Feb. 2, 2018

Students, employers recognized for outstanding participation in work-integrated programs

Arts and Science Co-op/Internship program honours keen workers, committed mentors

The third annual Arts and Science Co-op/Internship Student and Employer of the Year awards recognized the excellence of participating students and the employers who provided them with professional work experience in 2017. The awards ceremony, funded by SU Quality Money for the last three years, was held on the University of Calgary campus Jan. 30. 

Nancy Chibry, associate dean of science, moderated the awards which saw co-op/internship students and employers from both Arts and Science receive recognition for their outstanding participation in these work-integrated programs. Dawn Johnston, associate dean of arts, and Cindy Graham, vice-dean of science, recognized the award recipients at the ceremony. 

Students and employers submitted nominations for each other detailing the impact of their individual experiences. The judging panel discovered that many supervisors are mentors, going far beyond providing feedback on work as they actively strive to ensure their students have every opportunity to be successful, network and become known in their field, all leading to open doors after graduation. Student nominations noted how encouraging, willing to help, and approachable their supervisors were and how much they learned while completing challenging tasks in positive environments.

Students’ work terms ranged from four, eight, 12, or 16 months in diverse areas extending from government departments such as Indigenous and Northern Development Canada, to well-known companies Nexen, Shaw and Westjet, to smaller organizations like North Star Contracting.

These students are impressive ambassadors for their faculties and the University of Calgary; employers repeatedly commented how students exceeded expectations, made it possible to complete important work and how sad they were to see them leave when they returned to school. Many employers brought multiple representatives to the ceremony and it was clear that students and their employers were strong teams that continually encouraged each other beyond the work term.

The awards were given to winners and honourable mentions in many categories — on and off campus and for large and small/medium employers.

The Arts off-campus student winner Leah Schmidt, who is now pursing graduate studies at the University of Cambridge, Queens, was recognized for her outstanding contributions during her term with the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN in New York.

Erin Knox, a Sociology student, received the on-campus Student of the Year Award for her positive and proactive attitude and her assistance in streamlining processes in her role with the Undergraduate Science Centre.

Brad Ritten received his winning nomination as a computer science intern with DeepMarkit Corp., where he designed and implemented a customizable trivia game. He says, "Working with DeepMarkit was one of the best things that happened to me."

Employer winners from Science were ManuLife in the large company category and Canadian Wildlife Service in the small/medium. Winners in Arts were North Star Contracting in the small/medium category and Concorde Entertainment receiving the top recognition in the large category, and the Undergraduate Science Centre as top on-campus employer.

All senior university staff present commented on how much they value the employers who hire UCalgary students as they help them transition into professional roles, and what a pleasure it is to see students become confident and successful as employees as well as students.

Arts winners

  • Student winner, off campus: Leah Schmidt                   
  • Honourable mentions, off campus: Miguel Serquina, Zehra Buzreba
  • Student winner, on campus: Erin Knox 
  • Honourable mentions, on campus: Andrew Thomas, Julie Do, Sheliza Ismail
  • Employer  winner, small / medium, off campus: North Star Contracting
  • Honourable mentions: LINKages Society of Alberta, Press + Post              
  • Employer winner, large, off campus: Concorde Entertainment
  • Honourable mentions: Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Scotiabank
  • Employer winner, on campus: Undergraduate Science Centre
  • Honourable mention: University of Calgary International

Science winners

  • Student winner: Brad Ritten
  • Honourable mentions: Katelyn Le, Ray Raffi
  • Employer winner, small/medium: Canadian Wildlife Service      
  • Honourable mention: Hitachi ID Systems
  • Employer winner, large: Manulife
  • Honourable mentions: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Nexen CNOOC Ltd.