VGCC Co-Op Students Find Unique Opportunities

Vance-Granville Community College recently celebrated its first-ever Cooperative Education Week (Sept. 11-15). During that week, VGCC Director of Career Services Linda Fletcher increased awareness of how cooperative education, often called “Co-Op,” works to give many students a smooth transition from school to work.

Cooperative education is an academic program that combines classroom studies with on-the-job, career-related work experience. A Co-Op student gets relevant, resume-building work experience through an employer, while at the same time, he or she earns course credit toward a degree. Sometimes, a student may already be employed, and his or her current job can become a Co-Op opportunity, with the cooperation of the employer. “Even if the job doesn’t seem related to the student’s program at first glance, it might work,” Fletcher said.

In each case, a student, an employer, and VGCC must each make a written agreement that defines the responsibilities of each cooperating partner. Students are paid for their work. Employers have included banks, car dealerships, churches, recreational facilities, medical offices and even a Food and Drug Administration facility.

In some cases, the employer might be Vance-Granville itself. Joe Matthews of Kittrell works 20 hours each week on the college’s main campus as a technician in the college’s Information Highway classroom. Matthews facilitates audio-visual communication in the room, where students can interact in real time with instructors at other campuses, and vice versa. Currently a student in the Networking program, he already holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from North Carolina State University. Matthews had a Co-Op work experience at NCSU, which led him to seek out a similar program at VGCC. “Doing Co-Op gives me experience that I think will be valuable later on, plus the income is a good thing, in a tight job market,” he said.

Fletcher said that if a Co-Op student is already working at a certain business, the advantage to that employer is that the student will become a more valuable employee, at no additional cost to the employer. If the student is new to the business, the employer can train an employee without a long-term commitment. “Maybe they can catch a great employee before she or he ever looks for other opportunities,” she said. Another plus is that businesses that employ Co-Op students are able to provide feedback to VGCC, to ensure that the college’s programs are meeting the needs of employers. “We are a community college, after all,” Fletcher said. “We are trying to fill jobs in the communities of our four-county area, so we want to build those community relationships.” Employers can bring their needs to Fletcher, and she will attempt to find suitable Co-Op candidates.

Currently, Fletcher reported, 18 VGCC students are working in Co-Op experiences. That is double the number of students involved when Fletcher, a Vance County resident since 1985, arrived in her newly created position in January. Since students can be placed in Co-Op opportunities even after the semester is under way, Fletcher aims for 25 to be active by the end of the fall semester.

Fletcher manages cooperative education in 16 different curriculum programs: Accounting, Bioprocess Technology, Business Administration, Business Administration/E-Commerce, Business Administration/Operations Management, Computer Information Technology, Criminal Justice Technology, Culinary Technology, Electronic Engineering Technology, Information Systems Security, Medical Office Administration, Networking Technology, Office Systems Technology, Office Systems Technology/Legal, Recreation and Leisure, and Web Technologies. Of those 16, Culinary Technology requires Co-Op participation to graduate. In addition, the Human Services Technology and Health Sciences manage their own mandatory Co-Op programs.

For more information about cooperative education, contact Linda Fletcher at (252) 738-3466.

Pictured above: VGCC Co-Op student Joe Matthews of Kittrell works 20 hours each week in the college’s Information Highway classroom on Main Campus while pursuing a Networking Technology degree.