Expectations for Undergraduate Students
- Students who wish to pursue co-op employment must meet with Engineering Career Services to complete the UNL Co-op Memorandum of Understanding, review eligibility to go on co-op, and enroll in the co-op course: UGEP 350 for City/East Campus, and ENGR 3500 for Scott Campus. This course is 0-credits, Pass/No-Pass, does not carry tuition or fees, and does not count toward degree completion. Students on co-op must be enrolled in one of these courses during co-op employment. Enrolling in this course will maintain your student status, which prevents any student loan grace period from beginning while you're not on campus, and may allow you to maintain other benefits received by being enrolled full-time.
- Students should meet with their advisor prior to accepting a co-op to verify good academic standing and anticipate whether or not a co-op will delay a student's graduation (due to course sequencing, a co-op often delays graduation, but the trade-off for students who choose to co-op is excellent experience).
- College of Engineering students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher to be approved for a co-op, and the student's cumulative GPA must remain at or above 2.5 the term immediately prior to co-op enrollment.
- Students pursuing a co-op should not take other courses at the same time. Unlike a regular semester, the expectation is that your employment and gaining experience are your top priorities while you're on co-op.
- Academic credit is not automatic nor guaranteed for students pursuing a co-op.
- Students should meet with the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid to verify what aid and scholarships could be impacted by (1) your term on co-op, and/or (2) delayed graduation.
Expectations for Employers
- Employers are expected to set clear learning objectives for this educationally-related work experience; provide comprehensive training/orientation; and support the student taking on educationally relevant job responsibilities through direct supervision by an engineer or construction manager.
- Employers are encouraged to develop a Memorandum of Understanding to complete with their selected co-op candidate(s) to help set clear expectations about start and end dates, job responsibilities, relocation (if applicable), wages, benefits, and more.
