Non-Co-Op Professional Practice

Non-Co-Op Professional Practice is intended to provide some of the benefits of Co-Op Professional Practice for occasional students for whom the co-op program is inappropriate or undesirable. Here are the principal features of the non-co-op program.

1. Students find employment on their own.

2. Course and grade prerequisites for employment are determined by the employer.

3. Students register for the appropriate Professional Practice course and pay the industrial practice fee established by the Board of Trustees. Under this special registration, students are enrolled full-time. They do not have to apply for readmission after semester work sessions, are not obliged by changes in curriculum since they were last admitted, and do not change their status relative to lenders and insurers that require that they be full-time students. Since the department awards no credit for Professional Practice, students for whom these benefits are not significant may find no reason to incur the expense of taking a Professional Practice course. ($774 per session in 2008-09). This is normally the case for U.S. citizens and permanent residents in the summer.

4. The employment must be full-time for a period comparable to the period for which the student registers (at least 15 weeks for a semester).

5. The number of work sessions is decided by the student and the employer. The number may be one. Of semester work sessions, there may be no more than one in any 12-month period.

6. Students may work for different employers in different work sessions.

7. For each student, the prospective employer must submit directly to the department a description of the proposed assignment for each work session. The proposed assignment must, in the judgment of the Undergraduate Committee, be clearly appropriate to the student's progress in the curriculum and provide an opportunity for a truly educational experience. Students may not register for any Professional Practice course without an approved proposal.

8. At or near the end of the work session, the employer must submit directly to the department a description of what the student has accomplished and an evaluation of the student's performance. The employer should give the student a copy.

9. At or near the end of the work session, the student must submit to the department a description of what was learned and an evaluation of the experience. The student should give the employer a copy.

10. The reports from the employer and the student may be combined or coordinated. They will not be regarded as confidential unless confidentiality is explicitly requested.

11. Students who perform unsatisfactorily in one work session will normally be ineligible to register for another.

12. An employer that does not provide substantially the assignment proposed may be denied further students.

13. Students dropped from Co-Op not eligible for Non-Co-Op professional practice. Students who resign from Co-Op may be eligible for Non-Co-Op Professional Practice but may not reenter Co-Op.

International students must obtain proper ISS or USCIS approval prior to commencing co-op experience (including any orientation, training, and working). Failure to do so could lead to a loss of legal status and may impact future immigration benefits. Please see ISS for more information: http://www.iss.purdue.edu/.

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2016.06.07 MMS