For Employers

With opportunities including (and well beyond!) traditional co-op placements, Experiential Learning at Trent University is accessible and worthwhile for all types of organizations.

Trent students are eager to take on new challenges in exciting and creative environments. Whether it be in a traditional work environment, out in the field, on a stage, or in a competition, our students are ready to get involved. 

Gain a valuable team member with fresh ideas from the number one undergrad school for producing the leaders of tomorrow, and bring a student’s education to life. 

How Can You Engage with Students at Trent University?

• Host a volunteer
• Host a field placement student 
• Host a Co-op Placement (Computing Information Systems and Conservation Biology)
• Engage in Community Based Research
• Engage in a Workplace Project
• Join TrentUConnect for Community Partners
• Create an account on the Student Experience Portal for access to:
  • ​Posting opportunities on the Trent Student Job Board
  • Registering for Careerspace events
  • Registering for on-campus recruitment (table display or information session)
  • Hostings on-campus interviews 

For a full list of experiential learning opportunities, visit our page that outlines opportunities that are Outside the Classroom. Reach out to Careerspace today to get your organization started with Experiential Learning at Trent!

Email worklink@trentu.ca or call us at (705) 748-1011 x 6011.

For a full list of our team members, visit our Contact Us page.

TrentUConnect for Community Partners

Are you a professional who is interested in acting as a mentor to Trent students and recent graduates? Check out TrentUConnect for Community Partners.

Types of Experiential Learning

Trent Community Research Centre

Through the Trent Community Research Centre (TCRC), students gain academic credit and experience by undertaking supervised research projects with local community organizations. In community-based research, the questions come from the community and, using credible research methods, community members, researchers, professors and students work collaboratively to find the answers. During the past twenty years, hundreds of students have completed successful projects that have made a significant contribution to the greater-Peterborough community. Our students gain invaluable skills and experience that prepare them for graduate school and beyond. A wide array of applied research opportunities exist in the form of thesis, reading course, or community-based research.

Community Service Learning

Students work in partnership with a community-based organization to apply their disciplinary knowledge to address identified community need or global issues. Many community service opportunities are available through the Trent Community Research Centre.

Placements, Practica and Internships

From Social Work to Forensic Science, Education to Nursing, Health Sciences to the School of the Environment, Trent students earn academic credit in a variety of settings throughout Ontario and beyond.

Currently, placement, practica and internship opportunities exist in 14 departments at Trent. One example are the placement opportunities in Business Administration are available in a variety of business sectors within the Greater Peterborough and Durham Region, to students enrolled at various programs at Trent. Another example includes the placement in Medical Sciences and Placement in Health Sciences allow students interested in medical/health science the best opportunity to prepare for careers in medical or applied health research, teaching, and med school.

Co-op

Trent has two academic programs with competitive co-op options that allow students to gain invaluable hands-on experience over three, 12-week, full-time paid work terms:

Computing Systems Co-op – real-world experience in the exciting and rapidly growing information technology industry
Conservation Biology Co-op – provides graduates with career advantages and the skills and knowledge to help protect the world’s most vital organisms and at-risk wildlife

Field Experiences

Many programs at Trent have a field component, where students explore academic content in a purposeful way outside the classroom through field trips and/or field work in Canada or abroad.

Trent offers many field work opportunities on campus or in the local area, including the McLean Oliver Ecological Centre, the Trent University Nature Areas, the Trent Experimental Farm, the Trent Vegetable Garden and the Crime Scene House.

Workplace Projects

Engage with a student to identify issues or opportunities and develop solutions or strategies to industry problems. (e.g., consulting projects)