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Experience Counts and Our Employers Know it Best!
November 2007
To Antioch Co-op Employers:
“A liberal education is an exploring education – that students seek wisdom wherever wisdom can be found – on the record of the past, in the accounts of contemporary experience and in their own participation in the world around them.” Algo Henderson, President of Antioch Collegte 1936-48.
True in the middle of the last century and true today. No more potent or practical liberal education can be found in America and employers hold up half of the curriculum through the work they invite us to do and by involving students and faculty in a novelty of approaches to solving problems in the world.
As a result of alumni organizing and faculty actions which were convincing to the Board of Trustees, Antioch College is back and seeking co-op positions with employers around the world!!
The Antioch University Board of Trustees has given Antioch College a new lease on life. By deciding to allow the College to continue operations, we have the happy task of rebuilding the cooperative education program. There will be some gaps in our “attendance” at work with some semesters of very low enrollment on co-op jobs. Soon we will be back to normal operating mode, but we are pleased to say we will be working and learning in the world again.
Many employers of long standing and newer ones have written or called to express their disappointment over the Board’s June decision and have offered to take co-op students again when we ask. In most cases, employers intended to move on without us. Much as we thank one and all for their past support, I write now to ask for another chance to do co-op work with you again.
Our most immediate aim is to accommodate about 150 students seeking co-op jobs for the Summer term 2008. That period runs from roughly May 1, through August 20. We will contact you to make an appeal in person, but wanted to let you know that we are a continuing college with a co-op program and we want to partner with you again and in the years to come.
Thomas R. Haugsby
Professor and Director
Center for Cooperative Education
Antioch College
An Overview of Cooperative education
Antioch College is a pioneer in cooperative education, a learning model in which students alternate between terms of study on-campus and terms of full-time employment at job sites across the country and internationally. Thanks to President Arthur Ernest Morgan, every Antioch student in every major has benefited from multiple, required terms of work since 1921. We call our co-op employers “field faculty” to acknowledge the important part you play in educating our students. The introduction of Partnered Learning Communities also called co-op Communities assures more support for students and employers alike.
For students entering during and after Fall 2005, the three required co-ops will be located in one of the Co-op Communities. During the first year of implementation the Co-op Communities are: Metro DC, Northern NM, and Southwestern OH. More Co-op Communities will be developed in the next several years and your location may be one of them.
Additionally, students can choose to co-op or study during the Summer of Choice (the summer before the student’s fourth year). This term of choice has been created so students have the opportunity to further individualize their educations. Students choosing to co-op may work with co-op employers not located in the co-op communities or independently find jobs not offered through the co-op program.
Co-op terms last for 16-17 weeks and students must work a minimum of 15 weeks to be eligible for 12 credits. Students are available 40 hours per week, unless otherwise negotiated. Co-op Faculty and Co-op Community Coordinators help students plan their co-ops.
Co-op is part of our general education curriculum, meaning students take a variety of types of jobs to learn broadly about the world of work, and about themselves. You will have a Co-op faculty member assigned to you and depending upon your location also a Partnered Learning Community Coordinator. The Co-op Community Coordinator is located in the Co-op Community and Co-op faculty will periodically visit you. Both will discuss in detail your co-op job to understand your needs, recommend students to you, and provide service to you as needed during the work term to make the term as beneficial to you as is possible.
Employer FAQ
What Kinds of Work Can Antioch Students Accomplish? Answer..
What Compensation is Expected?
Answer..
What are the Advantages of Becoming an Antioch Co-op Employer? Answer..
How Can I Become an Antioch Employer? Answer..
Where are the Employer Forms?
Answer..
Where on this site can I find more information?
Answer..
What Kinds of Work Can Antioch Students Accomplish?
We ask you to identify entry-level positions for our students, keeping in mind that newer students will not have the advanced skills that third year students will have. As you develop your job description please envision additional projects and responsibilities that will enrich the co-op for more advanced students who have advanced skills and knowledge acquired through previous work and academic study.
Our interdisciplinary, liberal arts classroom program means that our students are broadly educated, and learn how to learn by entering many new communities of practice in their co-ops and course work. Your particular job description and requirements will be made available to students through our Co-op Job List. We ask that you thoughtfully evaluate each student toward the end of her/his work term, so that the student can continuously improve her/his work performance across successive co-ops. The evaluation is available online and you will be sent an email reminder with the link to the evaluation. Please evaluate the student similarly to an entry-level employee.
What Compensation is Expected?
Under most circumstances, students must relocate to their co-op sites, obtain housing, and provide for the maintenance of their households during their co-ops with no expectation of financial assistance from their families or the college. It is therefore important that employers provide adequate compensation. Many employers pay between $8 and $12 per hour. Others offer room, board, and a stipend of $100 per week or more. Students are covered by their student and/or family health insurance because they are full-time students.
What are the Advantages of Becoming an Antioch Co-op Employer?
Antioch co-op employers benefit from having a series of creative young people immersed in their organization or business. Our students learn to adapt quickly, hit the ground running, and bring a high level of motivation and self-initiation to their work. Our program allows you to keep a “real job” filled year-round with minimal salary and benefit commitments. You receive a professional resume and cover letter from a student we recommend to you, but you are under no obligation to hire that student. A quick turnaround of interviewing the student and making a decision to hire or seek another student is in all of our best interests. Antioch co-op employers find mentoring a young person interested in their profession very rewarding. Every year some of our graduates are hired by their previous co-op employers, who had the chance to see first-hand the student’s work performance before making such an offer!
How Can I Become an Antioch Employer?
Complete and submit a New Job Fact Sheet online, print a copy (pdf) to fill out and fax or mail, or call our office (800-535-2410). We will place your organization on our list of New Employers.
Once a student works with you, and if you and Antioch decide this is a mutually beneficial relationship, we will proudly add you to our list of field faculty, and place your job description on our Co-op Job List.
You will soon meet the Co-op Community Coordinator in your Co-op Community and will be assigned a Co-op Faculty liaison; both will support you with visits, recommend students to you, and troubleshoot any difficulties that may arise.
Employer Forms
Here are some forms you will need.
- Complete and Submit New Job Fact Sheet online
- Print a New Job Fact Sheet
- Print a Co-op Student Evaluation Form
