CEWIL Resource Hub: Preparing for WIL at Conestoga College

HSTrax is a software tool designed and developed by Conestoga College. It allows placement personnel to quickly and easily check whether a student has satisfied all the requirements they need to meet (e.g. health and safety training, police checks, medical testing, etc.) before beginning a placement.
HSTrax is fully integrated with the college’s student information system. It centralizes document collection, tracks individual student completion, and provides full information on students’ pre-placement requirements.
Students can print out a personal health and safety “passport” that captures their requirements and can be easily submitted to their placement sites.
HSTrax has been adapted and adopted by several other institutions, including Mohawk College and Collège Boréal.

Key success factors

HSTrax replaced a system in which tracking was outsourced to a provider that handled requirements and student communication. The use of this service was expensive for students, and the requirements weren’t managed in a way that meant they’d be valid for a student’s entire placement period. The college didn’t have information on when students’ requirements were expiring, or whether contractual obligations were being met. HSTrax allows for much closer monitoring.

HSTrax features lots of back-end coding to ensure that access is limited to those who need it, e.g. nursing instructors can only view requirements for nursing students. Maintaining privacy is a focal point of the system.
The system now allows online submissions, so students don’t have to submit their information using paper. Everything is linked through HSTrax, so if they lose a paper copy of a document, they have a copy online.
Students have access to their health and safety passport through HSTrax for a year after their program ends.
The program allows for multiple levels of requirements (e.g. one-step vs. two-step TB testing).
Students can be sent auto-alerts about their requirements’ expiry or other relevant criteria.

The logic underpinning the system is complicated and requires routine maintenance, e.g. when requirements change from mandatory to non-mandatory.
HSTrax was built based on an academic year clearance (i.e. wanting students to have their requirements for a full academic year), but some students complete their requirements through part-time jobs, so their requirements don’t always line up with that calendar.
- Conestoga is working on flipping the system to sessional clearance rather than a full academic year.

Type: Preparing for WIL
Year program was established: 2012
Number of students per year: 5,000+ students per term
Programs/academic disciplines participating: Any program that includes an unpaid education placement (e.g. nursing, paramedics, occupational therapy, early childhood education, police foundations, business programs)
Duration of experience: varies depending on the program
Submitted by: Linda Crawford