The members of the first Northeastern Experiential Team (NExT) describe their learning experience in many ways. Fantastic. Unique. Useful. Holistic. Collaborative. Fun. Open to risk-taking.  

For fifth-year data science major Cameron Plume, one element made the past six months really stand out: What his team built together was their own. 

“It was this awesome experience where we got to make those decisions, figure out why some of our decisions were very wrong in real time, and then iterate and get better,” Plume said. “You have ownership over the thing you’re building, and that makes you more invested in its success.”  

As part of the program’s first cohort, Plume, along with teammates Alexander Angione, Nicholas Tietje, Nandini Ghosh, Sebastian Tremblay, and Kenneth Chen, worked first on an email notification management application for the State Street financial services corporation. They then created a new computer science assessment platform called GitMarks for Khoury College itself, which will be deployed for testing at the end of the spring 2025 semester.  

Following the success of the pilot cohort, Khoury College is expanding the program to include another partner, Verizon, with the aim of adding more employers and students in the short term and expanding NExT to other Northeastern colleges in the long term.  

What is NExT? 

In some ways, NExT resembles a traditional co-op. Students apply through NUWorks, interview with the program’s managers, and are hired full-time for four to six months. They work out of an office in Boston’s Financial District and are paid in line with industry standards. 

In other ways, NExT is a fundamentally different co-op experience, said NExT member Alex Angione, a fourth-year computer science major who previously completed two traditional co-ops.  

“We have a lot more access to the project as a whole,” Angione said. “In the beginning, we are ideating on what this project should be based on the requirements given to us. We are designing the solution. We are doing a lot of tasks that would be delegated to a senior developer.”  

Multiple NExt participants compared this independence to working at a consulting firm. They had the freedom and responsibility to manage the whole project, from business-side tasks like market analysis and branding to technical tasks like designing, architecting, testing, and refining their solution. 

“All the previous companies I worked at were very large corporations, so you’re coming in as an intern or co-op and you’re assigned a feature functionality; maybe you get lucky with owning a couple features,” said Tremblay, a fourth-year computer science and AI major. “What sets this initiative apart is the level of ownership that students have. You’re really in the driver’s seat.”  

After completing what the NExT team refers to as a “collaboration camp” to get oriented to one another and to the tools available to them, the NExT team began defining the requirements of State Street’s proposed application and brainstorming solutions for it. They had the support and mentorship of NExT’s faculty director Mark Fontenot, but according to Fontenot, they barely needed it.  

“They were all so willing to jump in and work on technologies or areas of software development that they didn’t have a lot of experience with,” Fontenot said. “They saw the opportunity in a safe work environment to explore new things that they were interested in, and they would invest their heart and soul into it.” 

The students identified this chance to develop skills of their own choosing, with each selecting a different direction. 

“I did not have a lot of database experience,” Angione said. “But I took the role of the database guy, which was great because it allowed me a hands-on opportunity to learn from two of my peers who used to be database design TAs.” 

For Tremblay, this was a chance to learn about management. 

“The team empowered me to take on a project manager position, which was a fantastic learning opportunity,” Tremblay said. “It was my first time creating an environment that was dynamic and unique to each contributor … I really value the relationships I made.” 

“In a professional environment, it’s easy to get intimidated by senior people, and a lot of the time you’re being evaluated for full-time job offers. That lends an extra level of anxiety to trying new things and asking for help,” Plume added. “With those two things less in the picture, I think people are much more willing to ask to do stuff they’ve never done before. They’re much more willing to ask each other for help, and it builds that collaborative atmosphere.” 

The collaboration was an element the NExT cohort greatly appreciated. While a traditional co-op model places students onto an existing team of professionals, NExT creates a team of peers with a variety of skills and interests. The result, Fontenot said, was a well-oiled group.  

“Seeing everybody’s personal passions has been very motivating,” added Ghosh, a fourth-year computer science and design major. “That has been the foundation of our social dynamic. We’re constantly pushing each other in different ways, to change our perspectives and broaden our mindset.” 

