VOTE: Cast Your Vote for the Coolest UC Co-op!

In past weeks, nearly 100 University of Cincinnati cooperative education students entered their cool jobs (and pictures from their cool jobs) into UC’s

“Cool Co-op Contest” Web site

. And now, it’s time for you to pick the winners!

Through

April 15

, the UC community and the wider community can visit the

Cool Co-op Site

to view entries and vote.

Visitors to the site will be able to look over the entries and vote for the job they thought was the coolest – whether it’s because the job had the coolest people, projects, perks or was in a cool place.

The votes will be tallied, and the coolest co-ops will be announced online on the Cool Co-op Web site. Winners will also be recognized with an “Olympic” co-op medal at end-of-the-year ceremonies for co-op students.

UC’s co-op – which annually places about 4,000 students in professional, paid jobs around the globe – is considered a premier program, ranked in the

Top Ten

of such programs year after year by U.S. News & World Report. Collectively, UC co-op students earn about $37 million each year on their co-op jobs. Currently, a UC co-op student who works six quarters throughout his or her sophomore to senior years will earn an average total of $46,000. In certain majors, students earning co-op salaries are able to more than cover their tuition with earnings.

Among the student co-op experiences highlighted in the 2010 Cool Co-op Contest are

• Students who co-opped with airlines, working on various business systems, while also traveling the world as a perk – to Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Spain and more.

• Working on new technology called Smart Grid, that will allow “smart” home appliances to bid in real time on electricity in order to save on energy costs.

• Co-opping in Japan and Germany, working for firms like BMW, obtaining great experience and travel opportunities, including attending Munich’s Oktoberfest.

• Helping to create the gown worn by actress Sarah Jessica Parker at the world premiere of the film, “Sex and the City,” in London.

• Conducting bridge-safety inspections throughout the nation.

• Developing a new candy to be released by Airheads brand.

• Helping with space shuttle missions at NASA Mission Control.

• Helping to plan an eco-tourism site in the Philippines.

• Creating graphic designs seen by millions during the 2010 Super Bowl.
  

Such professional experience – and the chance to live and work in 35 states and 16 foreign countries – are not the only rewards of co-op. Students’ grades tend to go up once they begin co-opping at the end of their sophomore year, because academic requirements are closely linked to the professional, real-world experience made possible at UC.

And nationally, students with co-op experience tend to have an easier time finding a job upon graduation. According to the National Commission for Cooperative Education, 60 percent of co-op students nationally go to work for their co-op employers upon graduation, and 95 percent of co-op students nationally have a job upon graduation.

Many people don’t know it, but UC invented co-op. In 1906, co-op had its global founding at UC. Since then, the practice has spread to 43 countries around the world.

• Find out more about UC’s co-op program.
• Get the latest news from UC.
• Visit UC’s YouTube channel.