Cooperative Education Program Network

CEIA members from four-year universities/colleges are encouraged to join this group, which fosters communication among its members and provides a forum for all Four- Year College/University Programs to discuss common concerns, issues and trends in Cooperative Education and to exchange ideas and solutions.

The Vice President of the Cooperative Education Network represents this constituency on the CEIA Board of Directors, supported working committees.

Common characteristics of four- year college/university cooperative education programs include:

• Alignment with the academic mission and goals of the college/university
• Academic requirements for student participation in the program, for example, GPA, number of hours or semester/quarters completed, successful completion of prerequisite course(s) before beginning the co-op assignment
• Requisite number of alternating, back-to-back, or parallel paid work terms with one or more employers
• Work assignments are integrated into the curriculum and deemed academically enhancing in content; assignments are related to the student’s major field of study or career interest and often include some form of learning objectives
• Student enrollment in a Cooperative Education course while on assignment, either a credit-bearing or non credit-bearing course
• Institutional and faculty endorsement of the program and criteria for awarding some form of credit hour(s) for cooperative education assignments, as applicable
• Collaborative partnerships with participating employers to ensure the quality of employer student programs and work-integrated learning assignments
• Provisions for evaluation and feedback regarding student performance, quality of employer programs and work assignments as well as the program/process in the college/university.

The programs in this Network subscribe to the above definitions and, as well, may elect to subscribe to follow the Attributes for College and University Programs outlined by the Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education http://www.co-opaccreditation.org/.

Goals/Objectives of this Network include:

• Promote and manage the CEIA Co-op Student of the Year Award.
• Develop programs and workshops on topics of interest to the Network college/university members at the annual national conference.
• Facilitate network meeting(s) at the annual conference to discuss pertinent topics, share ideas, and set up working committee to assist the Vice-President and set the agenda for the upcoming year.
• Identify issues/concerns for the network Vice-President to bring to the attention of the CEIA Board of Directors.
• Assist employers and universities desiring to establish a cooperative education program.
• Assist employers and universities desiring to improve the quality of their program or personnel.
• Recognize outstanding accomplishments of Network members.
• Identify and create education opportunities for novice and experienced professionals.
• Create a culture where high standards are encouraged and team efforts are rewarded.