With all the noise happening around student loan debt and a lifetime of servitude that can't be extinguished in bankruptcy, I thought a column on the co-operative education experience might be prudent. Co-operative education happens in STEM universities and is commonly referred to as co-op experience. But what is it? Generally, it represents hands-on experience and learning within the real, working world to supplement the classroom curriculum. Summer internships are similar in shape, but a co-op is different because you are working in lieu of attending class. A typical internship could be from mid-May to mid-August while on summer break. A mere 3 months to dig in and accomplish something for the employer. Co-ops happen during spring or winter semesters, so more like mid-May to mid-January or mid-January to mid-August. A much longer period to get into deeper subjects, see projects through, and build a professional network.
Ironically, the whole co-op concept was invented in my own hometown. In 1906, the Dean of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati wanted to pilot a program with enrolled students to spend a semester inside a factory using the latest and greatest machinery, tools, processes, and models. He saw that universities could only simulate things in labs and the tech used at the pilot scale was far behind what is employed in industry. After all, industry has capital to spend on cool stuff and costs to contain through advanced automation and diagnostic tools.
The experiment involved 27 engineering students that spent a semester working 40-50 hours a week in 13 different local companies. They are still enrolled students at the university following a path to a degree, despite not paying tuition for that semester, but instead of days spent in a classroom, they are earning a decent wage while "learning" on the fly. As students returned from these experiences, their grades were greatly improved, they were more attentive, and they engaged in discussions based off their own work experience. Most importantly many of them went to work permanently for the companies they co-op'd with.
The real challenge at the university level was constructing class-offerings in each semester that would allow a student to progress through the degree requirements in order (because some courses require prerequisite courses taken prior.) Programs couldn't offer a prerequisite course in only one semester, it had to be the same class in both semesters so all co-op students would have a chance to take it when they returned.
The experiment was deemed so successful that it actually became mandatory for certain engineering degrees in the ensuing years at UC. Not only did many different schools pick up and replicate the co-op program so they can compete for students, the concept spilled out beyond the engineering schools into applied sciences and other STEM fields. The required credit hours for a degree doesn't change because you co-op; a student misses at least two semesters of classroom credits so it generally takes 5 years to graduate with a 4-year Bachelors in Science degree. You're still only paying for 4 years, but you have a stack of money from working a co-op or two.
Another university 40 miles North of Cincinnati was one of the universities that replicated what was happening at UC. This school's only technical degree at the time was called Paper Technology that soon evolved into Paper Science and Engineering. It was in the early 80's that a full co-op program was established at Miami University. I remember being in high school, considering my options for post-graduation, when I met Chris Peterson, the Dean of Students in Paper Science - who also happened to be the co-op coordinator. To pitch studying paper at Miami, he said I should expect four things: scholarship, co-op, 100% job placement, and the highest starting salaries on campus. I believed him, chose Miami, and haven't looked back. He was right about everything.
Not all students see co-op experience the same way. Having to spend 5 years at college instead of 4 was a real deterrent. It didn't matter that you could stack money saved from co-op work and have a better overall education...they wanted "out" in 4. Or to solely rely on summer internships for experience and not take any time away from school to work. There is a financial consideration too. Temporary co-op employees earn less than a degreed employee doing essentially similar tasks. However, if you consider two co-op experiences that represent 14 months of work (and pay) versus a typical 12 month salary in a first year, the difference in pay becomes negligible. You do have money much earlier too working a co-op job - money you can put toward tuition and avoid the long-term student loan debt. Or at least a portion of it.
Co-op experience really works for everyone involved. The student gets to "try" several job types or fields, gets to see how multiple companies operate, and gets to experience companies in a try-before-you-buy sense. Bad co-op experience? I'm not going to work there! Bullet dodged.
The university gets a more engaged student and spends less on equipment to replicate real-life. The co-op employer gets to see many students walk through their factory gates to judge if they are a cultural fit. They can make permanent offers to the best and brightest. Not to mention, employers can get many nuisance projects completed with the co-op labor.
During my own co-op over 35 years ago, a task I remember, and still have scars, is verifying profile accuracy of a direct measurement coating sensor on a 240" wide machine and 4" control zones on the coating blade. Measurement accuracy was determined through ash tests every 4" of cross-direction of a coated sample from the reel, then they dropped the coater to collect a base sheet sample. Anyone remember how small ovens were to execute an ash test? I spent the whole summer tonging crucibles between ovens and scales. I must have done at least a thousand individual tests. The direct measurement proved reliable and the benefit to the customer was a CD coating control move within a minute of the scanner starting to traverse the sheet. Previous methods took several minutes. The coating CD control 2 sigma guarantee was confirmed through my co-op work.
I'm so happy I experienced co-operative education because I found my passion within the field. What I was learning in the classroom made more sense to me. My career path was launched because I knew through the experiences I had where I wanted to be. I had a broad network of professional colleagues by the time I graduated and paid for a sizeable portion of my college fees. Yes, it took me 5 years to get that degree. If you think about it - is an extra year in college really a bad thing? I had a blast, even if many of my accounting and biology friends were graduated within 4 years. Not the paper people. Their calculus was different.
Steve Sena (stevesena@me.com) is a Cincinnati native. He obtained degrees in Paper Science & Engineering from Miami University in Oxford, OH and an MBA concentrating in Economics from Xavier University. He's worked for a broad array of leading producers, suppliers, and converters of pulp and paper grades.
