RBC Future Launch and Riipen help Sask Polytech prepare students for the changing nature of work
October 15, 2020 – Last year RBC Future Launch, Riipen and Saskatchewan Polytechnic partnered to create more quality work-integrated learning opportunities for School of Information and Communications Technology and School of Business students. Sask Polytech was a part of Phase I of RBC Future Launch’s pilot. Phase I has impacted over 5,400 youth across Canada, including 129 Sask Polytech students, and engaged 15 post-secondary institutions.
Starting this fall, Phase II will expand the partnership’s reach by including an additional 16 higher education institutions across Canada and delivering over 6,000 additional student experiences over the next year. RBC and Riipen’s shared mission is to provide students across Canada with the opportunity to develop the skills and experience they need to thrive in the future of work.
“Sask Polytech was pleased to be included in Phase I of the RBC Future Launch initiative and for our students to access the Riipen platform to work on industry-led projects,” says Dr. Larry Rosia, Sask Polytech president and CEO. “Sask Polytech is committed to keeping work-integrated learning at the centre of our learners’ education experience making technologies like Riipen critically important. We are excited to continue this relationship with RBC and Riipen. Our students completed 17,000 experiential learning hours on the Riipen platform in the 2019-20 academic year. With the way we work changing due to the pandemic, these virtual work-integrated learning experiences are more important now than ever.”
“RBC Future Launch is dedicated to empowering Canadian youth, and ensuring that youth have the tools and experience to thrive in the future world of work,” said Mark Beckles, senior director, Youth Strategy & Innovation, RBC. “We know that hands on, experiential learning is critical to getting those all-important first jobs and breaking the ‘no experience, no job’ cycle, and we are excited to expand our partnership with Riipen so that it can positively impact even more young people in Canada.”
Riipen’s software enables customized, online work-integrated learning, giving students access to opportunities for skills development and professional networking. Students have the opportunity to complete Riipen projects to gain hands-on experience, demonstrate employable skills and network with employers. These virtual internships and co-ops help students prepare for the future of work in an economy undergoing rapid digital transformation. In the 2019-20 academic year 129 Sask Polytech students worked on six projects over the course of two semesters. Many students worked on the same project, creating multiple submissions for the partnering employer.
Sask Polytech is dedicated to providing students with quality experiential education that enables them to develop, apply, and validate the skills necessary to prepare them for work. Work-integrated learning gives students the opportunity to apply the practical skills they learned at Sask Polytech in a work environment and bring work-place skills back to the classroom.
Through this partnership, Riipen connects students in the School of Information and Communications Technology and the School of Business with companies to solve real-world problems through project-based learning experience, for course credit.