Co-op/Internship – Employer Expectations & Guidelines 

• Provide accurate job information. Be open and honest with students about what the job will entail in the job posting as well as during the interview process. 
• Offer meaningful assignments. Provide students with clearly defined job responsibilities 

for each term that are in alignment with their program of study and year in school. While first year students may be, assigned tasks that are more basic, subsequent work terms should provide increasing challenges and responsibilities. 

• Provide a written offer letter. All offers of employment should be sent in writing with 

clear employment information (wage, start date, end date, job title, physical address of 

work location, etc.). 

• Assign a specific supervisor to the student. Identify those with supervising skills; this should be someone who is willing and able to develop and implement a quality work assignment while also providing a balance between direct supervision, guidance, and independent learning. 

• Orient students to company policies and procedures. This should include harassment policies. Inform students how to deal with on-the-job problems including harassment and misconduct. 
• Give necessary safety training to students. We expect all employers to comply with all federal, state, and local equal employment and safety regulations. 
• Assign specific goals learning objectives. Review the work assignments and define mutual expectations, objectives, and goals, and remind student to access the CareerBuzz account to complete and submit their Work Term Goals and Objectives form. 

• Provide the student with timely notification of eligibility for return assignments. Start this conversation early and provide students with ample time to respond.
• Provide timely performance feedback to the student. This should happen formally at least twice during the semester (mid and end of term) and informally throughout the work term.
• Complete and discuss the end of work term Performance Evaluation with the student. The Career Center will email the Performance Evaluation link to all supervisors two weeks prior to the end of the semester.
• Provide students the opportunity to give feedback about their assignments and experience. Like full-time employees, co-ops and interns should be given the opportunity to conduct an exit interview at the end of their work term.

• Co-op Commitment: We expect an employer to retain a co-op student for a minimum of three semesters; however, an employer is not expected to retain a student with serious performance problems. It is expected that employers discuss performance issues with a Career Advisor within the Career Center. 
• Early Termination: If business needs (e.g, loss of contracts or other unforeseen events) should result in an unplanned early termination of a work term, it is expected that the employer would financially compensate the student for lost wages, housing, and traveling expenses incurred for the job. 
  

Our expectations remain the same for remote internships as they do for on-site positions. The student should receive continual support, close supervision, and performance feedback. If the position does not meet these criteria, it should be posted, and treated as a part-time job, not an internship.