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1569 Queensdale Avenue

Ottawa, ON, K1T 1J3
acouc053@uottawa.ca

10 May 2021

Professor Jean-Sébastien Marier

Department of Communication
Co-op Academic Coordinator
55 Laurier E. (DMS)
Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5

Subject: Winter 2021 Work-Term Report: ACP 3901

As my Summer 2020 CO-OP work-term was canceled, the Winter 2021 work-term was my
second of four work-terms. My report “My Work-Term with uOSatisfaction” is a
non-confidential report that summarizes and analyzes my work-term project at uOSatisfaction. I
recognize the assistance provided to me to write this report and state this report is my original
work.

Over the course of the winter, I worked at the University of Ottawa Student Satisfaction Action
Group and the Communication Team of the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic
Affairs under the supervision of manager Véronic Tardif. During my time with Student
Satisfaction Action Group, I held the position of Communication Assistant, where I was
responsible for categorizing and assigning student interactions. I would like to acknowledge my
supervisor Véronic Tardif and Communications and Special Project Officer Julie Gareau, who
helped me immensely over the course of my work-term and contributed to my successful project.

Looking back over the past four months of my time at the University of Ottawa Student
Satisfaction Action Group, I can confidently say that my T2 CO-OP work-term was a success.
This work-term has provided me with the opportunity to explore concepts previously discussed
in numerous Communication courses at the University of Ottawa. My work-term has allowed me
to expand my work skills immensely, and the experience that I have acquired will aid me in
future endeavors. I was given the opportunity to work for a team that strives to improve the
University student experience. Through this work, I have developed professional relationships
with numerous members of the University staff and have developed a work-oriented mindset that
will last throughout my future career. This work-term was a success in every conceivable way
and I am grateful for this experience. I would like to thank the University of Ottawa CO-OP
Office for providing me with this opportunity and offering me an enjoyable work-term full of
learning and growth.

Alexandre Coucopoulos

Alexandre Coucopoulos
300072748
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My work-term with uOSatisfaction

Professor Jean-Sébastien Marier

Alexandre Coucopoulos (300072748)

ACP 3901

University of Ottawa

10 May 2021
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Abstract

The organization with which I did my internship was the University of Ottawa Student

Satisfaction Action Group. I worked as a Communication Assistant for the Office of the Provost

and Vice President for Academic Affairs My work-term report will provide a description of my

work-term duties and the projects that I undertook alongside my co-workers. I then discuss my

performance and learning objectives that I set out to achieve this work-term, alongside the

methods I followed to achieve these objectives. Afterwards I explain in-depth how the concepts I

learned in my university courses were applicable to my position as a Communications Assistant.

Finally I reflect on my work-term and the CO-OP process as a whole, such as the valuable

experience I have acquired and what I learned from the interview process.

Key Words:
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction................................................................................5

2. Description of Work-Term Duties.............................................................................................6

3. Performance Objectives..................................................9

4. Learning Objectives............................. ..........................................10

5. Application to Theoretical Learning................................................................................11

6. Work-Term Reflections.....................................................................................14

7. Conclusion.................................................................................................................16

8. References..........................................................................................................17

9. Appendix 1...........................................................................................18

10. Appendix 2.................................................................................................19

11. Appendix 3...................................................................................................20

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Introduction

During my Winter 2021 CO-OP work-term, I worked at the University of Ottawa Student

Satisfaction Action Group as a Communication Assistant. Created in 2018, uOSatisfACTION is

an initiative of the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to improve the

overall university experience. Initially managed by a student satisfaction task force, the project

has been taken over by an operational team within the Cabinet that works closely with faculty

and departments. François Chapleau, a professor in the Faculty of Science, is the leader of this

team, which is made up of students, employees and professors. This initiative is now well known

by students who use it to offer feedback on all aspects of their academic life. Since its launch in

2018, uOSatisfACTION has received over 5,000 comments that have been and continue to be

addressed as quickly as possible. The primary objective of the Student Satisfaction Action Group

is “to place the student community at the heart of its educational mission and to offer students a

rich and inspiring experience.” (Listen, Understand, Act 2018-2019 Report) As a

Communication Assistant, I had to develop and implement various strategies in order to reach

out to various communities within the university, such as the students, professors, and

administrative staff. A large portion of my work-term duties included treating emails through the

Talisma database. Other tasks included maintaining and updating numerous ongoing Excel

spreadsheets in order to create a report highlighting key student comments and creating

presentations in order to present them to various teams among the University Staff.

