The Technician

On August 17, The Technician sat down with Frank Hribar to ask him some questions on the current condition of Kettering’s Co-operative system.

Technician: Do you feel that your department is adequately staffed?

Frank Hribar: Yes I do. Though we continually look at ways that we might shift responsibility within the organization to be efficient and effective.

T: How has the current economic climate affected enrollment and co-op employment?

FH: It has an impact on enrollment in two ways. If our current student population feels challenged in meeting the requirements of the academic curriculum, it can impact us negatively. Also, if the new student population feels that there is a risk that we will not be able to deliver on the promise of Co-op employment and education, it will be a big impact on enrollment.

We have been able to mitigate a lot of that negative impact particularly through reassignment. We also have been looking at ways to develop and expand the ways that student are able to fulfill their co-op requirement with community service and academic research terms. We have been looking at any opportunities to sustain what is our current academic structure but do it in ways that provides students more options.

The other impact that co-op employment has for students is the financial aspects. We have been meeting to determine alternatives for being able to cover the cost of enrollment. If a student should take three academic terms due to an unfavorable employment scenario, a student isn’t impacted financially do to that decision. These financial resolutions can be brought about by financial aid and a possible differed payment through an installment structure. We have been looking at and talking about realistic options without taking away from the quality of the curriculum and institution. We want to provide maximum opportunity for students whether it is through financial or payment structures while enhancing the quality of the institution.

T: What are the current goals for an increase in amount of employers and available employment positions?

FH: We have created an employer development plan. It’s a structure to help expand the number of employers and to develop the scope to help increase the number of industries that we touch. Our goal is to diversify. This is to mitigate against the situation of one industry’s struggle to cause Kettering to struggle. We also want to build relationships with employers that better reflect our expanding academic portfolio. We are finding that we need to develop new sets of employers with the specific capacity to deal with Chemical engineering, Aerospace, Biochemistry, and Pre-med. There has been a lot of feedback from these employers. There also seems to be more interest in Supply Chain management, logistics and Health care. We are looking at ways to cater to their needs with our students.

T: Do we have any raw numbers for the recent co-op fair?

FH: The feedback that we have is mostly anecdotal. The employers have found it to be mostly successful. There were 17 employers on campus and about 40 positions open. We have a survey asking students their opinion on how they thought it went. We will have that available when the data comes in.

T: Have you had any correlation between this economic climate and recent recessions?

FH: We have seen a direct correlation between Economic situations and our enrollment. Some of the indicators we have tell us that it will take 3 to 4 years before a real recovery. There have been no scientific studies indicating a course of action to take. There are trends that exist. Previous recessions have been met with unmatched progress years afterwards. Our hope is that that pattern continues and that the progress takes an aggressive upturn.

T: When do we see enrollment and co-op employment bounce back?

FH: I see improvements within this academic year. I see 2 to 3 years for the employment rate to return to the 6% unemployment rate within the school, a rate which we were at one year ago. We are currently at approximately 20% unemployment, including new students. This is a relatively inflated number and we see that number progressively decreasing this academic year.

Frank Hribar is Kettering’s Vice President of Enrollment Services. In his role, he provides oversight for 55 full time Kettering employees in the Offices of Admissions, Cooperative Education, Corporate Relations and Career Services, the Office of Financial Aid, the Marketing Office, and the University Welcome Center.

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