While a request is pending, employers and educators must engage in an initial meeting to see if students are a good fit for a project and to set expectations for a cooperative partnership. It is best practice to only accept a request once you have engaged in a thorough conversation and the scope of the project has been agreed upon.
Please use the questions below as a guide to keep your conversations concise and focused and to set your partnership up for success.
Is the project scope from the company clear and complete, and do both parties understand each other’s goals, roles, and responsibilities?
Employers will need to ensure they are able to provide feedback for the students, confirm the requirements on the course page, and provide the essential and appropriate data and information for students to partake in the project. Educators will have varying degrees of involvement and should communicate their role and level of participation with the student groups to the employer.
Does the project meet the needs of the course learning objectives and fit within the students’ abilities?
If not, changes can be proposed and both parties can mutually agree on a revised project scope.
What are each party’s expectations of the students?
Students from many different backgrounds and educational levels use Riipen, so be sure to clarify student level from the educator’s perspective and the expectations of students from the employer’s perspective.
What resources will students need to get started?
Will they need access to financial information? Will they need to analyze data? Is that data readily available for the students to use and analyze or will the employer require students to collect it? Ensure that the employer is ready and prepared to begin working with students by asking questions about how they might begin to engage with students in their in-class projects.
Will either party require students to sign an NDA or any other paperwork?
What confidentiality issues exist and what options are available to resolve these issues? Riipen cannot advise on NDAs or provide a template; the use of additional paperwork, contracts, etc is to be determined by the employer and educator.
What will the typical level and method of communication be (Riipen Messaging, email, Slack, Zoom, etc)?
How often will students be contacting the employer, and how quickly are they expected to reply to student inquiries? Is an in-person meeting required at any point? Will students be working on or off the Riipen platform?
Will both parties be in town and available for questions and concerns throughout the duration of the project? If vacations, business trips, etc are scheduled, is there a secondary contact who will be available for student questions?
Discuss the timeline of the project.
Review the timeline on the course page and ensure both parties are aware of any important dates/milestones/student submission due dates or presentations.
Have both parties verbally agreed to and gone through the company requirements (if any) that are noted at the bottom of the course or internship page?
If company requirements were included on the course or internship page, please also take time to go through them during your initial meeting.
Will the students be working on each matched project or choosing which ones to work on?
After having an array of accepted projects, some educators will invite their students to choose which companies they would like to work with. Sometimes this means that even an accepted match isn’t a guarantee students will work on your project.
For additional support and information, please reach out to the customer success team via email or on LiveChat.
Employers: success@riipen.com | Educators: academicsupport@riipen.com