PCEC News
The Role and Impact of Engineering Co-op in the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing
April 18, 2016
The engineering programs at GVSU were developed at the urging of the industrial community in west Michigan as a partnership between the university and our industry partners. Based upon the insight of both the faculty and industry professionals, cooperative education was designed into the engineering programs as a fundamental element. The intention at the time was to provide uniquely mature graduates who had both the traditional elements of an engineering education and industry based professional experience that would allow them to enter their careers as fully prepared professionals immediately upon graduation.
This vision has certainly been accomplished – but the co-op program has produced additional impacts well beyond what could have been anticipated. These benefits have included those within the academic experience as well as those that have contributed to an even richer relationship with the employer community and the west Michigan community.
Within the academic programs, the most notable elements to evolve from the co-op program are the changes to the upper level experience in terms of course maturity. Because all of our students have “real-world” experience that we can depend upon, the faculty are able to shape our courses to include more real world constraints, project based work, and industry standard practices. As an example, several years ago, this allowed our capstone project to evolve into an interdisciplinary, industry based program in which students take on problems posed by industry. Each industry sponsor acts as the client and participates in all elements of the design, fabrication, testing and approval of industry caliber products, automation systems, etc. This is a uniquely mature and award winning program.
Beyond the curricular elements, the co-op program is a keystone to our relationship with the industrial community. In addition to an on-site work supervisor, every student has a faculty advisor during his or her co-op semesters. The faculty oversees the academic component of the student co-op semester including on-line modules and journaling by the students. They also do site visits to every location every semester. This provides us with an opportunity for continuous interaction with our employer partners. The feedback we receive from our co-op students and supervisors has been a long-standing and fundamental element of our continuous improvement, assessment and accreditation processes.
Due in large part to the co-op program, the GVSU engineering programs are unique in that they built upon and continue to thrive through our continuous conversation with our employers and the broader community. The partnership truly lives on.
Paul D. Plotkowski
Dean, Padnos College of Engineering and Computing