Co-op Program Brings a New Perspective to Experiential Learning at CAS

Incoming freshmen in Saint Joseph’s College of Arts and Sciences will have the opportunity to apply for the College’s new co-op program.

The program aims to place students in experiential learning opportunities with local companies starting in the 2021-2022 school year. Students will apply next year, during their freshman year, and those who are accepted will have a chance to interview with local companies and organizations to work full-time, says James Caccamo, Ph.D., associate professor of theology and associate dean for Students and Experiential Learning. Students will work for two academic terms, taking classes during the summer to offset fall and spring semesters they work, staying on track to graduate in four years.

“Co-ops are a really good experiential learning opportunity – students learn things working full-time for a company or an organization over a couple of terms that differ from what they might learn in other experiential learning contexts,” says Caccamo. Part of the momentum behind launching a new program was that the skills students gain on the job provide a boost for them personally, but also lift the entire community, he says.

“Students build important skills during a co-op, and of course it looks great on a resume,” Caccamo says. “But students also bring really interesting experiences back to their classes after working at a co-op site. And that helps other students  by adding new perspectives to the classroom here at Saint Joseph’s.”

Caccamo hopes the program will build on the success of the existing co-op program in the Erivan K. Haub School of Business, offering the co-op experience to students in other majors. He says CAS is currently working to identify companies and organizations that could offer co-op opportunities, noting that the program at SJU has a competitive aspect.

“Landing a co-op is not guaranteed. Students have to be invited to interview for these positions with companies, and they have to be chosen,” he says. “So, part of this program is helping students get ready for that process by developing professional skills like building a resume and doing interviews.”

CAS students already have access to experiential learning through internship, study abroad and service learning programs. Caccamo says the co-op program is intended to expand the variety of opportunities available for students in programs where it is a good fit with curricula and industries. 

Some current students are involved in a pilot of the new program. Anna-Maria Berezovski '21, a computer science and Asian studies double major, worked full-time at software company SAP during the summer of 2019 and will spend another summer working there. She describes what she has learned from the co-op experience in this essay.