Williamson
College of Business Administration
Rayen College of Engineering and Technology
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE PROGRAM
Internships
and Cooperative Education Experiences
OUR
MISSION
The mission of the Professional Practice
Office is to facilitate the extension of the learning environment through
educational relationships with business, industrial and organizational
stakeholders providing internships and cooperative educational experiences
primarily for business students from the Williamson College of Business
Administration (WCBA) and engineering students from the Rayen College of
Engineering & Technology (RCET).
PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION
The Professional Practice Program offers students opportunities to apply
their formal classroom education to actual hands-on work experience.
The program enhances student career preparation by linking their
academic experience with career-related internships and co-operative
education work experiences. This
ultimately makes the student more marketable after graduation.
These programs are also
designed to assist organizations in finding students who may want to work
for them in the future. This
win-win arrangement allows students and organizations to “try each other
out.” This can be accomplished in a number of ways – most
commonly through internships and cooperative education (co-op)
experiences.
Professional Practice offers two
programs for students to participate in based on their major course areas. All internship and cooperative education programs must be
approved by a faculty advisor and the Professional Practice Office prior
to beginning the program. In
order for students to receive academic credit, they must:
§
complete the registration process through CareerConnections
and get approval prior to beginning the program
§
keep in contact with their faculty advisor during the term
§
keep a journal of their experiences
§
work at least 225 hours during the academic semester
includes a term paper
COOPERATIVE
EDUCATION (CO-OP) EXPERIENCES
A Cooperative Education (Co-op) experience is a paid,
structured developmental program with increasing responsibilities that
last at least two semesters – and may continue for credit up to four
academic terms. Students
should progress in positions and responsibilities as they continue in the
co-op program. There are two
widely accepted forms of cooperative education:
§
Alternating Co-op Program:
Students alternate full-time attendance for one academic term in
the classroom – and the following term will be spent working full-time
in the workplace.
§
Parallel Co-op Program:
Students work part-time for an employer and attend school either
full-time or part-time for the duration of their academic program.
Professional Practice has provided many students with
internship and co-op opportunities to work for public accounting firms,
state and local government, public relations agencies, Fortune 500
corporations, marketing firms, brokerage firms, banks and financial
institutions, investment groups, insurance firms, manufacturing companies,
non-profit organizations, shopping centers and retail establishments.
Recently, marketing students have traveled as far as Australia and
Canada for internships.
For more information, contact Gwenn
Clark, Professional Practice Coordinator in Room 408 in the WCBA, at
(330) 742-1405.
CAREERCONNECTIONS
WEBSITE
CareerConnections is a
fully Web-based employment search system – which is designed to allow
students and employers to operate the system from their own personal
computers.
CareerConnections assists YSU students and alumni in their
search for internships, co-ops, and full-time, part-time and temporary
positions. It also allows
employers to list their open positions and locate YSU students with
certain academic backgrounds and experience to fill them.
Students must first complete an “Application for Professional
Practice Internship or Cooperative Education Experience” form found
in the Professional Practice Office in Williamson Hall in Room 408.
After they receive their registration ID and PIN number, students
can register their background data, and upload their Microsoft Word
resumes on CareerConnections ,or type a new resume on line.
Employers can obtain a registration ID number and password from the
Professional Practice Office by contacting Gwenn
Clark, Professional Practice Coordinator, at (330) 742-1405.
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