2. Sarah Klionsky
Cooperative Education Coordinator
Northeastern University College of Science
s.klionsky@neu.edu
The Role of Cooperative
Education in Sustainability
Massachusetts Sustainable Communities &
Campuses Conference
17 April 2014

3. Cooperative Education (co-op)
• An educational model that integrates long-term
internships into students’ curricula
– Most students complete 1-3 six month long co-ops
• Students have the opportunity to explore their
fields of interest
– They apply knowledge and gain new knowledge,
learn skills, experience workplaces, and develop a
professional network
• Co-op experiences inform classroom
experiences and vice versa

4. Co-op
• Students do not take classes during co-op
– Can fully devote themselves to their positions
• Co-op fulfills an experiential education
requirement but does not have associated credits
– Students do not pay tuition while on co-op
– They are still considered full-time students
– They are evaluated by their employer and Co-op
Faculty Coordinator and receive a pass/fail grade
– Affords flexibility to best benefit student and employer

5. Co-op Cycle
• Co-op faculty members facilitate a cycle of
preparation, activity, and reflection
– Students must take a 1-credit preparation course
– Students spend time developing and evaluating goals
and learning objectives
– We focus on all the benefits of the experience and
how it integrates into academics
Preparation
Activity
Reflection

6. Why Co-op?
• Multiple opportunities for immersive experiences
– Important for discovering what you do AND don’t like
• A lot of support from Northeastern
– Co-op Coordinators prepare students, develop
positions, vet applicants, maintain a database
– Almost all of our students participate
• Experience navigating a competitive job market
– Students must apply, interview, and be selected by
employers
– They are not simply “placed”
• Employability/graduate school acceptance

7. Co-op Numbers
• Across Northeastern almost all undergraduates
participate in co-op
– 6500 undergrad and grad students participated during
academic year 2013/14
– 1000 students from the College of Science alone
– I work directly with undergrad Environmental Science,
Environmental Studies, and Marine Biology students
• 75-80 students start each co-op cycle (2 cycles per year)
and 55-70 accept co-ops
– Additional students from many other majors and
colleges are interested in “sustainability”

8. Co-op & Sustainability
• Co-op plays an important role in students’
sustainability education
– Many faceted, multi-disciplinary field
• Applications and dimensions that students had not
thought of or had the opportunity to learn about
– Academic coursework can’t cover the same breadth
– Many available roles within sustainability fields
– Bring knowledge and ideas back to campus and
to future positions
• Important for campus and community sustainability

9. Co-op Opportunities
• Companies, organizations, agencies, institutions
– Campus sustainability & sustainable living
– Environmental remediation/restoration
– Sustainable food systems & environmental health
– Environmental advocacy, policy, and law
– City planning
– Scientific research
– Socially responsible investing
– Corporate Social/Environmental responsibility (triple bottom line)
– Renewable energy
– Conservation
– Community organizing
– Environmental education
• We are always looking for more!

10. Employer Benefits
• Longer timeframe (6 months)
– More return on training
• Potential for year-round coverage
– Not just summer
• Students may bring useful skills
– Technological skills
– Different perspectives
• Fairly inexpensive

11. Challenges
• Lack of funding and time
• Matching desired qualifications and
interested students
– Graduate level positions in areas of
undergraduate interest
– Environmental Science/Studies students are
the ones interested in positions targeting
marketing/communications/engineering
students
• Content and financial reasons for mismatch

12. Advice
• Students
– Get experience – as much as possible
• On campus, volunteering, internships, jobs, outside learning
– Build your professional network
– Learn how to articulate what you bring to the table
• Employers
– Undergraduate students can often do more than you think
• Take a chance on them
• Ask a lot of them and hold them to high standards
– Don’t get too wrapped up in looking for specific majors
• Work ethic, skills, interest, willingness to learn matter a lot
– Think ahead about possible funding
• Even a little compensation goes a long way

13. Student Perspective
“I worked at The Food Project, a non-profit
organization in Dorchester, MA that works in urban
communities to promote sustainable and local
agriculture while placing youth in positions of
leadership. [There], I worked as a Community
Programs Assistant… This job was both challenging
and really rewarding. Because I was working in a
community and with youth, I could see the results
of my work around me every day… Having the
chance to be a part of this amazing organization
was not just a great learning experience: it helped
me decide to pursue a career in Environmental
Education.”