students can receive the benefits of co-op without committing another year to obtain a degree. These courses are created like a regular course in the sense that they are unit based. Thus, experiential education courses count towards the unit requirement of a degree.
However, by making experiential education courses mandatory, students can receive the benefits of co-op without committing another year to obtain a degree. These courses are created like a regular course in the sense that they are unit based. Thus, experiential education courses count towards the unit requirement of a degree.
Breanna Khameraj
Some of the specific alternatives offered in place of the co-op are SCIENCE 3EP3, a placement course; SCIENCE 3RP3, a research practicum; and SCIENCE 3IE0, an internship course.
Regardless of the limited courses offered within the faculty of science, the importance of these experiential education courses is prominent. These opportunities allow students to gain real-world experience in their field of choice.
According to a study published by two archeologists, student interns engaging in experiential learning gained transferable skills and apply their learned knowledge to society. Their internship enabled them to become educators within their community and made these students well-rounded individuals prepared to enter a working environment.
Experiential learning provides students with the opportunity to gain technical and transferrable skills they may not have been able to gain until post-graduation.
By making experiential education courses a requirement to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree, science students are given more incentive to engage in opportunities that will provide them with the necessary experience for the working world.
Through these courses, science students are required to learn professional skills, research, and lab techniques, as well as resume/interview skills.
The benefit of making experiential education mandatory goes beyond students gaining attractive employable qualities; it also does not deter students from graduating “on time”.
Universities should make courses under the experiential education category mandatory for all science students. Students will gain experience academically relevant within their field of choice providing them the opportunity to develop transferable skills. Fortunately, this could all occur without extending their graduation date, allowing them to indulge in the best of both worlds.
Universities should be more mindful of more hands-on learning options and start discussing on making courses such as these mandatory for all science students.
C/O Jin Lee
By: Kirsten Espe
How do you apply for jobs that require experience without any experience?
The engineering co-op program is one of the only programs at McMaster University that offers the possibility of gaining co-op experience after a student’s first year. Recognizing the importance of gaining experience in the industry, students are eager to plunge themselves head-first into the applicant pool.
“I know that [in] engineering, [compared] to a lot of other undergraduate programs, your GPA doesn’t matter as much; it’s a lot more project and experience-based. I feel like getting experience as early as possible is really important to kind of get a leg up on it and it’ll help set you up for the future,” said Gayan Athukorala, a first-year engineering student.
Magnus Lu, an integrated biomedical engineering and health sciences student, said that they are interested in a co-op position this summer to begin building experiences and connections. This will also help Lu complete their co-op terms and earn some money to pay for their tuition next year.
Importantly, Lu also sees co-op as an opportunity to explore his future.
“I don't really know what it’s like to work either in industry or in research. . .I want to explore the field. Engineering combined with health sciences [has] a very broad pool of prospects . . . I kind of want to cast a wide net to see what I want to do in the future,” explained Lu.
Although engineering students start with a general first year before specializing in a specific stream, students still have a variety of options for their future, including going into research, industry or academia.
However, securing a co-op position regardless of the specific field has traditionally been a daunting task due to the lack of experience first-years have.
“I do think it’s very frustrating how many of these co-op positions prefer you to have prior experience in working because how am I supposed to get an entry-level position if all the entry-level positions require me to have entry-level positions beforehand?” said Lu.
“I do think it’s very frustrating how many of these co-op positions prefer you to have prior experience in working because how am I supposed to get an entry-level position if all the entry-level positions require me to have entry-level positions beforehand?”
Magnus Lu, integrated biomedical engineering and health sciences student
Athukorala also added that the novelty of applying to co-op positions can be stressful for students.
“It just feels kind of overwhelming since I know myself and a lot of other students just haven't applied to so many positions before. Obviously, I’ve applied to retail jobs before, but finding more [specific] professional jobs [is new],” said Athukorala.
Both Lu and Athukorala have applied to positions mostly through OSCARPlus, a McMaster job site that offers co-op listings. They have also looked on job sites such as Indeed, LinkedIn and Glassdoor. Both noted that McMaster and the faculty of engineering offer a wide variety of co-op and career services they have taken advantage of.
“McMaster has a lot of engineering events that I don’t think a lot of people go to. The engineering career services are really helpful to have. They have appointments for nearly everything like one-on-one appointments for your LinkedIn profile, cover letter, resumes, interview skills . . . My resume has definitely improved a ton since I first started applying and I kind of wish I first started applying earlier on,” explained Athukorala.
McMaster also hosts periodic industry nights, where students can speak to professors and employers in specific engineering streams in order to expand their network.
Despite the difficult and tedious search for a co-op position, both students are confident that their efforts are not in vain, whether they land a position or not.
“A lot of students I’ve talked to. . .don't bother applying for the first year just because they don’t think they’ll get it. But I think applying, even if you don’t get anything. . . applying [and] getting used to the process is really important,” Athukorala says.
