POINTS OF GENERAL INTEREST
ABOUT COLLINCOLLEGE
CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS
There is a specific department at Collin which is devoted to helping students develop their work lives, Career Development, and it includes the Cooperative Education Program.
I. Career Development Department
Students have available to them three assessments to ascertain just what types of industry they should enter, based on their interests, skills, and education levels. The assessments are free to the students and take about one hour each to complete. Of course students do not have to take all three, but so that they will be as informed as possible, students are urged to take all three. The assessments are evaluated by trained counselors in Career Services, and students can then meet with those counselors to learn the meaning of their scores.
The assessments, evaluations, and consultations are available to community members for a nominal fee.
Students also have available to them at no cost mock interviews for which they explain to a consultant in Career Services the kind of job they want to pursue in preparation for an interview. The consultant prepares interview questions particularized to the industry in which a student has an interest; the two set an appointment for an interview, and the student meets the interview dressed appropriately and using what he believes to be correct decorum for such an interview.
The interview is conducted as closely to a real world interview as possible and is taped so that the student is able actually to see how he performed. Students may simply view a tape provided by the Career Services counselor or bring their own so that they may take the tapes with them.
Faculty are encouraged to take their classes to the Career Services area for a tour and explanation of the services. The Career Services area is open during the day any time classes are in session, but is open on some evenings as well. The number for Career Services at Spring Creek is 972.881.5781 and at PRC it is 972.377.1781, and you are well advised to call ahead to schedule a time for a tour and to ascertain the times of operation as evening hours change from time to time.
II. COOPERATIVE EDUCATION
A. The Students
The Cooperative Education Program is part of the Career Development Department at Collin and offers students many opportunities to work as they attend classes at Collin while earning three hours of college credit for each Co-op course.
Students who wish to work through Co-op must be enrolled at the college and may either use the jobstheyhave already or take new jobs to go along with the Co-op courses. The counselors in the Co-op Program try to match students who do not have jobs with job descriptions which the Program has received as well as the fields of study the students have chosen. Most business programs include Co-op as their capstone course.
There are two Co-op courses available, one on a freshman level and one on a sophomore level. Often students take only one of the courses, depending on the level they are on in their jobs, but just as often they take both courses, one after the other, so that they can continue to have the benefit of learning from counselors, their faculty advisors, and the seminars which they attend as part of the requirement of each course.
Students who enroll in Co-op coursesare assigned full-time faculty memberswho teach in the students’ fields of study to be their advisors. The faculty advisors typically visit with the students and their managers at the beginning of the courses to evaluate the goals set by the managers and students and the conditions for learning available for the students at the particular jobs.
During the time studentsare taking Co-op courses, they also attend 16 physical hours of seminars offered through the college, each with information applicable to the working world. There are numerous seminars from which students may choose, and all seminars are free and open to the public or other students and professors who want to attend them. They are offered during week days, nights, and on weekends at various of the campuses so that no matter the students’ work schedules, they will be able to attend seminars.
When the Co-op courses draw to an end, the students write reflection papers about their experiences as co-op students; the faculty advisors visit again with them and their managers to go over the written evaluations of the students by the managers, and the faculty advisors complete their own paperwork and turn in the packets to the Co-op liaisons, along with the grades the faculty members believe should be assigned the students.
Students know that they may contact their faculty advisors at any time during their co-op courses with questions, suggestions, ideas, or simply to chat.
*Faculty are encouraged to contact Co-op personnel and invite representatives to classes to explain the process to students by calling 972.881.5781 on the Spring Creek Campus or 972.377.1781 on the Preston Ridge Campus. A representative usually spends about 20 minutes with a class and makes available to students information cards to fill out if they are interested in participating in co-op. Students may give their cards either to the Co-op representative or to their instructors to turn in. History has shown that having the students either fill out their cards while the representative is in the classroom and turn them in at that time or give them to their instructors works best.
General Information of Interest p. 2
B. The Companies
Companies who are interested in inviting co-op students to work for them should contact Sheri Mackey at 972.881.5104 who will explain the process, take some information, and direct the companies’ representatives to the proper person to deal with the kind of industries/jobs being offered.
If company representatives are acquainted with faculty in divisions which represent the kinds of jobs being offered, they may contact those faculty directly either by calling the Collin switchboard at 972.881.5790 for Spring Creek or 972.377.1790 for Preston Ridge or by emailing them. Collin personnel can be reached by email by using the initial of the first name, the last name, and @ccccd.edu (EX: ).
Collin encourages companies to contact the college with job opportunities, no matter the type: part time; full time; for one project; entry, mid, or high level; salaried; hourly;for portfolio only, or other.
**For any questions concerning Management or Marketing students specifically, or if you have suggestions for Collin as far as working with companies, contact Gloria Cockerell at 972.881.5736. If you email Professor Cockerell, be sure to include the first e in Cockerell or your message will not go through.