Co-op Celebrations

Word from our fantastic colleagues in co-operative education.

HaPpY BirTHday!

National Co-operative Education Week is March 19 - 23, 2007. The MSVU Co-operative Education Office invites you to help us celebrate 50 years of Co-operative Education in Canada .

On Wednesday, March 21st from 2-3 pm , the Co-op Office will be hosting an Open House for students and faculty in Seton Annex 3 . Please drop by for cake and the opportunity to win a basket full of goodies donated by Harbinger Communications Inc.

Of course, if you cannot make it to our Open House, please drop by during the week to fill out a ballot. The draw will take place on Friday, March 23rd at 3 pm and you may only enter the draw once.

Also, we thought a little history lesson was warranted for such an occasion:

HISTORY OF CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION IN CANADA
In the mid 1950's admissions to post-secondary academic institutions in Canada started to grow at a rapid rate. The technology revolution was underway. The community of Kitchener-Waterloo in Ontario, 65 miles west of Toronto, was a diverse manufacturing, business and insurance community.

A number of individuals had a vision that a technologically oriented university was needed. Many of these people had been transferred from head offices to subsidiary companies in the area and were familiar with co-operative education practiced in the United States.

The group decided to find an institution with an engineering program based on the concept of co-operative education. Once the decision was made, little time was wasted and by July 1957, 75 co-op students were admitted to a new institution which would later become the University of Waterloo.

They were told the economy would not support such a venture and that co-operative education would not work. Meanwhile, employers of co-op students judged co-op programs to be a success. Students were well received and given practical and challenging learning situations during their work terms. Supervisors of students became aware they had a unique opportunity to be a part of the educational process and that they were supporting future leaders of Canadian industry and business.

Today, support for co-operative education among employers is found in all sectors of the economy. Approximately 75% of all co-op terms are in the private sector with the remainder represented by federal, provincial and municipal governments as well as various government and social service agencies.