Cooperative Education Celebrates 30 Years of Service
 “Cooperative
Education: 30 Years Helping Students Achieve Career Goals Serving Campus
and Community” was the theme of Central Connecticut State University’s
cooperative education program’s three-day celebration held October 1–3.
The celebration began with a kick-off
event on Vance Lawn. The second day of events honored CCSU’s Cooperative
Education program with a luncheon, with guest speaker Brian Mattiello,
Undersecretary of the Office of Personnel Management for the State of
Connecticut and a former Co-op student at the University. The
celebration concluded with the dedication of a tree planted between
Davidson and Willard Halls.
Since 1973, CCSU has conducted a highly
successful Co-op program, which has grown to be the largest program in
Connecticut and the second largest in the northeast. This program
integrates classroom study with career-related paid work experiences,
which are paid, full-time, six-month positions that are related to the
fields and academic interests of the students.
“The economical impact has earned
students more than seven million dollars in the last academic school
year and has made a positive impact in the State of Connecticut over the
past 30 years,” said Pat Deloy, director of Career Services and
Cooperative Education at CCSU. Students’ pay ranges from approximately
$7 to $15 an hour. The average rate paid for all jobs is $11.75 per
hour, which is based upon a 35–40 hour per week schedule. During the
2002–2003 academic year, 256 students worked for 47 different employers.
Since its inception, CCSU’s cooperative education program has earned
more than $200,000,000 and engaged 10,000 students in a wide range of
potentially career-starting jobs.
The Co-op program is available to all
CCSU full- and part-time students in good academic standing who have
completed their first year at the University.
— Sheila Guillaume |
