Co-op Resources

Office of Co-op and Career Services

The Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education should be your first stop when preparing for your co-op jobs. They offer a variety of services, including:

• Career Connect has a list of full-time and co-op opportunities that are pre-approved by the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education
• Co-op Orientation and Information Sessions (required) to get you started
• 1-on-1 advising sessions
• Resume and interview workshops
• Annual Career Fairs
• Recruiting Events

Contact Andrea Tuttle (agtoce@rit.edu), the Software Engineering coordinator, for more information.

Other Resources

• Network with your classmates
• Watch for company visits to Society of Software Engineers meetings, and other events on campus
• Talk to a faculty member
• Talk to your academic advisor

If you find a position through your network, you should be in touch with Andrea as soon as you have been offered an interview. Andrea and her office will double-check that the opportunity is legitimate and that it will count for co-op credit. You will need to provide the following information:

1. Company Name
2. Company Address
3. Name of contact, including phone number & email address
4. Description (detailed list) of the duties of the position

Co-op Enrollment

To enroll your co-op: 
Report the position to Co-op & Career Services:

• Report your Co-op in Career Connect at https://www.rit.edu/emcs/oce/student-home
• Staff will enroll you on SIS (allow 1-2 weeks for processing)
• For technical issues, or to make an update to a previously reported co-op block, contact oceeval@rit.edu

Students should also notify:

• Financial Aid: Report the co-op block through eServices: Log-in and click Financial Aid & Scholarships > Change of Enrollment
• Housing: If applicable, contact Housing Operations to adjust your contract, housing@rit.edu

Co-op Prerequisites
Be sure you complete the following prerequisites before registering for co-op:

• SWEN-099 (Undergraduate Co-Op Seminar) 
• SWEN-262 (Engineering of Software Subsystems); with a C- or better
• COMM-253 (Professional Communications)

Enrollment notes:

• You may take maximum one course while on co-op. If you are enrolled in classes for the term, email contact@se.rit.edu. You will need to include if you would like to be dropped from all classes or if you want to stay in one course while you are on co-op.
• Co-op is registered on your schedule as a 0 credit class. While on co-op, you are considered a full-time student. However, during co-op, students are not eligible to receive financial aid, including private alternative loans. Contact your Financial Aid counselor with any questions.
• Report your co-op within one week of accepting a position. If you do not register your co-op promptly, you are putting your health insurance, financial aid and student loans at risk.
• Full-time students must complete a minimum of 3 co-op blocks (2 semesters and one summer). Additional co-op blocks are permitted, with advisor approval, up to a maximum of 6 blocks total.

Co-op Approval
If you found your co-op using Career Connect:

• Positions found through RIT’s Career Connect and labeled for Software Engineers are typically pre-approved. However, you should use your judgment; if a position does not look appropriate, contact the SE coordinator in the Co-op & Career Services Office, Andrea Tuttle, abtoce@rit.edu 
• If you found your co-op using a method other than Career Connect:
• Before accepting your offer, you should review the position with Andrea Tuttle, abtoce@rit.edu 
• Provide Andrea the following information:
  • Company name
  • Company address
  • Point of contact, including phone & email
  • Description of the duties of the position
  • Required qualifications for the position
  • Technologies with which you will work

Three steps In order to earn a passing grade for your co-op:

1. Submit your student evaluation on the co-op website.  Deadline: Exam week of the term you are on co-op.
2. Remind your supervisor to submit the employer evaluation. Deadline: Exam week of the term you are on co-op.
3. Schedule a meeting with your Faculty Co-op Coach Deadline: Upon your return to campus / by the end of Week 3, in the term following your co-op.

