While researching the co-op archives of the 2000’s decade, our main goal was to examine the co-op process of the times and see how it has evolved into what it is today. We saw that most students wanted clearer communications surrounding co-op, and they hoped for more educational experiences. Most records from this decade are still restricted, so only things that were public domain were available to us.

According to an article from the Boston Globe, around 2000 was when the co-op program as we know it started to take shape. Prior to 2000, students on average took seven 3-month co-ops before they graduated. The point of these short co-ops was to try out a bunch of different jobs so the student could determine what they did and didn’t like. One co-op employer from this time, Pheroza N. Madon from the Montessori Educare school, thought that “the best way for young people to learn [was] by starting at the bottom and master rote, mundane tasks.” She said, “Co-ops are young, naive, and have a lot to learn. Many haven’t ever worked before. They should start off at the lowest level. But that doesn’t mean they can’t learn.” Many students took issue with this line of thinking. Liberal arts co-op positions were essentially glorified internships, with $10-an-hour pay. University president at the time, Richard M. Freeland, heard the feedback coming from students and hoped to revamp the program. His goals were to 1) lengthen the time of a typical co-op from 3 months to 6 months, 2) station co-op coordinators in the individual departments, 3) strengthen the classroom to co-op connection, and 4) create surveys and Internet-based feedback forums. Many faculty members and co-op employers opposed this change because it would make the placement process more competitive. They also felt that it would take away from the century-old program’s central values. But, as we can see from how co-op operates today, Freeland’s plan was eventually enacted, and the co-op program was revamped.

A huge change in the co-op application process from the 2000s to now is how applicants contact their possible future employers. Students had virtually no contact with employers until interviews were conducted. They were only required to submit a resume to their co-op coordinator as well as sort their positions, skills, and interests that they hoped for in a co-op. Once their co-op advisor approved their resume, co-op advisors would then personally send out student resumes to employers who matched student profiles. This was all done through a site called MyNEU COOL (Co-op Opportunities Online). This site is the predecessor of NUworks which is now the main source of finding jobs, internships, and co-op for all Northeastern students. Many students who were around for both sites do claim that although Northeastern’s updated co-op search site was generally a better platform, that doesn't mean it functioned as well in terms of choosing a co-op. Although students did not have the opportunity to methodically apply to the co-ops of their choosing, they were able to rank their offered job positions in a way that made the decision making process far more sufficient and less stressful. Even though there is not much information available in the archives from this decade, there was still a lot to learn about how the current co-op program came to be.