The UGA Engineering Cooperative Education Program (co-op program) will provide a structured means for engineering students to gain valuable and relevant experiential learning through a work experience while growing as a professional in their chosen field. We seek to establish partnerships with organizations and firms from a wide range of areas, including industry and manufacturing, engineering design and consulting, research laboratories, governmental agencies and professional organizations.

The partner organizations that participate in our program will operate under very general guidelines set by UGA and that apply to each organization. In addition, some firms and organizations may require customized agreements per their own internal requirements. An individual firm may participate in both the UGA co-op program and hire students as interns for individual semesters or periods of time, as their company needs dictate. However, if a student begins a relationship with the partner organization as a co-op, it is expected that they will continue to work under the guidelines and schedules of the co-op experiential learning program.

A co-op experience is not to be confused with having a part-time job with a professional organization. Each participating student will be expected to work “full-time” at their sponsoring partner organization through the entire semester. Exceptions for this full-time requirement may be made, but only on a case-by-case basis and with the approval of the undergraduate coordinator and the co-op program coordinator and for due cause. Feedback will be garnered from the partner organization after each semester and used to evaluate the student’s progress and success with this program, as well as to provide feedback on the program as a whole.

It is the responsibility of every faculty member that serves as an academic advisor to be aware of how the co-op program works and identify and recommend students who would be good candidates for participation. Participation in engineering co-op will not be mandatory, even though participation provides vital professional experience. Participation in the UGA co-op program will be treated as an honor, and the students will be expected to uphold the highest professional standards as a representative of the university and of themselves while working at the partner firm.