Cooperative Education, Co-op Program

Co-op, short for Cooperative Education, is a program that allows students to alternate academia studies with relevant work experience prior to graduation.Additional courses are offered over the summer, so students have the flexibility to take a semester off (plus preceding or following summer and/or winter session). Students are employed for 6-8 months, full time, typically over one semester.

• Companies will benefit from getting students working full time, and for longer periods of time, which will significantly improve the whole experience for both students and companies.
• Opportunity to tap into top quality college graduates before they join the work force.
• Increase your organization's exposure on campus and create brand-awareness among students.
• Co-op students are productive at graduation reducing training time and costs.
• Service to employers to facilitate and assist recruiting.

Co-op begins after students have completed their freshman and sophomore year in most cases, although this may differ. Depending on the co-op option, students can participate in the co-op experience typically either in the Spring or the Fall semester, although 2 consecutive co-op terms is also possible. It can also be combined with the summer/winter break.

• Challenging assignments directly to academic or student’s career aspirations
• Sufficient training and supervision
• Equal opportunity recruiting process
• Fair compensation
• A written evaluation at the end of Co-op term

Mark Swihart
Interim CBE Co-op and Internship Coordinator
306 Furnas Hall
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Email: swihart@buffalo.edu
T: 716 645 1181