Co-op Policy

Co-operative Education Courses

CS 2250, CS 4250, CS 6250

The purpose of co-operative education is to give academic credit for legitimate learning acquired on the job.
There is a University-wide co-operative education program which operates out of the Career Center. Students receive the following benefits from taking a co-operative education class:

  • Credit as an elective for graduation, or to maintain the minimum registration necessary to qualify as a full-time student (say for a scholarship) while working part-time.
  • Eligibility to fill internships with those companies which require co-operative education enrollment of their interns.
  • A visible signal on their transcripts indicating that they had professional work experience during the time they were students.
  • Ability to work as an international student after filling out a CPT Form.

Computer Science Department policy on co-operative education courses

  • A student may take a co-operative education course only if employed in an eligible, off-campus position and with the agreement of the work supervisor.
  • Each credit equates to 5–15 hours of work per week throughout the semester of registration.
  • Working with computers but doing little or no software development merits only CS 2250 registration.
  • Doing software development at an undergraduate level merits only CS 4250 registration.
  • CS 6250 registration is restricted to those whose job description requires a B.S. in Computer Science or the equivalent. For graduate students, CS 6250 can only be counted for a maximum of three credits on the Program of Study.
  • No grade will be given in a co-operative education course until contact has been made with the work supervisor to determine the student’s professional competence, work skills, and relationship skills.
  • All students who register for co-operative training must submit a poster describing their professional experience. Posters must use this specific schema. Examples of previous posters are displayed on walls on the fourth floor of Old Main.
  • Submit the completed poster for review before finals week.