Tap into Roux Talent: Three questions with Tracey Spinato

What could an injection of new skills and ideas do for your organization? At Northeastern University’s Roux Institute, three different programs enable Maine businesses and nonprofits to access cutting-edge expertise in fields like data analytics, AI, computer science, and project management. We sat down with Tracey Spinato, director for experiential education, to learn more about how organizations can advance their strategic goals by tapping into Roux student talent.

I’ve never worked with Northeastern before. What are my options?

With three signature experiential learning programs to choose from, there’s one that will meet your needs:

• Co-ops are six-month-long, full-time periods of employment. Co-ops typically work 32-40 hours per week, are paid an hourly rate, and work from either January – June or July – December. The co-op program provides employers with access to a consistent talent pipeline, top-tier talent, and a pipeline for full-time, permanent hires. When hiring a co-op, you have the opportunity to tap into Roux learners as well as students from across Northeastern’s network.
• Experiential Network Projects (XN) are short-term, course projects sponsored by industry and completed by a class of Roux graduate student learners. During these projects, students tackle a defined business problem with faculty guidance. This is a light-touch opportunity for employers (requiring an estimated one hour of employer time per week) and are offered at zero cost to organizations. These projects typically run from 6-12 weeks.
• Working Lab consulting projects are the perfect fit for organizations looking for project-based work, with graduate student deliverables advised by a faculty expert. The duration and cost of these projects is flexible and based upon project scope and timeline. Recent projects have taken from six weeks to three months.

What are some examples of successful projects?

The sky’s the limit when it comes to tapping into graduate student talent. Here are a few examples of how our students drive real world impact through our experiential learning programs:

• Miranda Shinn, project management co-op at Luke’s Lobster: Miranda leveraged her in-class learning to serve as the program manager of Lift All Boats. A Luke’s Lobster nonprofit, Lift All Boats helps young Mainers enter the lobstering industry, one in which it can be challenging to gain a foothold. Her co-op turned into a full-time job. “Everything that Miranda’s brought with her experience in project management has just professionalized the organization and made it feel like it’s its own standalone entity and not just a thing we were trying to do on the side,” observed Ben Conniff, co-founder and chief innovation officer at Luke’s.
• LifeFlight of Maine XN: LifeFlight of Maine, the state’s only air ambulance service, ensures that everyone in Maine has access to critical care and medical transport. The organization teamed up with Roux analytics students to identify how they could shorten the time it takes for one of its flight crews to respond to an emergency once a call comes in.
• Working Lab: A team of Roux students partnered with cPort Credit Union to build a predictive guidance tool that informs the credit union’s strategy and helps identify opportunities for customers. A second team of students is currently working with the credit union to build an AI chatbot capable of live, verbal engagement to facilitate language translation for customers in branch locations.

I’m interested! How can I learn more?

Join us on Wednesday, September 10 for the Tap Into Roux Student Talent webinar. You’ll connect with members of our Experiential Learning Team and learn more about co-ops, Working Lab, and XN projects. Want to get started right away? Reach out to the team by emailing [email protected].