The Co-operative Education Project (CEP) is a major part of what sets Otago Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Applied Management programme apart from other degrees in the field. Rachel Byars, Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator for the CEP explains what is involved in the project and who sees the benefits.
Otago Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Applied Management currently available in the specialty fields of Strategic Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Management, Human Resource Management, Food and Beverage Management, Hotel Management, Tourism Management, Operations and Production Management, and Sport Management. Its capstone feature is the CEP, undertaken in the final semester of study.
“The CEP involves a hands-on immersion in industry practice – it’s not just work experience” says Rachel. “It is a structured education strategy integrating classroom theory with learning through undertaking productive work in a related field.”
The project is designed as a three-way partnership between the student, Polytechnic and a host organisation, for which the student carries out a research project. The academic component of the project includes also includes a presentation and a reflective practice report.
“Students take on the responsibility of finding a placement to carry out a project that must be of value to the host organisation.” explains Rachel, who begins the CEP planning process with students late in their second year of study. “It is part of the learning process for them to produce a CV and consider what organisation they’d like to get in to.
Over the course of the project, the student gains knowledge & understanding, an appreciation of “work” and the opportunity to integrate and apply knowledge and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Students are mainly placed in Dunedin, but have also found projects in Taupo, Auckland, Wellington and Wanaka.
For the host organisation, the benefit is primarily the value of the research project, however they also gain rewards from the work the student undertakes, the mentoring role they play in guiding future professionals and a cooperative working relationship with the Polytechnic. In fact, organisations are now beginning to contact the Polytechnic directly looking for students. The Polytechnic itself benefits from the opportunity the CEP provides to forge and maintain good relationships with industry and improve educational practices.
It’s a full-on semester for the students. Most are not used to juggling full-time work with study.” says Rachel. “Students gain knowledge and understanding of the ‘real world’ and many take the project as an opportunity to find a permanent place within their organisation , or use it as a stepping stone into other organisations.