Ohio student success conference featured co-op insights from Cincy State

On February 26, 2025, Cincinnati State Provost Robbin Hoopes and Dean Doug Bowling (Engineering & Information Technologies) presented “Building a Cooperative Education Program – An Administrative Perspective” at the spring conference of the Student Success and Leadership Institute (SSLI), an event co-sponsored by the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC) and the Michigan Community College Association.

The virtual workshop session focused on the personnel, organization, and processes required to maintain a robust cooperative education program.

SSLI was created in 2016 by the OACC, with funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ascendium Education Group, to help Ohio community colleges share best practices and data to drive strategic decision making related to student success. Two-day SSLI conferences are offered in February (virtual) and September (in-person) each year.

Provost Hoopes said this year’s presentation was a follow-up to a previous SSLI conference presentation by Cincinnati State Co-op Coordinators Jayne Dressing, Noelle Grome, and Doug Woodruff on how the co-op program benefits students and employers.  

Provost Hoopes added that the presentation about administrative perspectives on co-op will be offered to a national audience in April at the annual conference of the American Association of Community Colleges.