The academic visit plays a vital role for students during their placements, maintaining their connection to UL while off campus. This visit is cited as hugely beneficial to students, with many saying that the visits alleviated stress, reassured them of their progress, and provided comfort in what can be a challenging time.  

Academic visits nurture and develop relationships with employers and play a key part in the success of the co-op programme. In an increasingly competitive placement environment, faculty interaction with employers is one of the key predictors of repeat placements. Employers value face-to-face meetings with faculty members as an opportunity to provide direct feedback on student performance as well as course content and future skill development.  

The purpose of the academic visit is to support the student in their transition of learning from the classroom to the workplace by: 

  • Facilitating discussion about their placement and their progress between the student and their supervisor 

  • Encouraging students to reflect on the placement in the context of subject-specific and transferable learning outcomes 

  • Discussing any challenges that they may be experiencing on placement 

  • Helping students to scope opportunities for further career development and to develop an understanding of the world of work 

The Academic Visit is part of the formal assessment of students while on their placement. The visit provides an opportunity to evaluate the students’ ability to apply classroom learning to the professional work environment. As such, the visit is a key quality indicator of both the student experience and the extent to which UL students are workplace ready. 

 

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Placement Calendar
view of UL campus entrance
Academic Visit Portal

Assessment & Evaluation of Cooperative Education

The formal assessment of the Cooperative Education programme comprises Learning Outcomes, Faculty Visit, Co-op Report and Final Employer Evaluation. Faculty review students’ learning outcomes through the academic visit and the Cooperative Education Report. The on-site visit provides an opportunity to evaluate the students’ ability to apply classroom learning to the professional work environment. As such, the visit is a key quality indicator of both the student experience and the extent to which UL students are workplace ready.

The role of the faculty visitor within the evaluation and grading process is to:

  • understand the assessment requirements of the co-op programme, associated learning outcomes and how skill development is assessed and measured
  • complete the assigned visit as early as possible in the placement period
  • complete Qualtrics based Visit Form for each student and submit it to CECD via the Staff Portal


In the case of global placements only, the review may take place by telephone.

In addition to faculty and employer evaluation processes, all students must submit a  co-op report, signed by their employer, to CECD in Week 1. Once submitted, the report is viewable to the Academic Visitor for review and grading on the Staff Portal. Students must achieve a pass grade in order to proceed to graduation.

The Faculty Visitor is asked to:

  • grade co-op reports on a pass/fail basis
  • return grades to CECD by Week 6 via the Staff Portal