About five years ago, the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) was looking for ways to better interact with students studying packaging when it connected with the Packaging Program Council (PPC).
The PPC had just been formed in 2020 to coordinate educational programs among the higher education institutions that offer four-year packaging degrees, and IoPP saw an opportunity to help that cause while bolstering its own recruitment efforts, says Jane Chase, IoPP executive director.
“Our mission at IoPP is all about providing education and networking opportunities to empower packaging professionals to succeed in their careers,” Chase says. “And we were making a strong push at that time to get more students involved with IoPP. We really see the value in engaging them early and getting them involved in networking opportunities.”
“It was good for both the PPC and us because the PPC had the same mission,” she adds.
Getting Involved
Chase attended several of the PPC’s initial meetings and eventually agreed to sponsor a recruitment video that runs for several minutes. The video includes testimonials from packaging professionals, including Matthew Daum, Ph.D., who had been running the Michigan State University School of Packaging.
The video points out that about 95% of graduates from packaging programs quickly find jobs, with pay starting at about $65,000.
The video ends with a list of the nine schools that offer four-year packaging degrees in the U.S. and that encompass the PPC.
“The schools still are using that video as part of their recruiting programs,” Chase says.
Creating Connections
For IoPP, the work with the PPC helped reestablish connections among the nine schools and to encourage stronger student connections with IoPP. IoPP now has more than 700 student members nationwide, Chase says.
IoPP also has 22 local chapters nationwide that actively engage students. “A lot of our chapters offer scholarships,” Chase explains.
One goal is to capture the attention of students early so they stay involved with IoPP throughout their careers. Students are charged a nominal $25 membership fee, but the fee is paid by sponsors, so it is essentially free to the students.
“We want to make sure that we keep talking to them,” she says. The professional membership of $189 is waived as students enter their first year in a packaging career. “The biggest thing we need to do is stay connected with the students so we have a really good working relationship with them.”
For example, IoPP sponsored the annual Packaging Jamboree in April, which was held over three days at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
Professional Development
Students are also encouraged to earn their Certified Professional in Training designation, which IoPP designed for people with less than six years of experience in the packaging industry or a closely related field. Four of those years can be from college experience. The course is centered on IoPP’s book titled Fundamentals of Packaging Technology, 6th Edition. It includes discussions on sustainability, the circular economy, packaging law, and e-commerce.
“I encourage all of the students to take that exam to become a certified professional,” she says.
In addition, IoPP offers a Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) designation that helps professionals advance their packaging careers.
The CPP designation can help people with a technical background—Chase herself has a degree in mechanical engineering—to become immersed in packaging fundamentals. People who work in the packaging industry in marketing, purchasing, auditing, or other disciplines can expand their knowledge by earning the designation, she says. IoPP has people with CPP designations working in 27 countries.
Chase has found that instructors from the packaging schools often use the educational materials that IoPP produces, including its resource library and monthly webinars on various topics.
“They are using our content in creative ways,” she says.
Thomas A. Barstow is senior editor of FlexPack VOICE®.