The cooperative education program combats this by offering students the valuable opportunity to see the how their education is going to apply to real world situations. Chris Gray, a junior computer science major, describes the situation that led him to the co-op program. At the start of second semester sophomore year, I had lost almost all hope of gaining any practical job skills from my college experience. After accepting a position at Bridge Information Systems, Gray worked with a team of programmers on Palm Pilot software used for checking stock quotes using a wireless CDPD modem. For the last few months, Gray worked by himself on several programs used to integrate the Palm Pilot with the Bridge network.
Students overwhelmingly feel that they learn a great deal at their co-ops.
Her responsibilities included keeping the team schedule and documenting her team's work in a technical manual. Bryan Payne, a junior computer science major, co-opped at the Department of Defense in Washington D.C. Payne worked in a group that dealt with network security. More than just experience, it also helps students become more effective workers. I had a lot of independence, so I became better at managing time. Brian Mesh, also a junior majoring in computer science, worked for the Department of Defence with Payne.