Co-op Credit Weight Change - FAQs

I'm currently 0.5 credits behind from dropping an elective course in the previous semester so I was wondering if a credit in co-op can replace that?

No – co-op work term credits cannot be used towards a student’s academic program.


Due to the changes for the co-op work terms, do these credit courses and credits (COOP*1000-5000) count as Free Electives? If so does that mean that a student enrolled in these courses, all other things staying the same, would be able to take a few semesters without a fifth course while ensuring that all mandatory and Liberal Arts Elective requirements are met?

No – these credits do not count as Free Electives and therefore a student cannot take semesters without a fifth course.


Since credits won't be counted for academic degree program requirements, what is the benefit to having additional credits at the time of graduation?

Co-op is an optional program and co-op work terms are a requirement of that program. In previous semesters, all co-op students were required to register for COOP*1000, COOP*2000, COOP*3000, COOP*4000 or COOP*5000 as zero credit courses. Students will continue to register for these co-op work term courses but each will now have a pass/fail added to each course, which formalizes the co-op certification process.

However, it does assist in course selection grade levels as work terms are worth 0.50 academic credits, so they count in the number of credits completed and in progress when determining what day/time a student can select courses.


I am enrolling in two courses this summer, with the additional COOP credit this summer, does this mean when I fill out OSAP, I should create an OSAP request for full time instead of part time?

Unfortunately, the answer is not straightforward as there are variables taken into consideration that are unique to each student. Students should visit the OSAP eligibility page which explains the course load requirements and also notes that work-term credits are not included when calculating course load for OSAP purposes.


Why is this change happening? With only 2 co-op semesters left, it would look a bit awkward on my transcript that I have completed a total 1.0 co-op credits, therefore I am just curious about this change.

This new process received approval be Senate to be implemented effective May 1, 2019 for all work term courses registered in S19 and later. There would not be a time for implementation that wouldn’t impact students individually.


What will this affect? If the credits do not count toward our academic program requirements, how will they affect COOP students?

Co-op students will see a “Pass/Fail” grade on their co-op work term course (i.e. COOP*1000) along with a 0.50 credit for each work term registered in Summer 2019 and later. The program requirements have not changed and can be viewed within the Co-op Policy Agreement.


‘The co-op work term credits will not count towards academic degree program requirements’.  Could you please clarify what this means?

This means that you cannot use co-op work term courses towards Free Electives or as part of the 20.0 credits required for your degree program.


Does "The co-op work term credits will not count towards academic degree program requirements" mean they can count toward the 20.0 credits needed to graduate or not? For instance if some credits needed in our degree are not specifically outlined as to what they need to be (such as required courses or restricted electives), and are electives of our choosing, can the credit from these coop term count towards that? Or with these changes there is actually no changes to our schedule of studies and if credits are not specified as to what they need to be we should still interpret them as being elective courses?

Please see the quote listed in the question – “The co-op work term credit will not count towards academic degree program requirements.” They do not count toward the 20.0 credits needed to graduate. There are no changes to the schedule of studies for each program.


Does this mean there will be no Co-op academic fee in addition to the Co-op Work Term fee? (There will be no tuition or ancillary fees applied to co-op work term courses beyond the co-op work term fee)

Co-op registration processes have not changed. If a student registers for an academic course during a co-op work term they will be responsible for paying both an academic co-op fee and a co-op work term fee, but it will count towards the overall maximum of eight co-op work term fees required.