Full details from about cooperative education from the Pennsylvania Department of Education can be found here: Employer’s Guide to Cooperative Education.
Full details about internships and job shadowing from the Pennsylvania Department of Education can be found here: Work Based Learning Toolkit
What is Cooperative Education?
Cooperative education programs permit the student to be released from the school campus to work part-time or full-time for an employer. The student will report to the assigned job, which is referred to as the student’s Training Site. The student/employee always represents the school district and is expected to demonstrate professional qualities of responsibility, dependability, ethical behavior, and maturity while performing tasks for the employer. The purpose of cooperative education programs is to provide the student with competencies developed through paid, supervised, on-the-job training related to an occupational goal.
What is an Internship?
An internship is a highly-structured, sustained career preparation activity in which students are placed at a workplace for a defined period of time to participate in and observe work firsthand within a given industry. Learning objectives are specified, and student performance is assessed. A longer time period in the workplace deepens the learning experience for the student. This deepened experience enhances the transference of employability skills and increases the acquisition of technical skills through hands-on experiences. Internships may be paid or unpaid, depending on whether the student is performing productive work for the employer.
What kind of compensation would students need to receive from my company?
Compensation is determined by what the student will be doing with your company. For cooperative education, a reasonable wage is negotiated by the company, the student, and ECTS’s Cooperative Education Coordinator. For internships, this can be paid or unpaid. If the student is contributing productive work, then a wage is required, otherwise it is not. For job shadowing, obviously, no wage is required.
What kind of paperwork would someone from my company need to complete?
3 to 4 documents, all of which can be completed in a very short time. At minimum (for Cooperative Education, Internship or Shadowing), the person that would be directly responsible for the student when working with the company would need clearances. If the student is participating in cooperative education then a training agreement would also need completed.
- (Clearance) PA State Police Criminal Record Check: https://epatch.pa.gov/home with results available within a few minutes. There is no fee for volunteers. This can be completed in just a few minutes.
- (Clearance) PA Department Human Services Child Abuse History Clearance https://www.compass.state.pa.us/CWIS with results usually within 14 days. There is no fee for volunteers. This can be completed in just a few minutes.
- (Clearance) Federal Criminal Background Check: Go to https://www.pa.cogentid.com to schedule an appointment.
- Note: Only required if the mentor has resided in Pennsylvania for fewer than 10 years
- Here is a sample training agreement provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
- For Cooperative Education (paid work), a training agreement needs to be completed. Our Cooperative Education Coordinator will be happy to walk you through this and the other steps.
What kind of commitment is this for my company regarding student employment?
Very little. In most scenarios involving cooperative education or internships, students end up being retained (and frequently hired) by the company past the originally determined timelines, but employment may be terminated at will, with or without prior notice by the employer.
Many employees at my company work remotely. Can cooperative education work in a remote setup?
Yes. While an ideal scenario may be to have a student immersed in a workplace environment, we recognize that not all professions still operate in that kind of set up. As long as regular check ins and guidance is provided by a representative from the company and work is being produced by the student, arrangements can be made. Get in touch with us and our Cooperative Education Coordinator will be happy to work with you to create an arrangement that fits both your needs and the student’s in accordance with Pennsylvania’s requirements for cooperative education.