National Leader in Cooperative Education Lauded for Service Date: Aug. 29, 2000 By: Mary Bridget Reilly Phone: (513) 556-1824 Archive: General News A single three-credit course led Sam Sovilla to his accidental career in cooperative education where colleagues routinely refer to him as the "king," the "dean," or, even more reverently, the "godfather" of America's co-op. Sovilla first came to UC as a student after hearing of UC co-op students working at the same DuPont plant that employed his father in Belle, West Virginia. However, he never really planned a career in co-op. As young Sovilla closed in on graduation with an industrial relations degree in hand, he planned to work in business and industry. There was a hitch though, and that hitch set the course for his life. "I lacked one course to get my baccalaureate degree. I needed a statistics course, so I talked to a faculty member who said I could take his even though it was on the graduate level. It would fulfill my requirement. Well, about two-thirds of the way through the course, I was 'found out' as an undergraduate. Officially, I couldn t be in the course. So, I didn't graduate in '61," recalled Sovilla, who will step down Aug. 31 as director of the Division of Professional Practice after 25 years in that position. Because of this lack of three credits, Sovilla had to wait until 1962 to graduate, and he had a year to "kill." So, he wangled an internship in the placement office for the year, figuring to network throughout that time. Well, that year stretched into two, then to ten and finally into more than 38. Sovilla laughs that he was always planning to move into industry and business a bit down the road. Then, a promotion or more responsibility was given him and so, he stayed. After he steps down from his position as director of Professional Practice, a role he's filled since 1975, Sovilla will take a year's sabbatical. He will then return, serving as a faculty member within Professional Practice. The number of years spent leading UC's co-op program don't come close to representing Sovilla's impact on the field, according to colleagues from across the nation, including Luther Epting, director of the cooperative education program at Mississippi State University, and Robi Love, director, administration, Mead Corporate Engineering. Said Epting, "First and foremost, Sam has clearly provided the leadership to firmly establish the University of Cincinnati as the premier large-scale program of cooperative education in the United States." Love agreed, adding, "The first time I met Sam Sovilla was at Mead's first college recruiting conference in the early 1970s. I was impressed then and am still impressed now thirty years later. Sam has so expertly carried forward the vision of cooperative education and built one of the most outstanding programs in the country, the role model for all other institutions. Personally, he has been a man who stands very tall, someone I am proud to call my friend." Since Engineering Dean Herman Schneider founded co-op at UC in 1906, there hasn't been a single person who has worked as long or as tirelessly as Sovilla to ensure co-op's growth on the national and international level, to see that it betters the lives of students and workers in Cincinnati and around the globe. During his tenure as director, UC's co-op program expanded from 22 to 38 disciplines, recently adding the criminal justice and computer science programs. "When I began, we were concentrated in just a few disciplines in the traditional co-op colleges. Now, we're much more widespread than simply engineering, design, architecture and business. We've added Romance languages, fine arts, communication arts, international affairs, computer science, product development/merchandising, and political science," said Sovilla. Dawn Petit, executive director of the Cooperative Education Association, said that the CEA is the second national co-op organization that elected Sovilla to its top post. In the mid-1980s, Sovilla served as CEA president, increasing the number of employer members from 155 to 253 and more than quadrupling the number of employers routinely participating in CEA's annual conference. While serving as president of a regional cooperative education association, he likewise more than quadrupled the number of employers and school members in the organization. Petit summed up his service succinctly, "Sam is willing to take on the hard tasks." Sovilla serves as the chief consultant for 33 colleges and universities with co-op. In all, he's consulted for more than 200 school and corporations starting or expanding their co-op participation in addition to serving on various task forces and as a consultant with the U.S. Department of Education. His articles on co-op have been published internationally, and he's made presentations on co-op throughout Europe. Currently at UC, 3,600 students and 1,300 employers nationwide participate in UC's co-op program each year. Out of the 600 verified co-op schools across the country, UC's is the largest at a public university. These UC students are a solid-green success, collectively earning more than $30 million each year and gaining immeasurably in professional experience through the university's Division of Professional Practice, long considered the "Cadillac" of work-based learning programs. Prestigious alumni recall the value of co-op in their careers. Dr. Carl Patton, president of Georgia State University, points to the quality of UC's cooperative education program as an invaluable tool for him. "Because of my real-world experience at UC, I gained the ability to talk to people. It taught me how to talk to people in the business community." Patton's best memories of his own co-op days include mentoring by leaders in the planning field, the chance to travel at a time when opportunities to do so were limited, and the chance to earn tuition money. He graduated with only a small amount of debt. Sovilla's leadership in co-op brought him many accolades, including the CEA's Dean Herman Schneider Award, its highest award for an educator, as well as recognition from the American Society for Engineering Education and other groups. In fact, in honor for all he's done, the Ohio Cooperative Education Association recently voted to rename one of its annual awards the "E. Sam Sovilla Award for Excellence." This is the first time the Ohio group has ever named an award for an individual; however, no one in the co-op field will be surprised. Bruce Smith, director of cooperative education at Bowling Green State University, summed it up, "Sam has made phenomenal contributions to the field and the professional organizations while leading the best known co-op program in the country."