By Janelle Santi
The University of Waterloo is extremely well known for its Cooperative Education Program. An idea of the founder, Gerald Hagey, this program follows the structure of alternating between four-month school terms, and four-month work terms. This program allows students to fund their education, get hands on work experience, make amazing connections and graduate with over a year of full time work experience.
The University itself is a big employer for those interested in jobs on campus and through Waterloo’s faculties and programs. They offer a wide variety of positions in research, administration, teaching assistants, event planning and marketing. There is one flaw with the program though. OSAP. OSAP stands for Ontario Student Assistance Program, which is a financial assistance program offered to students, funded by the Government of Ontario. OSAP compares the student’s educational costs against their available resources to determine their eligibility for funding. Ultimately, giving student loans to those whose parents are not making a specified income. ow don’t get me wrong, student loans are great. They really help students, and give everyone a chance to earn a degree and an education. The one completely unfair move by the University of Waterloo, and a flaw to their co-op program, is they limit certain jobs on Jobmine for only OSAP eligible candidates. Particularly, jobs that are offered through the University itself. In my recent job search on Jobmine, about 80% of the jobs offered on campus require that you were OSAP eligible in the previous school term. Why should I be punished for something that is out of my control? It was not my choice for my parents to earn a certain amount of income. If anything, my family and I should be rewarded for being responsible with the earnings, and be treated equally for properly saving money for education. It is so frustrating to log on to Jobmine and see all these great positions at the University, and not be able to apply for them. It seems as though the University feels bad for taking the tuition money of those in a lower economic status, so they offer them more job opportunities; like a way to make up for taking their money. I should not be limited to jobs because my parents worked hard and saved for their children’s education. |
Especially not a school with the first ever co-op program, and one of the largest in the world. Through keeping majority of jobs at the University just for OSAP eligible students, Waterloo is turning down great candidates and creating an even more frustrating co-op experience. Of course every job posting has its requirements, yet a requirement based on income is just unfair.
I totally believe in scholarships, bursaries and student loans to give all students a chance to experience University. My real frustrations come with the limited number of jobs the University of Waterloo offers non-OSAP eligible students. Having such a great reputation for the co-op program, Waterloo should want to give all their students a fair and enjoyable hiring process and work term experience. One that isn’t determined by economic status. |
Picture Sources: http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3opdj3
https://uwaterloo.ca/co-operative-education/about-co-operative-education
https://uwaterloo.ca/co-operative-education/about-co-operative-education