In the beginning, our state organization was called ICCE (Indiana Council of Cooperative Education). Over the years, the active membership in the state waned to the point that only a handful of people were participating in the organization and its events. So, in 2001 the ICCE board decided to temporarily disband the organization.
In an act of hopeful support, the MCEIA agreed to be the guardian of the ICCE state monies, which were placed into a Certificate of Deposit (CD). It was also decided that if within five years there were enough parties interested in reorganizing the state group, the new leadership could ask for the funds back. Until such time, the CD was held as a separate item in the MCEIA financial statement.
A few years went by with no change until a drive-in workshop was held at IUPUI in late summer of 2003. The event featured an attorney discussing legal issues/questions surrounding unpaid internships and another session regarding international internships and international students working at internships in the U.S. Each session attracted over 50 attendees. This was the energy and interest the ICCE had been lacking.
The next signal it was time to reorganize came after the heavily promoted fall 2004 MCEIA conference. Since the event was so well attended by Indiana members, it seemed like a good time to push for the next conference to be held in Indianapolis. The location was accepted and the 2005 MCEIA conference was co-chaired by Beth Haggenjos, Internship Program Director at IUPUI and Pam Doerter, Career Coordinator at University of Southern Indiana. Due to the event's success, it was decided to re-organize the state organization.
In March 2006, the CD matured and was returned to the state group, a new name was chosen, by-laws were written, a contest was held to design a logo, and a board was elected, headed by Beth Haggenjos as President. Now in its second year, the state organization continues to thrive, thanks to a committed board, marketing efforts, and twice-annual drive-in conferences.