by Kristiana Hunt
If everyone hasn't said it, then everyone has heard someone say it: “We should get paid to go to school.” Through the co-op program here at WVU Parkersburg, that's possible.
Co-op is an opportunity for students to get experience in the work force while earning college credit. If the job is relevant to the student's program of study, it can easily be turned into an elective worth three credits.
The process is as simple as sending in a job description to the chair of the student's academic department. After approval from the chair, the student is assigned an employer supervisor from their work place and a faculty supervisor from WVU Parkersburg. These supervisors are there to ensure that the job is relevant to the student's study and is teaching them something about their potential future career.
Anyone with twelve college credits and a 2.8 GPA is eligible to participate. Forty-three students this semester are enrolled in the co-op program. In the Business, Economics, and Mathematics division alone, seven students are participating. They're working at locations such as Public Debt, where five are employed, one at the Jackson County center and one at the Wood County Assessor's office. Last spring, students were at a variety of locations such as H&R Block, Justice, Bob Evans, Rite Aid and more.
Since relevance between a student's job and his or her major are important to participate, it's necessary to be in a certain program. However, not every student knows what they want to do.
WVU Parkersburg offers a website available to students that can guide them in the right direction. The College and Career Planning Program offers advice and information about jobs, colleges, degrees and more. Placement tests are also offered on the website that give job suggestions based on the student's strengths and interests. This if often helpful to a student when deciding what major to go with.
“It's wide open what you can do,” Sandy Swisher, administrator of the Career Services Office and head of the co-op program, said, “We really want to work on recruiting students for this program. We want to find ones who don't already have a job. You hear a lot of students complain because they lack experience. Co-op gives you that experience.”
Access codes to the College and Career Planning Program can be obtained by Swisher in office 1010. As director of the co-op program, she can also assist students in turning their jobs into credit.
If everyone hasn't said it, then everyone has heard someone say it: “We should get paid to go to school.” Through the co-op program here at WVU Parkersburg, that's possible.
Co-op is an opportunity for students to get experience in the work force while earning college credit. If the job is relevant to the student's program of study, it can easily be turned into an elective worth three credits.
The process is as simple as sending in a job description to the chair of the student's academic department. After approval from the chair, the student is assigned an employer supervisor from their work place and a faculty supervisor from WVU Parkersburg. These supervisors are there to ensure that the job is relevant to the student's study and is teaching them something about their potential future career.
Anyone with twelve college credits and a 2.8 GPA is eligible to participate. Forty-three students this semester are enrolled in the co-op program. In the Business, Economics, and Mathematics division alone, seven students are participating. They're working at locations such as Public Debt, where five are employed, one at the Jackson County center and one at the Wood County Assessor's office. Last spring, students were at a variety of locations such as H&R Block, Justice, Bob Evans, Rite Aid and more.
Since relevance between a student's job and his or her major are important to participate, it's necessary to be in a certain program. However, not every student knows what they want to do.
WVU Parkersburg offers a website available to students that can guide them in the right direction. The College and Career Planning Program offers advice and information about jobs, colleges, degrees and more. Placement tests are also offered on the website that give job suggestions based on the student's strengths and interests. This if often helpful to a student when deciding what major to go with.
“It's wide open what you can do,” Sandy Swisher, administrator of the Career Services Office and head of the co-op program, said, “We really want to work on recruiting students for this program. We want to find ones who don't already have a job. You hear a lot of students complain because they lack experience. Co-op gives you that experience.”
Access codes to the College and Career Planning Program can be obtained by Swisher in office 1010. As director of the co-op program, she can also assist students in turning their jobs into credit.