Originally published on the Arts Co-op Program website
Each year, the Arts Co-op Program recognizes a MAS co-op student for outstanding achievement in all aspects of student performance, including academics, the workplace, and contributions to co-operative education and extra-curricular activities. This year’s winner, Grant Hurley, was honoured for his work term with Teck Resources Limited, where his supervisor Terra Dickson described his work as being “top notch!”
Grant’s phenomenal grades, commitment to personal, academic and career development, and his outstanding performance evaluation by his supervisor illustrate why he deserves the distinction of UBC iSchool MAS Co-op Student of the Year.
Excellence in the Workplace
During his work term at Teck Resources, Grant was able to spend half of his term with the Records Management Team and the other half working with the Corporate Library. He had a wide range of responsibilities, including writing a comprehensive manual of policies, procedures and guidelines for the Corporate Archives, conducting an inventory of potential archival holdings, and assisting in archival reference for employees, members of the Board of Directors, and public researchers. Although Grant had many tasks to complete, his supervisor Terra describes his work as being “thorough and outstanding,” demonstrating his determination and passion to succeed in the workplace.
Grant also showed his willingness to learn during his term at Teck Resources Limited, as he was responsible for organizing and assessing 300 library titles that had been backlogged, and then fully cataloguing 100 of these titles over the last two weeks of his term. Prior to this experience, Grant had not completed librarianship courses, but he was keen to learn. Along with his motivation to develop new skills, Terra says that Grant was also able to build connections with his colleagues, and demonstrate “strong communication, analytical and time-management skills which served him and [Teck Resources] well.”
Grant credits co-op with creating “opportunities for even greater self-motivation than the usual schedule of assignments and presentations of an academic term.” He hopes to enter either academic or corporate archives, records and/or librarianship upon graduating from UBC. “I am honoured to have my work at Teck recognized,” he said. “Arts Co-op has given me the confidence and experience needed to enter the workforce.”
