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Co-op Designation

Graduate (MSc) Co-op

Graduate students in Computer Science may choose to pursue a Co-op designation with their degree. The Graduate Co-op program is directed by the Graduate Co-op Coordinator. To receive the Co-op designation upon graduation, students must be registered full-time in a Computer Science MSc program and complete 2 work terms.

  • At the end of the semester in which CS 601 is taken, the student must submit a preliminary work term report, which will form the basis for the grade assigned.
  • At the end of the semester in which CS 602 is taken, the student must submit a final work term report, which will form the basis for the grade assigned.
All graduate co-op students are required to attend an information session, presented by the Graduate Co-op Coordinator, to learn about MSc Co-op requirements and to get advice about choosing courses and creating an academic plan that includes work terms.

Details by Program

MSc in Computer Science (Thesis)
  • Be registered full-time in the Computer Science (MSc) program
  • Have complete at least two (2) University of Regina CS 800-level courses
  • Obtained a minimum grade of 80% in the above courses
  • Have the permission of your thesis supervisor
  •  Unless permission is granted by both the Co-Op Work Term Supervisor and the Faculty Supervisor, students will be unable to take other courses concurrently with CS 601 or CS 602.
  • Students taking CS 602 with only six (6) credits remaining in their program must ensure that they have completed at least one of the two required CS 900 (Seminar) courses first. The second CS 900 (Seminar) course will then need to be taken in the final semester of study.
  • Students should have an academic plan and graduate on an academic term.
MSc in Computer Science (Project)
  • Be registered full-time in the Computer Science (MSc) program
  • Have complete at least two (2) University of Regina CS 800-level courses
  • Obtained a minimum grade of 80% in the above courses
  • Have the permission of your project supervisor
  • Unless permission is granted by both the Co-Op Work Term Supervisor and the Faculty Supervisor, students will be unable to take other courses concurrently with CS 601 or CS 602.
  • Students taking CS 602 with only six (6) credits remaining in their program must ensure that they have completed at least one of the two required CS 900 (Seminar) courses first. The second CS 900 (Seminar) course will then need to be taken in the final semester of study.
  • Students should have an academic plan and graduate on an academic term.
MSc in Computer Science – Data Science

A co-op designation may be added to this graduate program, under the following conditions:

  • an application to pursue a co-op designation may be made at the end of the third semester (after the completion of CS 700, 710, 711, 712, 713, and 714)
  • a minimum average grade of 80% or higher must have been acheived on the courses taken in the first three semesters of the program
  • the arrangement of a co-op placement will be done in collaboration with the Career Centre, during the fourth semester
  • a minimum average grade of 80% or higher must be maintained through the fourth semester of the program (CS 715, 716)
  • the co-op placements will occur during the fifth and sixth semesters; these can be with the same employer or different ones
  • if two semesters of work terms are completed, a co-op designation will be added to your academic record
  • the normal coursework of the fifth semester (CS 719) will take place after the end of the co-op placements (in the sixth or seventh semester, depending on whether one or two co-op terms are taken)
  • students who are on co-op placements must complete CS 718 – Data Science Seminar course in their first co-op term

Note: Acceptance to a Co-op work term is subject to the approval of the Co-op Grad Coordinator. Attaining a Co-op work term is a competitive process through the Career Centre. Credit hours earned on a work term are extra to the credit hours required in the MSc program.

MSc in Computer Science – Human-Centred Computing

A co-op designation may be added to this graduate program, under the following conditions:

  • an application to the co-op designation may be made at the end of the third semester (after the completion of CS 700, 730, 731, 732, 733, and 734)
  • a minimum average grade of 80% or higher must have been acheived on the courses taken in the first three semesters of the progra
  • the arragement of a co-op placement will be done in collaboration with the Career Centre, during the fourth semester
  • a minimum average grade of 80% or higher must be maintained through the fourth semester of the program (CS 735, 736)
  • the co-op placements will occur during the fifth and sixth semesters; these can be with the same employer or different ones
  • if two semesters of work terms are completed, a co-op designation will be added to your academic record
  • the normal coursework of the fifth semester (CS 739) will take place after the end of the co-op placements (in the sixth or seventh semester, depending on whether one or two co-op terms are taken)
  • students who are on co-op placements must complete CS 738 – Human-Centred Computing Seminar course in their first co-op term.
Note: Acceptance to a Co-op work term is subject to the approval of the Co-op Grad Coordinator. Attaining a Co-op work term is a competitive process through the Career Centre. Credit hours earned on a work term are extra to the credit hours required in this program.