“A lot of students I’ve talked to. . .don't bother applying for the first year just because they don’t think they’ll get it. But I think applying, even if you don’t get anything. . . applying [and] getting used to the process is really important.”
Gayan Athukorala, first-year engineering student
Lu expressed similar sentiments.
“If I don’t get any offers, at least I know the process, and hopefully by next year I’ll have a bit more experience under my belt,” she said.
Athukorala would like to encourage his fellow students to not give up even if their initial attempts at finding a position are not successful.
“I know a lot of people compare themselves to their friends and their peers. Getting a co-op, it’s something that’s really difficult, so if you don’t get one [in your] first-year or second-year, don’t feel discouraged by it,” said Athukorala.
“I know a lot of people compare themselves to their friends and their peers. Getting a co-op, it’s something that’s really difficult, so if you don’t get one [in your] first-year or second-year, don’t feel discouraged by it.”
Gayan Athukorala, first-year engineering student
Engineering students who are interested in finding a co-op position this summer can visit the ECCS page or contact their faculty co-op supervisor for more information.
It’s that time of the year where a large majority of students are strategically avoiding the atrium of the McMaster University Student Centre. The campaigning period for the next McMaster Students Union president is currently underway and will continue until the end of polling on Jan. 24.
Elections for MSU president are held annually, and are voted on by the MSU membership. While this sounds fair on paper, this translates into the consistent underrepresentation of co-op and internship students during elections. These students, who are not technically MSU members, are not allowed to support presidential candidates which includes voting or being a member of a presidential campaign team.
This is especially concerning considering co-op and internship students make up a large per cent of McMaster’s undergraduate population, with some programs like the bachelor of technology mandating co-op. If graduating students are afforded the right to vote and influence the MSU, despite not being present to actually experience the changes themselves, it makes little sense to deny returning students the same rights.
The argument in defense of excluding these students is that they do not pay the MSU fee. For the 2018-2019 academic year, this fee was $573.07, paid by each full-time undergraduate student at McMaster University in addition to their tuition and other fees. Note that $230 goes towards the MSU Health and Dental plan where students have the option to opt-out.
While it is true that co-op and internship students do not pay MSU fees or tuition, they still are required to pay co-op fees. For example, students in the faculty of science are required to pay a $3050 co-op fee over three years, which includes a yearly $150 administration fee. Similarly, students from the DeGroote School of Business must pay around $900 to participate in the commerce internship program.
A solution could be to allow these students the option to opt-in to the MSU fee and thus become MSU members with all the rights and privileges afforded with MSU membership, including the right to participate in MSU elections. But should students be forced to pay the full MSU fee in order to be represented?
Other student unions like University of Victoria’s Students’ Society collect partial fees from co-op students. Payment of this partial fee allows these students to only access services that are relevant towards them. This includes access to the health and dental plan, ombudsperson, university bursaries and democratic participation in students’ society elections.
If a system like this was introduced to the MSU, it would allow co-op and internship students the ability to benefit solely from services and activities that pertain to them, while not unnecessarily paying for services which are less relevant to students away on placements like participating in MSU clubs. This could then essentially be a reduced version of the $130.26 MSU operating fee that full-time undergraduate students pay as part of their MSU fee.
Alternatively, the MSU can make it so that returning MSU members are afforded electoral rights without having to pay an additional fee. Co-op and internship students spend the majority of their degree at the university. They have most definitely paid MSU fees in the years preceding their placements and will continue to pay fees upon their return. Why should they be charged additional monies during their short term away just to be represented?
Students on co-op or internships are still returning students that deserve to have an input on their union’s representation. Whatever change is made for future elections, it stands that the current unfair treatment of co-op and internship students by the MSU is a disservice to us all.
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After a McMaster University Senate meeting on Jan. 8th, Life Sciences and Arts & Science students will have more options to look forward to.
The Senate approved the establishment of an Honours Life Science Program Co-op and the creation of a Combined Honours Arts & Sciences and Music Program. In December, the plans were approved by the University Planning Committee, but ratified by the Senate Jan. 8.
Each of these programs will be included in the 2014-2015 Undergraduate Calendar.
In its report to the Senate, the Undergraduate Council said that Life Science Students are interested.
“Interest from Life Science students in a cooperative education option has been extremely high. Labour market research indicated that the life sciences sector continues to grow,” the report stated.
The Life Sciences Co-op Program will accept between 20 and 25 students in its first year, but expand to hold up to 35 students by 2016.
Students will be able to enter the program after Level II Honours Life Sciences with a minimum cumulative average of 6.0. But because of the small size of the program, acceptance will be very competitive, and the average CA of admitted students will likely be much higher.
The co-op program will be a five-year program, including two eight-month work terms.
The new combined honours program will be jointly developed with the School of the Arts and the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Students will apply to combine during their first year, and must pass a music audition and complete Arts & Science I with at least a 6.0 cumulative average, including an average of at least 7.0 in Music 1CC3 and Music 1EO6.
