How CO-OPS + CAREERS Pivoted in a Brand-New World

Much changed across the world in 2020 with job opportunities and career options among the first things to impact people. To continue helping students and alumni in an uncertain climate, Wentworth Institute of Technology’s CO-OPS + CAREERS office pivoted fast. These are the ways they did it.

Adapting our Events:

When campus closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CO-OPS + CAREERS was just a few short days away from hosting our semi-annual CO-OP + CAREER Fair for students seeking co-ops and full-time jobs to meet hiring employers.

Within two weeks, our team quickly transitioned the event to a virtual format, using the campus job board WITworks, where students could text chat with employer representatives.  Eager to see improvements with this functionality, we worked closely with the development team behind WITworks, who created functionality to allow for video meetings with employer representatives instead of text chat.

With the text chat change in place, we hosted two additional fairs, one in August 2020 for Fall co-op seekers and recent graduates seeking full-time jobs, and a three-day event targeted by academic major in October that was open to all students and alumni. Looking ahead to spring semester, we are transitioning to a new format for co-op and job seekers to meet hiring employers through information sessions combined with virtual interviews.

Shortly after campus closed, we quickly learned employers had a lot to share with the Wentworth community about the way their organization and industry were adapting to COVID-19. This led to our series “Inside Industry Right Now,” which brings employers, students, staff and faculty together via Zoom for hour-long discussions about how COVID-19 has shifted the workplace, what skills employers are looking for right now and industry trends. Over the course of the summer and fall semesters, 13 companies were joined by 127 Wentworth community members for robust conversations and networking.  

Adapting to the Co-op Landscape:

Given the negative impact COVID-19 had on co-op employment, CO-OPS + CAREERS acted quickly to expand the opportunities for students to earn co-op credit, gain valuable work experience, and expand their skills to position themselves for their next co-op or post-graduate career. Many discussions were held with academic departments and staff to think creatively, identify options, understand DOE and DHS regulations, and determine next steps during a time of constant change. 

CO-OPS + CAREERS partnered with Academic Affairs to offer remote “Creative Co-ops” for most majors. Additionally, we offered students the opportunity to petition to have prior work experience reviewed and potentially meet the requirements for a mandatory co-op.

Creative co-ops included:

1. Future Lab was offered in Summer and Fall 2020, and will again be an option in Spring 2021: Future Lab was conceived in a partnership between Architecture and Accelerate, Wentworth Innovation + Entrepreneurship Center. This full-time co-op option turns the current COVID19 crisis into an innovation opportunity. The work from these Innovation Fellows (co-ops) result in concrete strategies and a planned digital publication to be shared with employers, alumni, and the greater Boston ecosystem.
2. Engineering COVID Out was offered in Summer and Fall 2020:  Developed and taught by Dr. Niki Alborz, this full-time co-op offered an introduction and development of principles and practices to effectively manage engineering projects related to addressing the impact of COVID19.
3. LLM Design Workshop was offered in Fall 2020, and will again be an option in Spring 2021: Taught by adjunct professor Leila Mitchell out of her own studio, this creative co-op investigates self-directed design opportunities within the realm of experience design. The results can conceivably be published within the LLM Design Insight series and offered as an industry presentation.

Other opportunities:

4. Wentworth faculty and staff: In addition to traditional faculty and staff co-ops, Wentworth faculty stepped up and developed many opportunities for remote projects and co-ops.
5. Alternative Co-op: COOPS + CAREERS established a robust alternative co-op that keeps students remotely engaged in part-time status. Components of this options included online Career Advancement activities instructed via CO-OPS + CAREERS and another online course taught by faculty and focused on skills appropriate for their major, and the potential to secure work experience. This option allows students to seek work experiences that would not normally meet the co-op requirements but are appropriate to their major.
    
6. COVID Industrial Professional Credit (IPC): Students with extensive and applicable prior work experience (including military connected work) before attending Wentworth have historically had the option to apply for IPC to receive co-op credit for one mandatory co-op. To expand opportunities, we developed the COVID IPC option for those students scheduled for a current mandatory co-op.  COVID IPC is less restrictive, allowing for 390 hours of cumulative work and for work that has occurred while enrolled in an academic institution.   
    
7. Optional COOP Substitution (for COOP3000): Some students successfully complete an optional co-op earlier in their Wentworth career.  Given COVID19, Wentworth developed an option that allows for review and possible approval of a successfully completed COOP3000, which could be substituted for a currently scheduled mandatory co-op. This is an option for student who have conducted an unsuccessful co-op search and are scheduled to go out on co-op for the current semester. 

The above was compiled by Abbey Pober, assistant director, systems and marketing; Faith Bade, associate director, CO-OPS + CAREERS; and Robbin Beauchamp, director, CO-OPS + CAREERS.