As a young faculty member at LeHigh University, Herman Schneider noticed that students who grasped the subject matter most readily all had practical work experience. This supported Schneider's own experience as a student, where he found that his work in the office of a local architect helped his understanding of core level engineering concepts much more than his review of the textbook.
Fortunately for the University of Cincinnati, his fellow faculty members at LeHigh dismissed Schneider's notion that a well crafted program that included both engineering theory and practical experience would produce a better educated graduate. After a last minute change from Wisconsin to Cincinnati, Herman Schneider began teaching at UC's fledgling College of Engineering in 1903.
By 1906 Schneider was named Dean of the college and, with the support of UC President Charles Dabney, approached the Board of Directors with his cooperative plan of education. In a less than resounding endorsement, the Board voted 5 to 4 to allow Dean Schneider to "try his cooperative experiment for one year, the failure of which we will not be held accountable."
The board's hesitancy not withstanding, Schneider approached the Cincinnati business community to secure assignments for his students and found only slightly more support until he gained the attention of John M. Manly. As secretary of the Cincinnati Metal Trade Association, Manly had influence that would become critical to co-op's founding. After reading an article in the Cincinnati papers about Schneider's plan, Manly contacted the Dean and the two began to call upon companies together.
At the same time, Schneider began to convince students that his cooperative plan of education was a superior method to the traditional classroom model. One of those students, George Binns, was on his way to Annapolis to enter the US Naval Academy. His train stopped in Cincinnati where Binns met Herman Schneider. After listening to Schneider's vision, George Binns decided to give up his prestigious appointment and enter the first class of UC co-op students.
These twenty-seven UC co-op students began working on September 14, 1906. The first co-op schedule involved two sections of students that alternated one week of study with one week of work. The integration of theory and practice took place each Saturday morning when Dean Schneider met with both sections to discuss what they were learning.
Two of those students worked for Cincinnati Milling Machine, a company owned by F.A. Geier, a member of UC's Board of Directors. Riding upon a train one day Schneider ran into Geier and asked, "How do you like your co-ops?" Geier replied, "Co-ops? What co-ops?" Schneider had to admit that he had snuck two co-ops into the company behind Geier's back but he also challenged Geier to check on their performance. Schneider said, "Ask their supervisors if they are successful and if they are not I'll take them back and refund all the wages you've paid them so far. But if they are successful, you agree to take two more." A week later Schneider's phone rang and Geier said, "Send out the other two co-ops."
The Founding of Co-op
