Employer's Role
Employer Information
Co-op Employers...dedicated to providing a valuable learning experience for students.
Over eight hundred employers participate every year in Lane's Cooperative Education Program. This has helped Lane become a national leader in Cooperative Education and the largest Cooperative Education program in the nation among two year institutions. A primary reason employers support Co-op is because it gives them the opportunity to evaluate potential permanent employees. Sixty-five percent of all Co-op students are retained by employers as permanent employees after graduation, although employment is not guaranteed.
The Co-op employer's role is to:
- Develop job description and specific job qualifications
- For paid positions, determine the hourly wage level
- Interview students prior to placement
- Supervise student work and provide guidance and instruction
- Treat students as any other employee based on mutual expectations of standards and company policies
- Help students accomplish their learning objectives
- Meet with student's coordinator during the term to assess student's progress and complete a formal evaluation of student's work at end of each term (used to help determine student's grade)
Co-op job-related concerns and personnel issues should first be discussed by the co-op student and co-op employer. The co-op coordinator can also help work through issues if additional assistance seems appropriate.
