II. H. Volunteer Placements

There are programs that offer no salary by the hosting employer - students are rewarded with work experience alone. This service may be provided by an association in the hosting country, by an academic institution or a national government. Financial support for the student may come in the form of living expenses supplied by the student's own government or perhaps free accommodation by the employer. This model may not meet the criteria for co-op programs in some countries because of accreditation standards that require all students to receive salary during their co-op work terms. Examples of three variations of this model are shown below:

1. Cultural Homestay International. This is a non-profit educational exchange program operating out of the US with "Career ExplorationCo-ordinators'' positioned in Canada and the US. They facilitate the volunteer placements of students to 38 different countries. Most placements last three months. Students travel on visitor visas and must pay their own travel costs and living expenses. Often the students live with a volunteer family in the country visited, thereby reducing their living expenses and extending the experience to include cultural immersion. More information about CHI can be obtained from their website: http://www.chinet.org
2. Monterey Peninsula College. This college regularly places foreign students studying Hospitality Management, Real Estate and Child Development at their campus with employers in the US who provide them with relevant experience. These students are eligible for one-year work permits upon graduation, and they work without salaries for one semester before returning to their home countries. Their institution recognizes their periods of internship and awards one unit of academic credit for each 60 hours on the job. Students working for salary require 75 hours for one unit of credit.
3. National Government. Immigrant Women in Science is a training program that enables women with biological sciences and chemistry degrees to create a career path in Canada based upon their previous experience. It is a six-month course that contains 13 weeks of intensive English language training, five weeks of on-the-job work experience without salary and five weeks of training in job search techniques. Funding comes from the Canadian government through its Canadian Job Strategies Operations of the Canada Employment and Immigration Center.

students do not require a work permit if they are not being employed; employers may respond more favorably when presented with "free" students.	students are unable to recoup travel costs or save for tuition fees; students who aren't legally employed may not be covered by accident insurance; some programs may not recognize unsalaried placements as qualifying for co-op credit; students may encounter resentment from regular employees.

A Guide for Developing International Co-op Programs