Meeting these requirements does not guarantee admission to the Graduate Co-op program. Securing a placement for a Co-op work term  is a competitive process through the Centre for Experiential and Service Learning (CESL) and must be approved by Graduate Co-op Coordinator. Credit hours earned on a work term are in addtion to the credit hours required in your MSc program.

Interested students who believe they meet the eligibility criteria are encouraged to fill out an application form for the Co-operative Education program. Application forms are available at, and should be submitted to, the Co-op Office, which is located in the University of Regina Centre for Experiential Learning on the first floor of the Dr. William Riddell Centre, contact the Co-op office by phone at (306) 585-4600 or by fax at (306) 585-4659. For more information please contact the Graduate Co-op Coordinator.

The Graduate Co-op Coordinator may request a brief outline prepared by the student that details how they plan on progressing through their remaining degree requirements, semester by semester. Academic plans should forecast at least the next 2 full years of the student's program, after the current semester. Students should take into account when required courses are most commonly offered when constructing their plans to ensure their viability. Students should maintain an up-to-date copy of their academic plans at all times. It is useful in determining if and when academic and work placements should be approved. More information about the Academic Plan.

Work Term Report

It is a formal technical report. The overall format is similar to the undergraduate work term report, but the standard of graduate co-op work term report is higher. It should be about 25 pages long from introduction to conclusion. 

All graduate co-op students should be assigned a supervisor; by the end of the first work term, each graduate co-op student must have a supervisor. The student should contact your supervisor to get advice on choosing the work term report topic. It is incumbent on you to write your report in close consultation with your co-op supervisor who will guide you on how to compose your report. The supervisor is responsible for reading and evaluating the report.  

By the end of the second month of each work term you should select a topic for your work term report. If the work you have been assigned does not lend itself to writing a work term report, the onus is on you to explore potential topics and ask your supervisor if he or she has any topics that would be useful for you to research.

Choosing a topic for a workterm report is sometimes difficult. You are not required to work on something directly related to your work (especially, if your job is not particularly interesting or conductive to such a report). You can pick a different CS topic in any area (e.g., artificial intelligence, computer animimation, computer game design, computer graphics, databases, hardware, programming language design, software engineering methodologies, etc.). Where possible, you should tie the topic to your work experience. For example, if you don't like the operating system used it at your place of work, you might devise a list of useful features for an operating system and then compare the operating system you used to other available operating systems. However, if you are working (say) on a Help Desk and you cannot think of a topic related to your job that is interesting to you, you may choose to write on any technical topic in Information Technology instead.

Remember, the workterm report cannot be something that you're recycling from another class, which would be a violation of the University's academic integrity rules. The workterm report also should not be a day-by-day or week-by-week account of what you did at the office.

If you are still unsure about a topic or how to approach your report please take the following measures:

  • Review the work term report section in your co-op student handbook.
  • Check out some of the research areas of our faculty members. Might any of them relate to the job you are doing? If so, dig in and learn some more of the background for this type of research.
  • Contact the Graduate Co-op Coordinator.

One last reminder: don't leave the report until the end of the work term or start of the academic term. You will find you will not have enough time to complete it!

The report should contain the following items:

  • The cover page with report title, student ID, student name, and the program name. (i.e. Graduate Co-op Work Term Report)
  • A letter of submittal. (a formal business letter)
  • An executive summary. (one page long)
  • A table of contents.
  • Introduction, Background review, Methodologies, Analysis, Conclusion, References.(Future work and Appendix are optional.)

Contact the Graduate Co-op Coordinator

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