Everyone benefits from the partnership formed by a Co-op Program. 

Your organization will get:

• The opportunity to prescreen our most ambitious and enthusiastic students—the kind who thrive on challenge
• The opportunity to evaluate temporary employees while deciding whether to make a permanent offer
• An infusion of new ideas and methods
• An excellent source of short term employees
• The opportunity to train an employee in your particular methods and processes
• Greater visibility on the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus
• Participation in the educational process
• A general upgrading of the engineering profession because of the work experience offered early in the educational process
• Increased opportunities for technology transfer

Students will:

• Bridge the gap between theoretical study and the professional world
• Find out exactly what engineers do in order to decide if they want to spend their lives as engineers
• Discover why they’re studying math, physics, and theory
• Become professionals who can take their learning in the classroom and adapt it to the workplace
• Get a head start on classroom learning by working with engineering principles on the job
• Have Co-op Program participation noted on their transcripts
• Gain self-confidence and motivation and develop expertise in interacting with people
• Become more attractive to employers because they’re already trained and can be productive immediately
• Improve significantly the level of job and salary offers they get upon graduation
• Be able to offset educational expenses with their Co-op earnings
• Develop professional behavior and social skills
• Receive one year’s credit toward professional licenses in the state of Tennessee upon Program completion

The University of Tennessee will benefit through:

• Better use of classrooms, laboratories and other facilities
• Better relations with industry, government, and business
• Better prepared students who are more desirable to employers and are ready to meet today’s challenging work environment.
• Better educated students with leading edge technology training in the workplace as well as insight into professionalism and proper social behavior
• Technology transfer
• Fiscally responsible students
• Better education to all students by students returning to school and sharing their experiences with professors and classmates
• Partnerships with students and sponsoring corporations and be able to establish the Engineering Professional Practice program as one that is nationally recognized among students, parents, employers, and peer institutions