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From the Ground Up Building a Co-Op through College-Employer Partnership

• Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
• Time: 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. ET
• Location: Online
• Audience: Career services professionals and early talent recruiters
• Fee: FREE (member); $89 (nonmember);

• During this session, attendees will learn how to leverage employer partnerships to build a cooperative education (co-op) program. The presenters will cover challenges faced throughout the development process, review strategies to overcome roadblocks, outline the program structure and its successes, and share next steps in the program’s growth.

• Summary

  Join us for an in-depth, practical session on how to build and scale a successful business cooperative education (co-op) program through strategic employer partnerships. Using the newly launched Baruch College–Deloitte co-op program as a model, this session will provide a step-by-step look into the development process—from ideation to execution.

  Presenters will walk through the key challenges they encountered and share the strategies that helped them overcome institutional and logistical roadblocks. You’ll explore the full structure of a two-semester co-op model that combines career readiness coursework with full-time, paid work experience, offering students a unique opportunity to build professional skills, grow their networks, and earn income to help support their education.

  The session will also highlight how Baruch intentionally designed the program by partnering with focused campus programs such as those working with community college transfer students, and setting a minimum wage of $21/hour for all co-op roles. Deloitte, the college’s lead employer partner, will share how they created roles specifically for the program, built organizational buy-in, and developed a talent pipeline to convert co-op students into returning interns and full-time hires.

  Presenters include a senior academic leader from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, who oversees all undergraduate academic programs and spearheaded the co-op initiative, and a senior Deloitte executive and Baruch alumnus, who helped architect the employer-side strategy and manages the Baruch/Deloitte recruiting relationship.

  This is a must-attend session for institutions and employers looking to design impactful, inclusive experiential learning programs that drive both career readiness and upward economic mobility.

  Following this program, you will be able to:

  • Identify the key challenges in building a cooperative education program and strategies to overcome them;
  • Develop partnerships with employers to create paid co-op positions that promote equity and inclusion; and
  • Analyze the structure of a successful business co-op program and its impact on student career readiness and professional development.

• Event Details

  Registration includes three-month, post-event access to the webinar archive.

  To view the presentation, supplemental materials, attendee list, your receipt, and your confirmation, use the "I’d Like To" option next to the From the Ground Up Building a Co-Op through College-Employer Partnership listing in MyNACE > Events. Remember to download your copy of the presentation deck (available one to two days prior to the webinar). A video archive will be available there as well within five (5) business days of the webinar's completion.

  To see the NACE cancellation policy, please visit our FAQ page.

• Format

  During this one-hour webinar, the presenter will deliver a synchronized audio and PowerPoint presentation. Participants will have time for live Q&A throughout the program and may be asked to contribute opinions or feedback via live chat, virtual polling, and other mechanisms.

  
  
  

• Presenters

  

  Stefano Verdesoto, Associate Director, Business Co-Op Program, Baruch College - Zicklin School of Business

  Stefano Verdesoto serves as the inaugural program manager for the Zicklin Business Co-op Program. In his role, he works closely with students and employers through the full program cycle, including student and employer onboarding, co-op prep course management, co-op recruiting, and managing students' progress while away on co-op. Prior to this role, Verdesoto has spent close to a decade in higher education career services, specializing in employer relations and campus recruiting. Additionally, he has served NACE through multiple roles, including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; the People of Color (POC) Affinity Group; and most recently, the Promoting Our Profession Committee. He is also a former recipient of the NACE Rising Star Award.

  

  Sonali Hazarika, Executive Director, Undergraduate Programs, Baruch College - Zicklin School of Business

  Sonali Hazarika is an associate professor in finance in the Bert W. Wasserman Department of Economics & Finance. She is also the executive director of Zicklin Undergraduate Programs. Previously, she has also been the academic director of the Executive MS in Finance program. Professor Hazarika’s diverse research interests cover areas of corporate governance, earnings management, syndicated bank loans, mutual funds, and more recently the integration of ESG issues in executive pay. Her research has been published in leading finance and management journals including Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Her paper on governance, debt, and investment policy during the Great Depression was published as the lead article by Management Science. Her paper on financial distress in the Great Depression was published as the lead article by Financial Management. Her article on CEO turnover and earnings management won the Best Paper Award at the Annual Conference on Corporate Governance and Fraud Prevention, George Mason University. Professor Hazarika has presented her papers at numerous conferences. Her research has won several grants, including one recently from UN Principles of Responsible Investment. She has won faculty recognition awards for research excellence and the Zicklin School’s Teaching Excellence Award.

  

  Danny Wang, Managing Director, Audit and Assurance, Deloitte

  Danny is a certified public accountant and a chartered global management accountant with extensive experience in auditing, accounting and SEC reporting. At Deloitte, Danny primarily serves clients in the financial services industry, including SEC registrants, broker and dealers in securities and investment advisors. Danny also serves as the Deloitte U.S. Chinese Services Group audit leader and the Greater Tri-State recruiting leader. Prior to joining Deloitte, Danny worked at Bear Stearns as an analyst in the controller’s group.

Questions?

Visit the professional development FAQ page, or contact the NACE Professional Development Team via e-mail or phone, 610.625.1026.