This work-term report will discuss the work that I completed during my internship with the

Student Satisfaction Action Group and the skills I developed along the way. Then I will draw

certain comparisons between applied concepts and those explored in various university courses.

Finally, I will highlight the ways in which this experience will serve me throughout my career.
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Description of Work-Term Duties

My position at the University of Ottawa Student Satisfaction Action Group was entitled

as a Communication Assistant. I was largely responsible for treating emails through the Talisma

database. These emails were comments sent to us by students and staff members with

complaints, suggestions, questions or comments they desired to express. Treating emails is the

first step in trying to improve the university experience and consisted of certain key steps: first I

would thoroughly read the email in order to comprehend its contents. Then I would reply to the

student or staff member, provided they gave their contact information. Afterwards I categorized

the emails and assigned them to the corresponding team member so that they may pursue the

interaction in greater detail with the appropriate faculty. These steps are crucial and demand an

understanding of the University’s numerous departments and services. Thus, at the beginning of

my work-term and as it continued, I learned a lot about the internal structure of the University

and its various faculties. One of the primary projects at uOSatisfACTION is sending out emails

to students on a biweekly basis. On January 19th we sent out an email to students pursuing

post-graduate studies, asking them to voice their opinion on their student experience thus far.

This continued on every second week, as we sent it out to different student groups, such as first

year students and students with special needs. The goal of this is to try and gain a large

understanding on how students feel about their university experience and what can be done to

improve it. Given the circumstances brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic, university

courses were transitioned to an online learning style. This led to many students being vocal about

their online learning experience and gave us a very good idea on where students would like to

see improvement. My understanding of the Talisma database and of the University’s departments
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was crucial, as I had to categorize and assign these emails effectively and accurately to assure

that the proper actions are taken to treat them.

I also took part in the development of a large report, summarizing the type of comments

we received and the actions we took to resolve the complaints. This report requires numerous

steps to complete. The first step was taking all the comments received from March 2020 to

March 2021 and separating them appropriately. Within this time frame, we received 1742

comments, ranging from requesting lower tuition fees to highlighting the difficulties faced with

online learning in the midst of a pandemic. All of these comments had to be divided into

numerous smaller documents, separated by source. Sources are the primary way to categorize the

interactions. These sources range from faculties, such as the faculty of Art, Science or Telfer to

various services such as CO-OP, SAEA or Sports. Thus, I spent many hours categorizing all

1742 comments by source in order to allow my team to have access to this information in an

efficient manner in order to move forward with the development of the report. The next step is

gathering all the information and translating it into visual charts. Although the current report is

yet to be completed, the previous report entitled “Listen, understand, act 2018-2019” contains

numerous graphs depicting the gender division, year of study and many more statistics of our

student audience. Although my CO-OP work-term is over before the report is completed, I was

offered a part-time position during the summer with uOSatisfACTION and will continue to work

on the report alongside my colleagues until its completion.

Moreover, I was given the opportunity to conduct a presentation. The presentation was

given to the Communications team at the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic

Affairs. This presentation discussed how the other members of the uoSatisfACTION team and I

deal with student interactions. It went into great detail about the steps taken to try and resolve an
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interaction, such as how experts are consulted for each interaction in order to determine the

appropriate follow-up. I then went into detail about the various ways my colleagues have

successfully managed to improve the university experience for students. For example, when the

pandemic struck and University courses transitioned into an online learning format,

uoSatisfACTION heard the concerns students had and spoke with various departments to allow

students to select the pass/fail option for a course if they so please. Whilst I was preparing my

presentation, I felt nervous to present it. Given that I had never met any of my colleagues in

person and that this was my first presentation in a professional environment (given that my

previous CO-OP work-term was cancelled), I felt anxious as I wanted it to be successful. I did

not let these feelings stop me from presenting and persevered with my presentation. This was an

immense learning experience for me, and I will only get more and more comfortable with any

presentations I must give in my future endeavors.

