CO-OP STUDENTS: Enter Statewide Cool Co-op Contest and Win!

In 2006, the University of Cincinnati celebrated its role as the global founder of cooperative education. (UC invented co-op in 1906 and houses the state’s largest co-op program – and the largest co-op program at any public institution in the United States.)

As part of that centennial celebration, UC inaugurated an annual Cool Co-op Contest where university co-op students could go online to post details and photos from their cool co-op experiences – whether an experience involved helping to launch a rocket or involved working in the French Alps. Because of the contest, students won recognition and prizes of all sorts (along with the traditional professional “earnings and learnings” from their co-op experiences).

This year, UC – in cooperation with the Ohio Cooperative Education Association – is taking the Cool Co-op Contest statewide. Students from 12 participating OCEA member institutions are eligible to enter the contest and win. Entries are accepted through March 31, 2009. 

UC students who have already entered the 2009 contest have co-opped in Australia, Britain, China and Japan, as well as throughout the U.S.

Check out their experiences at the Cool Co-op Contest site and enter your own. And get ready to vote on the coolest of these co-op jobs. From April 5-15, 2009, campus communities and local communities will vote on the coolest co-ops. Ceremonies will be held this May in Columbus to announce the winners and award prizes.

HOW TO ENTER
ENTER the 2009 Cool Co-op Contest.
 
If you as a co-op student have any trouble entering your text and photos or cannot recall the contest site login name and password already e-mailed to you, send a quick e-mail to contest@ohioscoolestcoops.com

WHAT YOU CAN WIN
Winning students will receive prizes worth at least $100 – such as portable DVD players, MP3 players, digital cameras, $100-value Visa gift cards and more.

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

• University of Cincinnati 
• University of Akron 
• Bowling Green State University 
• Case Western Reserve University 
• Cincinnati State Technical and Community College 
• University of Dayton 
• Defiance College 
• College of Mount St. Joseph 
• Ohio Northern University 
• Ohio State University 
• Wright State University 
• Xavier University 

MORE ABOUT CO-OP
Cooperative education, or co-op as it’s commonly called, is where students alternate quarters or semesters in the classroom with quarters or semesters of paid, professional work related directly to their majors.

• UC’s co-op program is ranked among the nation’s Top Ten program by U.S. News & World Report.

• In the current 2008-2009 year, UC students are expected to co-op and to earn a collective $37 million.

• According to the National Commission for Cooperative Education, 95 percent of co-op students have jobs immediately upon graduation. Sixty percent of these co-op students take permanent jobs with their co-op employers upon graduation.

• Read more background on co-op. 
• Visit UC’s Professional Practice Web site. 
• Apply to UC.