Friday, January 30, 2009

Kettering Professional Cooperative Education Program

Kettering University provides an education for Generation M – the multi-tasker, media, multi-modal, multi-nodal student. Kettering offers a co-op academic program for grades 8th - 11th, thirteen science, business and engineering majors and a graduate program. The programs offer a range of opportunities for students interested in going into a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math field. To apply student must have completed Algebra I and II, Geometry, one semester of Trigonometry, two lab sciences (one must be Physics or Chemistry), three years of English, and Calculus or Pre-Calculus. AP and IB coursework are also accepted.

Students must complete a core curriculum consisting of history, social science, English and literature. All courses require students to practice their written and oral communication skills. Students must take their core courses throughout each year helping to expand the student’s cognitive abilities and experiences. Students will learn about communication, ethics, leadership and social organization through their work experience. The final core course entitled Senior Seminar: Leadership, Ethics and Contemporary Issues engage students to discuss the core issues of leadership and ethics while drawing from their academic and work experience.

Because students need variety in their education many tools are used in the courses:
  • Simulations
  • Social Bookmarking (Delicious)
  • BigThink.com
  • National Geographic
  • YouTube
  • Edhead.org (medical simulations)
  • Education Arcade
  • Immune Attack (for Biology)
  • Widgets
  • River City

There are three main goals for the Cooperative Education Program

  • To develop a strong and positive correlation between a student's academic program at the school and the educational experience with his or her employer;
  • To provide educational experiences that orient and integrate the student into a productive professional role at the employer organization; and
  • To develop positive work-related habits and characteristics in a student.

Students may take courses through Distance Learning opportunities or at one of 130 Learning Centers in North America, Europe and Asia. Students have contact with their professors through telephone, voice-mail, e-mail, fax, Internet bulletin boards and chat rooms. All instructors have office hours.

Kettering University serves as a liaison between the employer, the student and the University. Kettering will identify student candidates, suggest students for co-op positions and facilitate the interview arrangements between the student and the employer. Kettering University also works with the employers concerning appropriate co-op wages and benefits for the students and counsels the students on career goals helping to match the student’s skills with the employer’s needs. Kettering University continues to work with the student and the employer to develop work plans for the student upon graduation so when a student graduates he/she already has a job that they are trained to do.

During the senior year students do a Senior Thesis Project where two co-op work terms are dedicated to completing a major project for the employer. The student and the employer identify a company-oriented problem and the Kettering faculty advisor approved the project. The student may focus the project on a product or a system of the company. When the thesis project is completed the report is evaluated by the employer and the Kettering faculty advisor. Once the thesis is approved, it is bound and sent to the employer. The student has an integrative experience that combines the University curriculum and work experience into a real world professional project for the employer. Upon graduation the employer has a well-trained, dedicated employee with the knowledge to complete the project for the employer.

Kettering University has been ranked one of the top five colleges for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) and continues to be ranked in the Top Twenty in the nation according to the 2009 edition of "America's Best Colleges Guide” as one of America’s premier technological colleges. Many Kettering graduates are admitted into top graduate schools such as Harvard, MIT and Stanford.

For students interested in working in a specific career area while attending college there are many co-op programs available throughout the United States. To learn more about Kettering University go to the Kettering University website: http://www.kettering.edu/

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