Similarly, I participated in a discussion with staff members responsible for email

distribution throughout the University. This conversation had a goal to discover the best strategy

to send emails to students in a timely manner without overwhelming them. Given that I am a

student, I was able to provide my perspective and propose solutions, such as encouraging

students to be able to subscribe to certain newsletters that involve them, rather than distributing

emails to all students regardless of faculty and year of study as is done currently.

Performance objectives

The first performance objective I determined at the start of my CO-OP work-term is

teamwork. Within the four month of my CO-OP term with uOSatisfaction, I had the opportunity

to collaborate with the uOSatisfaction team in order to reach our goals effectively. We held

weekly meetings in order to provide updates on our current situation and speak throughout the
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week to assure everyone is kept up to date with the most recent tasks. During my early weeks at

uOSatisfaction, I worked very closely alongside my co-workers in order to familiarize myself

with the dynamics of the job, the group and the tasks. I then worked alongside them in order to

assure we work as efficiently as possible. Teamwork is an essential work skill for all forms of

work, and by starting to develop it so early on in my career will allow me to continue to develop

it on a more profound level. Thus, I am thankful for the teamwork skills I have developed this

work-term and am eager to continue to develop my skills in future work-terms.

My second performance objective is database management. I was able to achieve this

objective by familiarizing myself with the Talisma database. A primary portion of my CO-OP

position at uOSatisfaction was spent treating emails through this database. Treating emails

includes reading them, categorizing them and assigning them to the correct person. It is

important that these steps are done properly as Talisma holds all of our data. Database

management is an essential skill as Talisma is the heart of the uOsatisfACTION team. Anything

and everything is done through this program, thus it is crucial that it remains accessible and

organized. It was difficult to determine exactly how to categorize each interaction. When I

began my work-term, treating an email was significantly more difficult for me. As the months

went by, and with the assistance of my colleagues, I gradually became much more comfortable

and confident in my ability to manage the Talisma database. This skill will translate well into my

future CO-OP positions and jobs as maintaining and managing a database is essential in assuring

efficiency and productivity in myself and other co-workers. I will take the database management

skills I have learned and will both apply and continue to grow them in future endeavors.

My final performance objective is communication. Communication is an essential

element to any functioning organization. I was fortunate that this was a skill I could practice and
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develop on the daily. My position at uOSatisfACTION has helped me strengthen my written and

oral communication skills in both English and French. Throughout the day I was either

responding to student emails, participating in meetings or messaging my colleagues in order to

discuss future projects. Regardless of the situation, I was always in a state of communicating,

which is why it is essential that my communication is clear and efficient. I must assure the proper

transfer of information to aid my colleagues and I in reaching our objectives. As I complete more

CO-OP work-terms, I will continue to develop and adjust my communication strategies in order

to respond appropriately to different situations. (uOttawa)

Learning objectives

An objective I had not anticipated when I began my work-term is customer satisfaction. I

quickly realized that customer satisfaction is an important element in any job. At uOSatisfaction,

we deal primarily with student satisfaction. “uOSatifACTION has fostered a relationship of trust

between students and the institution, a concrete demonstration that the University cares about the

well-being and the university experience of each student” (Listen, understand, act 2018-2019)

Being able to read their problems and taking the first step towards solving them is the beginning

of my customer satisfaction skills. This led to the development of many useful critical thinking

and problem solving skills. For example, when my colleagues and I discussed when to send an

email to the university students inviting them to share their opinion for the summer semester, I

was able to offer my student perspective on this situation and what I believed the most efficient

way to engage students. Furthermore, my position as a communication assistant allowed me to

learn about the various steps needed to resolve an issue on a corporate level.
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Database analysis is another learning objective that I was able to practice on the daily.

Given that I worked through the Talisma database everyday, I was able to notice various trends in

the type of interactions we received. For example, I had noticed at one point that we were

receiving a very large number of complaints from students in the Social Science department. I

was able to bring this forth to the attention of my colleagues so that further action could be taken.

In order to be able to interpret this information, it is important that the Talisma database is

maintained properly. As such, this is where my previously mentioned database management

skills came into use. This is my first time working with such a complex database and it has

allowed me to develop two crucial work skills alongside each other.

