Introduction

In 2025, a group of Algonquin College School of Business and Hospitality faculty partnered with industry co-mentors and sent themselves on work placement. What follows is the stories of their observations, reflections, and course development from these relationships.

Faculty-Industry Co-Mentorship (FICM) Project Overview

Students have hopes and dreams including personal growth, employment opportunities, economic independence, and meaningful relationships. A College that is future-focused ensures that its programs are responsive to the needs of students through authentic, work-integrated learning experiences and practice. Professors who are connected to their industry know first-hand the issues, challenges, and expectations of the workplace. This project bridged the gap between Professors and employers through work placement and mentorship as part of a faculty Professional Development (PD) plan. These mutually beneficial relationships strengthened curriculum, a force for change in organizational values, and supported a culture of continuous learning and career development.

We have long understood the benefits of the contributions of Program Advisory Committee (PAC) members and employers in our program design and maintenance. Our emphasis on Essential Employability Skills gives our students a competitive advantage. Professors can further support students with first hand knowledge of the demands of the workplace. As Professors advance in their teaching skills, they require intentional interactions with employers to build activities and assessments that meaningfully prepare students for the future. Our relationships with our PAC members could be further strengthened by inviting them to inform curriculum at a deeper level, and meet more of our students through these PD work-placements and mentorship relationships. Post-pandemic workplaces may need to be more flexible, have more diverse workforces, and incorporate disruptive technology. Employers through partnership with Professors can learn how to develop an inclusive culture to prepare for the change in workforce.

THE WHAT

The FICM Project began as a wish to formally recognize and amplify industry partnership work that was being done in pockets throughout our college campus. It also aimed to bring people together in a community of practice (CoP) to address three areas of concern for colleges; providing students with authentic work-integrated and experiential learning (WIL/EL) experiences, nurturing faculty through professional development (PD) opportunities, and supporting students’ employment readiness.

Starting in the fall term, faculty connected with industry partners, either from their own networking circles, or referred by faculty, managers, or our Program Advisory Committee (PAC) membership. Throughout the winter term, the co-mentors would meet through videoconferencing and in-person at each others’ work places and the classroom, to discuss student learning outcomes, course activity, content, assessments design, and employment readiness. Funding was obtained to treat the employer partners to a 3-course or buffet lunch on campus at Restaurant International, our hands-on hospitality and management classroom. During the spring term, faculty would update curriculum and content material to incorporate ideas learned through the co-mentorship.

THE WHERE

Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology (known as Algonquin College) School of Business and Hospitality is located in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Please see our Land Acknowledgement page for more detail.

THE WHY

The world of work is evolving to meet economic ebbs and flows, consumer demands and tastes, and is fueled by technological obsolescence and advancements. Employers are trying to find ways to be more open, flexible, and empathetic so they can attract the best candidates. While each program is informed by Program Advisory Committee (PAC) members, our partnerships with industry could be more intentional; inviting industry to inform curriculum, guest speaker visits, and consult on activities and assessments.

Many Professors in our organization are hired part-time directly from industry, and are very often graduates of the programs they teach in. Students appreciate the immediacy of the workplace experience these faculty bring to the classroom, and the stories they tell that start with: “Today at work I saw, I noticed, I solved or I struggled with…”. These same faculty become top candidates for full-time positions where they will further develop their teaching skills and gain experience working with students. What might get lost is the industry connections, the hands on experience, and the networks of partners and collaborators.

The number one Students Association priority is student readiness for employment. While Essential Employability Skills (EESs) are embedded into the fabric of our programs, the intentions can be missed by students focusing on their technical skill development. Trust is gained when content is relevant, timely, and experiential.

The FICM project is unique in faculty PD and development of WIL/EL. The benefits of the co-mentor relationships are:

• Faculty: re-energized curriculum, new stories to tell
• Students: new practical and people skills, improve employability
• Industry: graduate hires who can solve current problems

This project also supported the following Academic Plan priorities;

PRIORITY 1 – Objective 1: Create programming that reflects the elements of an experiential polytechnic education – assignments co-created with employer partners motivate students to learn skills and develop behaviours that promote growth.

PRIORITY 1 – Objective 3: Build vibrant and enduring relationships with alumni, industry, and community partners. – Our PAC participation needs nurturing and must be seen as reciprocal. This activity places the Professor as learner.

PRIORITY 3 – Objective 1: Engage the College Community in continuous professional development. Faculty who have developed excellent teaching skills also need to remain current in industry knowledge, trends in employer/employee relations, and new demographic data.

PRIORITY 3 – Objective 2: Support faculty in maintaining and enhancing their subject matter and teaching expertise. This project is about reconnecting Professors with their subject matter.

THE WHO

The project started with a School of Business and Hospitality Academic Chair and an FICM Coordinator, who recruited 25 experienced faculty who would connect with a PAC or industry partner for an academic year (fall to spring 2024-2025). The co-mentors would meet in-person and virtually to discuss their course specifically, and how it fits within the program. The faculty member would visit the industry partner at their workplace to job shadow, observe culture and processes, and reflect on related in-class activities and assessments. Finally, the industry partner was invited as a guest speaker to one of the classes, and a thank you lunch. The project was funded by the Academic Plan Innovation Fund, and all monies remained within the organization, supporting students in hospitality and restaurant management courses and programs.

THE HOW

Project Timeline

Fall Term (Coordinator – 140 hours)

• Develop application form, recruit faculty participants via direct contact and MyAC
• Reach out to PACs, industry partners, employers, OTFT and create database of co-mentor interest by organization type
• Design Teams page with links to resources (model faculty, best practices, current research and journal articles, open-education texts) for the development of experiential and work-integrated student projects, in-class activities, assignments, community service opportunities, etc.
• Create database of community service organizations in need of resources and support
• Interview faculty applicants and match to industry co-mentor partner
• Book and facilitate mentorship training sessions, community of practice for participants, and meet one-on-one where needed
• Attend related WIL/EL conferences and Communities of Practice

Winter Term (Coordinator 140hrs)

• Provide training and guidance for industry co-mentors
• Support with scheduling and co-mentors site visit and class visit activities
• Review WIL and EL activity design and provide feedback and referrals to support as required
• Identify and additional site visit and partnership opportunities
• Submit top achievements to MyAC and LinkedIn on behalf of SoBH
• Liaise with departments for PAC membership and OTFT growth and opportunities

Winter Term (faculty 2 hrs/week)

• Meet regularly (virtual or in-person) with Coordinator and industry co-mentor
• Review current course content for WIL and EL activities
• Organize site visit/s
• Host co-mentor for a class visit and lunch at AC (50 lunches at $40/person = $2,000 budget)
• Collect and review student ideas and feedback for course edit/enhance/additions

Spring Term (Coordinator 10hrs/week)

• Support, or refer faculty to LTS and other resources for activity and assessment design
• Collect, write, and submit findings to peer-reviewed publication, develop conference presentation on program’s successes, challenges and suggestions for adaptation at other institutions.

Spring Term (faculty 2 hrs/week as part of regular course maintenance hours)

• Prepare WIL/EL for F25 delivery

About the author

name: Angela Lyrette

institution: Algonquin College

Angela Lyrette is a full time Professor and Educational Developer at Algonquin College. Angela holds a Master’s Degree in Education, specializing in workplace and adult learning from the University of Calgary, a Teaching Adult Lifelong Learners Certificate (with Honours) from Algonquin College, and a variety of financial services designations from the Canadian Securities Institute. A self-professed life-long learner, her curiosity and enthusiasm for teaching, learning, and serving the community is evident in her body of work.