Spring Break
Co-op students under pressure
Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: Ed-Op
With nightly seminars on cover letters and midday meetings for co-op abroad, we see the Steinbright Career Development Center doing everything it can to encourage and support the students who cannot find jobs during this recession. The student body faces an unprecedented situation - competition is exceptionally fierce, many jobs are unpaid and time is running out.
While the SCDC has truly demonstrated a profound level of dedication to the co-op students this term, its altruism may be more realistically described as denial. Students are being encouraged to send blankets of résumés to as many companies as possible in hopes of finding any employment, leading many students to pursue positions that may not even pertain to their field of study. Even in desperate times, we must remember that the entire co-op program is for students to gain relevant work experience - the key word being relevant.
Students should not be held accountable for the misfortune of this economy. Finding a co-op in a climate where graduates with degrees are having difficulty is no easy task. In some cases, it is an impossible task. Students who have not yet found a co-op are forced to keep a journal of their job search activities. We feel that the administration is assigning unrealistic expectations on these students. They search and search in a job market that shrinks by the thousands each week. A student without a co-op does not need to spend a six-month cycle either stressed or idle. Students who fail to find a co-op after their first term of looking should be allowed to enroll in classes for the second term, free from penalty - or perhaps sooner: could accelerated course sections be started at midterm?
The co-op program was created for the benefit of the student body. Now, it has become a burden on the unlucky students who will not be able to gain work experience this cycle. Let these students put their talents to work, without working - let them take classes while the wave of economic crisis subsides.
While the SCDC has truly demonstrated a profound level of dedication to the co-op students this term, its altruism may be more realistically described as denial. Students are being encouraged to send blankets of résumés to as many companies as possible in hopes of finding any employment, leading many students to pursue positions that may not even pertain to their field of study. Even in desperate times, we must remember that the entire co-op program is for students to gain relevant work experience - the key word being relevant.
Students should not be held accountable for the misfortune of this economy. Finding a co-op in a climate where graduates with degrees are having difficulty is no easy task. In some cases, it is an impossible task. Students who have not yet found a co-op are forced to keep a journal of their job search activities. We feel that the administration is assigning unrealistic expectations on these students. They search and search in a job market that shrinks by the thousands each week. A student without a co-op does not need to spend a six-month cycle either stressed or idle. Students who fail to find a co-op after their first term of looking should be allowed to enroll in classes for the second term, free from penalty - or perhaps sooner: could accelerated course sections be started at midterm?
The co-op program was created for the benefit of the student body. Now, it has become a burden on the unlucky students who will not be able to gain work experience this cycle. Let these students put their talents to work, without working - let them take classes while the wave of economic crisis subsides.
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