A preliminary meeting, funded by the Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement, was held on September 15 2017 to explore the creation of an advisory committee for Memorial University's Computer Science co-operative education programs. The meeting was organized by the Co-op office for the Faculty of Science in conjunction with NATI and the Department of Computer Science.
The immediate objectives of this meeting were to:
- bring together NL-based employers of computer science co-op students, representatives of the Faculty of Science Co-op Office and representatives of the Department of Computer Science
- determine if there was sufficient interest in establishing an ongoing Employer Advisory Committee for the Computer Science co-op programs
- begin to explore challenges and opportunities around recruitment and retention of international Computer Science students
The meeting was a starting point for enhancing collaboration and communication between all parties for mutual benefit. Nineteen people attended. It was agreed that we would form an advisory committee to meet at least twice yearly to examine collaborative opportunities between IT industry employers and the department and to address any issues that affect the employment of computer science co-op students.
