Work Term Semester

*Your work term will involve a number of components. Be sure to check your @uoguelph email account regularly and remember the following items: 

Contact Information

You should submit your contact information to the Experience Guelph system as soon as possible. Be sure to include your supervisor’s contact information, which is important for work term visit scheduling as well as your online performance evaluation (see below).


Learning Goals 

Your work term is where you put your academic learning into practice. Setting formal goals and monitoring your work performance enables you to be intentional about your professional development.

Your Work Term Learning Goals

1. Begin writing your Work Term Learning Goals after your first week, once you have a good understanding of your work duties and expectations.

2. Seek guidance and support from your supervisor to ensure your learning goals are relevant to your position. Ask him or her to review your learning goals before you submit them.

3. Submit your Work Term Learning Goals online at Experience Guelph, due in the 3rd week of the semester. Check the Important Dates calendar for the exact deadline of your learning goals (located in Experience Guelph, select Co-op and then Co-op Important Dates from the drop-down menu). 

4. To stay on track with your Work Term Learning Goals, you should evaluate your progress at least twice during each work term. These will be reviewed during your site visit, where your Co-op Coordinator will discuss your progress in meeting your goals with both yourself and your supervisor. 

5. At the end of your work term, reflect upon and evaluate your professional development. Complete the Work Term Learning Goals Reflection section on Experience Guelph. Provide a copy of your goals to your supervisor who will be asked to comment on your Work Term Learning Goals in your performance evaluation. 


Work Term Check-In

During your work term a Co-op or Career team member will be in touch with you or your supervisor to schedule a check-in. A work term visit may be conducted in-person, by phone, video conference or an electronic check in depending on your work term. The meeting is normally 30 minutes with the supervisor to discuss student responsibilities and performance to-date and 30 minutes with the student to discuss progress, learning goals and review feedback and co-op requirements for the remainder of the term.


Work Term Reports

Work Term Reports are part of the co-operative education experience which enable you to integrate the unique insights and learning gained through your work experiences with the academic knowledge that you have acquired through your studies. 

Work term report requirements vary by program and employers may be asked to sign off on the report, prior to submission. Work term reports are to be submitted to your academic department by the 5th class day of the semester following your work term. Your Co-op Faculty Advisor will evaluate the report and grade it on a scale of: Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Satisfactory, and Unsatisfactory*. This grade will appear on your official transcript. 

*A you receive a final grade of Unsatisfactory your Co-op Faculty Advisor may give you one opportunity to resubmit. If you receive a grade of Unsatisfactory a second time, you will be required to withdraw from the Co-op program. 


Work Performance Evaluation

Your co-op work term supervisor will receive an e-mail with an embedded link to the Co-op Work Performance Evaluation during the last month of the work term. Supervisors will be asked to provide feedback on your performance and to provide an overall word grading which is recorded on your official transcript. The performance evaluation is also available in pdf format. *Students and supervisors are encouraged to use this form as a work sheet throughout the work term. To view all forms pertaining to the "Co-op Work Term" click here.


The following tip sheets will be helpful for your Work Term Semester: 

Success On the Work Term

Working Remotely