Application to theoretical learning

Many of the tasks I performed during my CO-OP work-term reflected various concepts I

had seen in the University courses I had taken up to this point. For example, my language

courses, such as ENG 1124 - Engaging with Literature and both FRA 1710/1720 - Analyse,

Écriture et Argument I et II, have prepared me for a bilingual working environment such as

uoSatisfACTION. In these courses, I learned how to thoroughly analyze a given text and how to

produce a written document at the University level. Furthermore, these courses also granted me

the opportunity to practice speaking, reading and writing in both English and French. Although

these courses focused on literature, the skills I learned are applicable in a work environment. I

have been able to closely read the interactions received from students and assure I comprehend

their intended meaning. Writing essay assignments for these courses has also aided me in

developing a close attention to detail. This transferable skill is particularly useful when I worked

with our Excel documents as there are many small details to watch for in each document.
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Another series of courses that proved useful in my work-term are both CMN 1548 -

Introduction à la Communication organisationnelle and CMN 2548 - Communication

Organisationnelle. In these courses, I learned about the various communication structures in

different forms of organizations. Many of the forms seen in these courses are applicable to my

work-term. Some of these forms include: external communication, lateral communication,

upward communication and interactive communication. External communication can be found

when sending and receiving emails to students, inviting them to engage and communicate with

us. Lateral communication can be found when interacting with my colleagues, as we are part of

the same team and there is little to no hierarchy between us. Upwards communication can be

found when sending interactions to the appropriate department or service for them to be treated.

Interactive communication is done through a two-way process. In this instance, these took place

through meetings, where we all engage in conversation and communicate our ideas together.

Knowing these various forms of organisational communication allowed me to enhance my

adaptability whilst communicating depending on my audience.

Many of the concepts seen in my CMN 2135 - Public Speaking course found themselves

useful in my work-term this semester. In this course, I learned and practiced speaking concepts

such as effective pacing, eye contact, tonality and pronunciation. Although personally I have

always been comfortable speaking publicly, a professional environment such as the University of

Ottawa Student Satisfaction Action Group can be intimidating for someone who was originally

inexperienced such as myself. This work-term provided an excellent opportunity for me to

practice these concepts and familiarize myself with speaking in a professional environment. As

previously mentioned, I performed two presentations to this semester, which provided me an

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excellent opportunity to apply these concepts in a practical situation. I enjoy speaking publicly

and I am eager to continue to develop my public speaking skills in future CO-OP work-terms.

Finally, many of the concepts seen in my CMN 2101 - Research Methods in

Communication were present during my work-term with uoSatisfACTION. In this course I

learned about qualitative and quantitative research methods. I also took courses focusing on each

of these research methods, CMN 3102 - Quantitative Research Methods and CMN 3103 -

Qualitative Research Methods. Quantitative research is “more conclusive and will pertain to

larger populations'' (McGill) whilst qualitative research “seeks to build an understanding of

phenomena” and seeks to “understand participants’ own perspectives as embedded in their social

context”. (McGill) In both of these courses, I had to take given data and write a report on the

findings of this information. However, in my CO-OP work-term, I got to work directly with

these methods. I believe the emails sent out to students functioned as both quantitative and

qualitative research. They are quantitative as they are sent out in large numbers to a large group

in an attempt to receive as much feedback as possible. They are qualitative because numerous

complex interactions require a better understanding of the situation in order to be resolved.

Furthermore, when requiring more information from the student, we will reply to them asking for

more information, allowing us to be far more accurate in our actions, a common methodology in

qualitative research. I believe my CO-OP work-term with uoSatisfACTION has granted me a

unique opportunity to better understand these research methodologies. Although I did not govern

the research myself, I worked closely with the data, allowing me to directly apply the concepts

learned in my communication courses.

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Work-term reflections

Before the beginning of my work-term, I was eager to gain valuable work experience in

my field of study and to apply the concepts learned in various university courses to a real life

setting. Both of these expectations were met to great success. My time as a Communications

Assistant has taught me how valuable work experience is. Working in a professional institution

requires dedication, motivation, teamwork and many more skills. I was fortunate enough to begin

developing these skills at a professional level with my CO-OP work-term at uoSatisfACTION. I

am fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to work part-time during the summer. In this

time, I will continue to develop the skills previously mentioned in my report, whilst acquiring

new ones. Moreover, I am rather satisfied with how my courses proved useful in my work-term.

University courses are generally theoretical in nature, which is why I was unsure how the courses

I have taken could directly impact my work-term. I was pleasantly surprised as to how useful

these courses were during the four months I spent at uoSatisfACTION and look forward to

discover how my future courses will help me in my future work-terms and career.

