HRSDC Grant Sends Co-op Students On European Exchange

University of Victoria and University of Waterloo students interested in completing a co-op term abroad have a new source of support thanks to a $178,000 grant from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) that will fund a new international exchange program called “Strengthening Transatlantic Student Mobility in Co-operative Education.”

UVic’s Co-operative Education Program and Career Services partnered with the University of Waterloo to apply for the funding, which will provide students from these two institutions with $4,500 stipends as they travel on co-op work terms to specific institutions in Austria and Germany. The two European institutions have received similar funding from the EU counterpart to send their students to Canada.

The project will also include a collaborative research component that will identify the global competencies developed by students as a result of their international experiences.

“This is an exciting initiative that will strengthen our understanding of the impact that international experiences can have on academic and career development,” says Norah McRae, executive director of UVic Co-op and Career. “We look forward to working with Waterloo as well our European partners.”

UVic and Waterloo students will travel to the FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences in Austria and the Baden-Wurttemberg Co-operative State University in Germany, while students from these institutions will have the opportunity to complete academic and co-op terms through UVic and Waterloo.

Forty-eight students will take part in the project, of which 12 will be UVic students and 12 will be Waterloo students. The first UVic students will embark on exchange in 2010.

The grant was one of eight awards distributed to Canadian institutions as part of HRSDC’s Transatlantic Exchange Program. Forty-five post-secondary institutions submitted proposals.
 

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