Faculty coaches are assigned by the first letter of a student's last name:  A,Z Mehdi Mirakhorli Director of Cybersecurity Research in GCI Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences mxmvse@rit.edu  B Robert St Jacques Senior Lecturer Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences rjsvcs@rit.edu   C Bruce Herring Senior Lecturer Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences blhvse@rit.edu   D,E Christian Newman Associate Professor Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences Graduate Program Director cdnvse@rit.edu 585-475-5094   F,G,H Daniel Krutz Associate Professor Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences dxkvse@rit.edu I,J Samuel Malachowsky Principal Lecturer Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences samvse@rit.edu   K,L,N,O Kal Rabb Senior Lecturer Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences kxrvse@rit.edu 585-475-2949   M Kenn Martinez Senior Lecturer Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences kbmvse@rit.edu   P,Q Larry Kiser Senior Lecturer Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences llkiee@rit.edu 585-230-4400   R,S Mohamed Wiem Mkaouer Adjunct Faculty mwmvse@rit.edu T,U   V,W Travis Desell Professor Department of Software Engineering Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences Graduate Program Director, Data Science tjdvse@rit.edu 585-475-2991   X,Y Naveen Sharma Associate Dean Fac Affairs and Industry Engagement Dean’s Office Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences nxsvse@rit.edu 585-475-2472

Co-op (Cooperative Education) is an integral part of our program. Professional preparation includes work in a variety of organizations, where you can both apply skills learned in the classroom and acquire new skills from real-world projects. Through co-op you can enhance your technical, communication, interpersonal, and networking skills.

Creative, Innovative & Research Activities

Students may substitute one summer term of creative, innovative or research (SE CIR) activities related to software engineering for a traditional co-op experience.

Examples of SE CIR activities include:

• Contributing to research projects
• Supervised participation in entrepreneurial activities
• Cross-disciplinary innovation projects not otherwise eligible for co-op

Students will follow a structured application process prior to registering for the course. They will submit a plan of work that outlines the proposed activities, defines tangible goals and deliverables, and identifies a person (faculty member, business contact, etc.) who will provide oversight throughout the term. At the conclusion of the term, students will follow an assessment process similar to that used for traditional co-op.

The student must have completed one block of traditional co-op (SWEN-499) before
starting a SE CIR experience. SE CIR credit will not be given for any work performed prior
to completing the first co-op block.

SE CIR Guidelines

SE CIR Approval Form

Before accepting your offer, you need to discuss the opportunity with the graduate program director. You will need to provide them with the following information:

1. Company Name
2. Description of the duties of the position
3. Date of employment
4. The number of hours you are expected to work each week

Once you have discussed your co-op with the graduate program director, you must complete the following steps:

• Go to https://www.rit.edu/emcs/oce/.
• Select 'Student.'
• Select 'CAREER CONNECT: Report Co-op” on the right-hand side of the page.
• Log-in with your RIT username and password and report your co-op
• Select 'Report Co-op or Internship' on the left-hand side of the page.
• Log-in with your RIT username and password.
• Once your co-op is registered and approved and through the Co-op Office, you will be manually registered in SIS by the SE department.
• If you are enrolled in classes for the term, email grad@se.rit.edu. You will need to let the office know if you would like to be dropped from all classes or if you want to stay in one course while you are on co-op.

If you are an international student, you will also need an offer letter from the company for the International Student Services Office. ISS will update your visa and immigration documents after you are enrolled in SIS.

The enrollment process from when you enter your co-op information into Career Connect to when you are enrolled in SIS may take one or two weeks. If you are not enrolled after two weeks, email the office.

Co-op is registered on your schedule as a zero credit class. While on co-op, you are considered a full-time student. However, during co-op, students are not eligible to receive financial aid, including private alternative loans. Contact your Financial Aid counselor with any questions.

If you need to be registered for co-op after the add/drop date. The SE Office submits a Late Add/Drop Form to the GCCIS Dean’s Office. They then approve the late add and forward the form to the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office will then enroll you. This process is much slower and it could take several days to enroll you in SIS.  Your signature is also required on this form.  If the form is necessary and you are no longer on campus to sign it directly, look for an email requesting your electronic approval.

Register your co-op within one week of accepting a position. If you do not register your co-op promptly, you are putting your health insurance, financial aid and student loans at risk.

Co-op Prerequisites
All graduate students must complete two semesters of full-time academic study within the Software Engineering Department before going on co-op. All co-op positions must be full-time (at least 35 hours per week) and be paid.

Graduate students may not take more than three terms of co-op.