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.

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 learners, provide the essential and appropriate data and information for learners to partake in the project. Educators will have varying degrees of involvement and should communicate their role and level of participation with the learner groups to the employer.

What are each party’s expectations of the learners? Learners from many different backgrounds and educational levels use Riipen, so be sure to clarify learner level from the educator’s perspective and the expectations of learners from the employer’s perspective.

What resources will learners need to get started? Will they need access to financial information? Will they need to analyze data? Is that data readily available for the learners to use and analyze or will the employer require learners to collect it? Ensure that the employer is ready and prepared to begin working with learners by asking questions about how they might begin to engage with learners in their in-class projects.

Will either party require learners 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 message center, email, Slack, Zoom, etc.)? How often will learners be contacting the employer, and how quickly are they expected to reply to learner inquiries? Is an in-person meeting required at any point? Will learners 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 learner questions?

Review the timeline on the experience page and ensure both parties are aware of any important dates.

Will the learners 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 learners to choose which companies they would like to work with. Sometimes this means that even an accepted match isn’t a guarantee learners will work on your project.

For additional support please reach out to the customer success team via email or on LiveChat. Employers: success@riipen.com | Educators: academicsupport@riipen.com