Our Process

Jointly with the City of Lethbridge, the Prentice Institute (PI) has established a process specific to the WIL opportunities offered:

• Students apply to WIL opportunities advertised prior to the start of each semester.
• The selection of the students follows an interview process by the City, the PI assures that the selection was made according to eligibility and preference criteria (e.g., members of equity-deserving groups).
• The selected students are required to register for the Applied Studies course for disciplinary credit. This implies academic supervision and matching a faculty member from one of the University’s relevant academic programs.

• The City designs a detailed work plan for each student or cohort working on the same project, outlining expectations, goals and deliverables throughout the semester.

• A meeting between City staff (work supervisors) and faculty (academic supervisors) initiates collaboration with the goal of producing coherent and complementary work and academic plans.

• All work plans must include at least one relevant training module for students to complete (e.g., GBA+ by the Government of Canada).

• The City offers an onboarding session and materials to all students. Both City and PI request students to sign confidentiality agreements.

• All students who plan to conduct interviews, community engagement, or work in any manner with human subjects must submit a Request for Determination of Ethics Review.

• At the initial project meeting the roles, responsibilities and expectations for City and Institute staff, and students are clarified.

• Midterm project presentations are given to City staff where each project's progress is presented and where students gather feedback and insights from an array of City staff and committee members.

• The PI provides a poster design and presentation training session and materials for students to prepare academic-format project posters to be presented at a public event at the end of the academic year.

• The PI and the City organize a public event to showcase the projects completed by students.

• The PI distributes anonymous online assessment questionnaires as part of the program evaluation process.

• Payment of an award to students at the end of the semester helps cover the cost of course registration plus incidental expenses.