Cincinnati State: Co-Op Staff Manual

Situation

The Office of Admissions at Cincinnati State (medium-sized, open enrollment technical and community college) staffed its frontline with co-op student staff because co-op was a big part of the programming. Cincinnati State ran five equal terms per year. Consequently, staff turnover was extraordinarily high, often as high as 100% between terms, as was staff unreliability (often late, absent, non-returning, unreliable performance, etc.).

Solution

We worked across all student services offices to capture and document office policies, procedures, and especially expectations for the co-op student staff. We printed these in an attractive and fun-themed employment handbook. The final page of the handbook was an agreement that new student staff were asked to sign.

Success

Turnover reduced extraordinarily to less than 25% between terms and reliability improved immeasurably. Several staff ended up working for the Office of Admissions for the entire duration of their studies at Cincinnati State.