Dear Business Owners and Managers:

Learning Into Action and Cooperative Education encourages students to take classroom learning into the community and use newly acquired skills and abilities at a worksite. This experience is similar to an internship, and can involve a commitment from the student for 30 hours or more.

The college is committed to developing our students to their highest potential and feel this "hands on" experience will assist the college in this commitment. We thank you for committing yourself to the development of our students and the future employees of this community.

As a Site Supervisor, your role is mainly to help students broaden their view of their field of interest by allowing students to spend time in your organization helping with projects, answering questions, and observing activities. (You do not need to hold the title of supervisor or manager to directly assist a student)

First, the student should present to you a Learning Contract and an Objective Statement Worksheet. The contract holds the student accountable for completing their "internship" experience with you, while the worksheet will define their goals for the experience.

Time Logs will be maintained by the students and submitted with your signature of verification for their hours at the end of the quarter.

Lastly, there is a Supervisor Evaluation Form that needs to be completed at the end of the working relationship. This form is designed for you to express your comments and concerns and to document the student's actions at your workplace. The student is responsible for providing this form to you.

In addition, I may be contacting you regarding a site visit. If you organization has been chosen for a site visit, I will contact you by phone to arrange a time for the visit. If you are interested in hosting students in future quarters, please e-mail me and I can add you to our list of participating organizations.

I look forward to a working relationship with you. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me through email or phone. robin.bridges@skagit.edu or 360-679-5326

 Benefits to Employers:

• Brings up to date ideas and current business practices they have learned in the classroom.
• Offers a source of skilled, motivated, and well-prepared future employees.
• Provides temporary employees that are motivated and eager to learn.
• Presents an opportunity to develop new projects with students' assistance.
• Provides feedback to college faculty about currently needed job skills in their field.