FNUniv Students Completed First Work-Integrated Learning Experience

The FNUniv Career Centre is excited to announce that students have successfully engaged in a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) experience.

In the Winter 2026 semester, Dr. Arzu Sardarli’s Statistics 100 class collaborated with representatives from Okane Consultants, a mine remediation company known for its extensive work with Indigenous communities. Dr. Sardarli designed a project centered on Okane’s financial data to provide students with hands-on experience in applying statistical methods to real-world data analysis.

A total of 60 students participated in this initiative, which included direct interaction with Mark Calette from Okane. This provided valuable insights into how statistical analysis is applied within the primary industry and offered students a glimpse into potential career paths.

The FNUniv Career Centre is eager to broaden the scope of work integrated learning experiences in future courses. The goal is to connect students with sought-after employers and enhance experiential learning opportunities that can improve their competitiveness in the job market.

Dr. Arzu Sardarli shared his reflections on the WIL experience:

“In Winter 2026, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Okane representatives, Mark Calette and Katie Schubert, to enhance my course, Elementary Statistics for Applications (STAT 100). We organized several remote meetings to effectively integrate their insights with the course objectives.

With 60 students in the class, we structured their engagement on two levels: practical, through presentations, and theoretical, via data analysis. During a lecture, Mark presented via Zoom, introducing Okane, outlining the company’s mission, and sharing their work with Indigenous communities, as well as demonstrating how they utilize data and statistical analysis in their projects.

Additionally, Katie provided financial datasets from Okane, which I used to design a course project where students applied the statistical methods we studied.

Overall, I found this experience to be both interesting and valuable, and I would be eager to participate again in future projects.”

Stay tuned for the next Work-Integrated Learning Initiative in the near future.