Plume put it more simply: “It’s definitely been fun.”   

GitMarks: a positive pivot 

Of course, it wouldn’t be a pilot program if everything ran smoothly. When the team finished their work with State Street earlier than expected, they had to pivot. For Fontenot and Lauren Heywood, Khoury College’s director of partnership relations and student engagement, it was an early lesson in program adaptability and resilience. 

“Like the students, we learned a lot through this process, and we’ve iterated on our program design,” Heywood said. “For the next experience, we’ve already planned for the scenario of what to do if the project ends early.” 

With three months remaining in the program and a team of students drawn to this opportunity by the agency it offered, Fontenot and Heywood did the only logical thing: They asked the students what they wanted to tackle next. 

”We all identified through our own experiences that there’s a tool gap between computer science curriculums and the way computer science is done in industry,” Plume said, noting that the version control software Git is “the right way to share code, but because it’s not built into the curriculum at Northeastern, undergrads end up doing all sorts of crazy things like emailing each other files and copying and pasting code into a Google Doc.” 

Together, the NExT students came up with GitMarks, a platform which allows Northeastern faculty to assign, receive, and grade student projects using Git. The platform is similar to GitHub Classroom, but better mirrors the interaction interfaces and processes used in industry. It also features a unified grading platform to simplify the feedback process for professors and TAs.  

“We took this from our own experiences as students and TAs,” Ghosh said. “GitMarks ended up being like a baby to this whole co-op, because we could build something from scratch and make an impact on the Northeastern community.”  

At the end of the semester, the NExT team presented a minimum viable product of GitMarks to the chancellor and senior vice chancellor of Northeastern, as well as the deans of Khoury College and the College of Engineering. They also found two professors — Fontenot and Laney Strange — to beta test GitMarks in their classrooms. The product is going so well that three of the six students chose to stay on part-time to continue developing the platform. 

What’s next? 

Following the success of the first group, NExT continued the pilot program and began two new cohorts in January: one with State Street, the other with Verizon. As they scale the program, the NExT leaders are working to preserve those elements that made the first cohort’s experience so special. A big piece of that is Fontenot himself; the students described his attention and care for them and the program as “phenomenal.”  

“Working with the first cohort was one of the highlights of my career,” Fontenot said. “I’m excited about having a hand in shaping the professional development of these six students and the students who are yet to be selected.”  

At the same time, NExT is evolving in response to the first cohort’s feedback. The team has expanded to include a technical communications specialist, Wendy Truran, and a director of industry-aligned student programs, Khoury alumnus James Chang-Davidson. Truran’s work focuses on coaching students on effective professional communication, fostering positive team dynamics, and working with the directors to develop the program, while Chang-Davidson provides day-to-day support and helps the students interface with their industry partner. 

READ: James Chang-Davidson leads Northeastern racing team to success 

“We’re building students into self-sufficient, self-organizing software engineering teams, but we were missing a staff member who could be available for the majority of the work week,” Chang-Davidson explained. “So, I’m stationed with the students this spring; my desk is next to all of theirs and I can support them throughout the program.”  

“This practicum arguably has been the best learning experience out of my four work experiences,” Tremblay said. “I would highly encourage students to do it; I think it’s one-of-a-kind.”  

Fired up by the glowing feedback, Heywood is excited to get to work making the new experiential learning option available to more students.  

“It’s great to be in an organization that is comfortable being the trailblazer,” Heywood said. “I’m proud of this experience and I can’t wait to see where it goes.”  

The students in the first cohort are also looking forward; five are graduating in May, and the sixth is moving on to a PlusOne accelerated master’s program. They’ll bring their new technical skills and relationships, but perhaps more important, they’ll bring their new confidence in the road that lies ahead.  

“What stands out most is my joy for design and the value that it holds. I’m really glad that I could add that perspective for my peers at the program; that really reinforced for me that this is what I want to do,” Ghosh said. “It’s reassuring to work in a place and then step out of it knowing that this is the right path for you.”