Dear WEEP student:

As stated in the course agreement, the ten credits for this course will be granted based on one credit for each 18 hours of verified work experience. These hours are to be recorded weekly on the WEEP logs and are to be verified both through copies of your pay stubs–which you will submit to me--and through conversations that Tamiscal’s work experience coordinator, Sivi Ruder, will have with your employer.

Sivi will act as liaison between you, your employer, and me. She will meet with you at the beginning of your work experience course, initiate contact with your supervisor, and establish job-specific goals and objectives for you. She will also check in with you throughout the semester–both in person and by phone or e-mail. In order to allow Sivi to do her job, you will need to let her know when you will be at work every week so that she can schedule her visits.

In addition to your verified work hours, there is a course requirement of one hour each week of coursework aimed at encouraging an intelligent and healthy attitude toward work as well as developing a sense of responsibility and self-reliance in providing for your own needs. As your main teacher, I will be overseeing this part of the course.

Many of the students enrolled in this course will be employed in entry-level jobs that will seem to have little to do with the work they expect to have when they graduate. Regardless of the job that you have undertaken, your job provides an opportunity for you to assess your value as an employee as well as to formulate your personal expectations from the work world. You will be asked to reflect on the contributions to your employer that your work makes to justify your salary; you will also need to identify the skills that this employment experience adds to your personal employment value.

During finals week you will be required to make a presentation in which you summarize your accomplishments this semester and to submit an updated work portfolio. Please note that the weekly completion of this required one-hour assignment is the only attendance that is recorded but that it does not count toward the credit hours. Also please note that your work hours do not count toward your attendance requirements.

The material contained in this packet is aimed at helping you make the assessments required and to provide you with the material you will need in order to put together your work portfolio and to make your final presentation. Bring the packet with you to your weekly meetings.

Sincerely,