The interview process, albeit stressful at times, is a very important step of the work-term.

Constructing my resume allowed me to reflect on the skills and experiences I already have and

determine which ones I would like to develop throughout my work-term. This guided my

decision making when selecting which jobs I wanted to apply for. With this work-term

completed, I will update my resume and aim on expanding my acquired skills. This was my first

time participating in online interviews and I am thankful the experience was just as seamless as

in person. These interviews allowed me to express myself to various employers in both English

and French. Many questions caught me off-guard, yet I was able to answer them adequately.

Online interviews also encouraged me to be confident in myself and what I was saying.
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In-person interviews allow more room for body language and non-verbal communication, which

is not as present in online interviews. Thus, I made sure to reflect on the questions asked and

assure I was happy with my answer. For my future CO-OP interviews, I will consider the

questions asked this semester in order to better prepare myself for any type of question.

This work-term helped me learn and develop many skills I had not previously considered.

As previously mentioned, my position at uoSatisfACTION gave me the opportunity to develop

my customer satisfaction skills. My only other work experience with customer satisfaction

comes from the students to whom I teach piano. However, this is very one-on-one and allows for

an easy opportunity to work with customers to shape lessons accordingly. In my CO-OP

work-term, customer satisfaction is on a much larger scale. The University of Ottawa contains

tens of thousands of students. The University of Ottawa Student Satisfaction Action Group takes

into account the opinion of every student, so long as they desire to share their experiences. Thus,

while I was working, I was witnessing how the staff at the University of Ottawa try to satisfy as

many students as possible. I also communicated with students, assuring them that their

comments will be taken into consideration. This was an excellent learning opportunity as I enjoy

discovering and enhancing new skills in different contexts than those that I am used to. I am very

pleased with this work-term as I met my objectives and refined old skills that I would not have

developed otherwise.

At the moment, I have no specific organization in mind for my next CO-OP work-term. I

am inclined to try and get a position in the government as that is what my first CO-OP work-term

would have been. However, what I value the most is finding a position that will allow me to

continue to develop my skills and acquire new ones. I believe every position has something

unique to offer and I am eager for my next work-term.

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Conclusion

I am happy to say that I believe my 2021 Winter semester CO-OP work-term was a

meaningful experience. Despite being online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my position as a

Communications Assistant at the University of Ottawa Student Satisfaction Action Group

provided me with an educational work environment. Weekly team meetings continuously raised

team morale, even though we weren’t able to communicate in person. I have no suggestions in

order to try and improve the work environment as I found it very pleasant.

My CO-OP work-term provided me with the opportunity to immerse myself in a

professional work environment, granting me experiences and skills I have not been previously

capable of developing. The skills I have developed this semester will undoubtedly follow me into

my future positions and career. I am thankful that my position was with the University of Ottawa

as I learned a lot about how the University functions and how communication flows from one

department to another. My university courses have proved useful as I was able to incorporate

many of the material covered in those courses into this work environment.

The CO-OP experience was easy and efficient. There were many positions to choose

from and interviews transitioned into the online environment rather easily. The only suggestion I

bear in mind is to allow students more time to decide whether or not they want to select a certain

position. I think it is important to allow students to finish all their interviews before making such

an important decision. Otherwise, I am thankful for the CO-OP program and the experiences I

have earned. I look forward to continuing to develop my professional skills in my next

work-term.
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References

“Institutional Competencies-Communication”, uOttawa, consulted on 23 April 2021.

https://www.uottawa.ca/shape-your-experience/competencies/communication

“Listen, understand, act”, Student Satisfaction Action Group, consulted on 20 April 2021.

https://www.uottawa.ca/vice-president-academic/sites/www.uottawa.ca.vice-president-ac

ademic/files/uosatisfaction_rapport_2018-2019_-_final_en_accessible_v2.pdf

“What is the difference between Qualitative or Quantitative Research?”, McGill Qualitative

Health Research Group, consulted on 22 April 2021.

https://www.mcgill.ca/mqhrg/resources/what-difference-between-qualitative-and-quantita

tive-research
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Appendix 1 - Employer’s Mid-term evaluation

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Appendix 2 - Employer’s Final Evaluation

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Appendix 3 - Student Work-Term Evaluation

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