Cooperative Education is a supervised, academic program for qualified students that formally integrates academic study with one or more semesters of paid, full-time or part-time work experience relating to a student’s academic major.  Here, at UHCL, business cooperative education is designed to flexible, in order that both the student and the hiring company can mutually meet their objectives.

Both one and three credit hour courses are available (BAPA 4915 and 4935 for undergraduate students and BAPA 5915 and 5935 for graduate students).  Students are permitted to receive up to 3 hours credit of cooperative education toward their degrees

Benefits of Cooperative Education

Cooperative Education will provide you an opportunity to:

	Get the opportunity to confirm your choice of major.
	Gain professional work experience prior to graduation.
	Increase your understanding of classroom theory.
	Gain useful employment contacts.
	Develop confidence in your professional skills.

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Requirements for Participation

To participate in cooperative education you must:

	Meet the work-related requirements and procedures specified by Career Services
	Meet the academic requirements as specified in the School Of Business Cooperative Education Technical Report Format Guidelines

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Professional Development Links

As you begin to practice in your chosen profession, you will quickly come to realize that it is not sufficient to possess the technical skills of your field and be able to apply them.  You must know how to conduct yourself appropriately in all situations.  Here are some useful links that will help you deal with issues you may not have previously confronted.  If you know of others that would be beneficial to your cooperative education colleagues, please e-mail them to bruno@uhcl.edu.

Business Ethics.  Good ethics is good business.  But what is ethical?  Whose code of ethics apply?  If you find yourself wondering what to do, perhaps you may want to look at a comprehensive business ethics site with links to company and organization ethics as well as publications on ethics.

E-mail Etiquette.  Is it appropriate to forward an e-mail from a colleague to another part?  Can I use all capitals in typing my e-mail?  Maybe you need a short and to the point listing of appropriate e-mail etiquette.

If you have a question that can’t be answered from the above site, try finding your problem or issues in an entire book on e-mail etiquette online.

Business Etiquette. Are you familiar with the nuances between social manners and business manners? Do you know what is and is not acceptable in the global business environment?  If not, you may want to read some useful articles on gracious behavior in a global environment.

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

TECHNICAL REPORT FORMAT

The following guidelines are specific to students in the cooperative education courses in the School of Business.   They apply to the technical report requirement for Cooperative Education course credit.

1.0    GENERAL GUIDELINES

A technical report, an “Employer’s Evaluation of Cooperative Education Student” and a  “Student Evaluation of Co-Op Work Experience” are required during each cooperative education work period to receive academic credit for the work period.  The technical report is to be a work experience related paper.  The report preparation is intended to give you experience with independent work and with the organization and writing of technical reports.  Your co-op work supervisor must sign-off on your technical report.  See sample cover page at the end of this document.

2.0    WORK EXPERIENCE REPORT

The three objectives of the work experience report are:

	to document the nature and extent of knowledge derived by the co-op student during the work period;
	to educate the reader concerning the type of work involvement and demonstrate that the student benefited from the experience; and
	to provide a mechanism for the writer to learn and improve upon his/her written communication skills.

The report should be prepared in accordance with the requirements presented below.  Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a lowering of the report grade.

2.1 Report Submission.  Your report must be submitted to your co-op faculty advisor, Dr. Kathleen Williamson, either via e-mail attachment to williamson@uhcl.edu or physically to her office, Bayou 2111, by the following dates:

Late submission could cause your grade to be lowered.  If you need an extension contact your co-op faculty advisor.  Failure to submit a co-op report will result in a grade of  “incomplete” (I).  If the incomplete is not changed by the end of the next long semester, it will be changed to a grade of “F” by the registrar.

If you submit your report via e-mail, your supervisor must e-mail your co-op faculty advisor at bruno@uhcl.edu informing her that your report has had supervisor review.

2.2 Report Format.  All papers should be typewritten, double-spaced on one side of the page using standard 8 ½ by 11 inch paper.   Pages should be consecutively numbered beginning with the first page of the report proper (excluding cover page) and the paper should be approximately 10 pages in length using a font no smaller than 10 or larger than 12.

Your paper should be prepared in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, current edition, and it should contain footnotes or endnotes appropriately documented, and a bibliography.  

Captions and sub-captions are required.  This will help the organization of your paper and aid the reader in following the paper’s organization.

Remember physical presentation is important.  Work should be proofed and corrected before submission.  If you are submitting a physical document and using a dot matrix printer be sure the ribbon is dark enough to be read.

If you are unsure about your writing skills, you are strongly urged to take advantage of the writing lab located in the Student Services Building.  The lab tutors provide excellent service and will be happy to assist you with grammar, punctuation, etc.

2.2    Report Content for First-Term Coop Students and Second or Third-Term Coop Students with a New Employer.  

2.2.a  Company Background.  Write a background of the employing company to orient the reader.  This section of the report should contain as many of the following elements as possible:

	What business is the company in?
	How does it distinguish itself from the competition?
	How has this industry been affected by recent socio-economic trends?
	What are the key success factors in the business?
	What are the key assets in this business?
	What has been the company's history of sales, earnings, and dividends for the past five years?
	How has the company's stock performed over the past five years?
	What are the biggest trouble spots facing the company now?

The answers to the above questions will require research and documentation.  Excellent sources of    information are company annual reports and web sites along with news articles in sources such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes, Barrons, etc.

2.2.b  Work Term Description.  Write a comprehensive narrative of your specific work experience.

This should include the following (and this information is likely to require some type of documentation):

	where the specific unit to which you were assigned fit into the company’s organizational chart;
	where you fit into your specific unit; and
	the specific functions you performed in sufficient detail to give a clear understanding of your involvement in each function, including Appendix documentation of examples of output (be sure that proprietary company information is not released.  If you have doubts, check with your supervisor.)

2.2.c  Evaluation of the Experience.  In this section you should do the following:

	evaluate the learning experience in relation to your academic discipline and career goals;
	discuss what you learned about yourself that you didn’t know before (for example: you discovered specific types of assignments you particularly liked or disliked; you discovered something about your working style, such as you would have liked more supervision and direction, or you prefer not to be supervised;
	include any other information you deem pertinent

2.3    Report Format for Student Working Second or Third Term for SAME Employer

2.3.a  Company Background.  Relative to 2.2.a above, address any significant changes that have taken place since your last term of employment with this company.  Include appropriate documentation.

2.2.b  Work Term Description.   If this is your second or third term with the same employer, your        discussion of your work should represent an extension of the first work term report.  You should identity a particular organization function or activity to describe, analyze and evaluate, with suggestions for improvement.  You should consult with your supervisor for assistance in acquiring necessary information. 

2.3.c  Evaluation of the Experience.  In this section you should do the following:

	evaluate the learning experience in relation to your academic discipline and career goals concentrating on enhancement since the last work term;
	include any other information you deem pertinent

SAMPLE COVER PAGE

^* Indicate the degree you are seeking and the program you are in, for example:  B.S. in Accounting;
    M.S. in Management Information Systems; Master of Business Administration

^** If this is your second or third work term, but your first work term at this particular company put:

Second/Third Work Term

First Term at

Company Name

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