North American Students of Cooperation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of the series on
Cooperatives
Types of Co-operatives

Housing cooperative
Building cooperative
Retailers' cooperative
Utility cooperative
Worker cooperative
Social cooperative
Consumers' cooperative
Agricultural cooperative
Credit union
Cooperative banking
Cooperative federation
Cooperative union
Cooperative wholesale society
Mutual insurance
The Rochdale Principles

Voluntary and open membership
Democratic member control
Member economic participation
Autonomy and independence
Education, training, and information
Cooperation among cooperatives
Concern for community
Political and Economic Theories

Anarchism
Cooperative federalism
Cooperative individualism
Owenism
Third way
Socialism
Socially responsible investing
Social enterprise
Key Theorists

Robert Owen
William King
The Rochdale Pioneers
G.D.H. Cole
Charles Gide
Beatrice Webb
Friedrich Raiffeisen
David Griffiths
Organizations

List of cooperatives
List of cooperative federations
International Co-operative Alliance
Co-operative Party
·  v • d • e 

The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is an association of cooperatives in Canada and the U.S., started in 1968. Traditionally, it has been associated with student campus housing cooperatives, though there is an effort to include non-student and non-campus cooperatives. NASCO provides its member cooperatives with operational assistance, encourages the development of new cooperatives, and serves as an advocate for cooperatives to government, universities, and communties. NASCO teaches leadership skills, provides information, and serves as a central link in facilitating the fruition of the cooperative vision for students and youth.

Contents

[edit] Current Programs & Services

[edit] Linking and Networking Activities

NASCO acts as the organized voice of group-equity cooperative housing movement, both in terms of bringing together student and community co-op activists, and in maintaining relationships with national cooperative organizations, including the National Cooperative Business Association and the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada.

[edit] Training and Consulting

NASCO works with its members and the general public on a variety of more extensive training and consulting activities. The NASCO staff visits Active Member groups at least once every two years, providing free consulting and training on a variety of topics as a member service. Additional training and consulting for both members and non-members is provided on a fee for service basis.

Workshop topics include meeting process, board roles and responsibilities, planning, staff relations, marketing, diversity awareness, conflict resolution, facilitation, consensus, and organizational development for new cooperatives; workshops can also be developed by special request. Recent consulting efforts have included general manager evaluation assistance, business plan development, and expansion assistance. Other on-site consulting has included work on governance systems, accounting systems, maintenance planning, member recruitment, and participation strategies.

[edit] Co-op Voices

NASCO's Co-op Voices newsletter features reports on activity among cooperatives in Canada and the United States. It reports on NASCO's activities and provides updates on co-operative news. It provides a unique perspective, with articles written by and for co-op members.

[edit] Regional Activity

NASCO supports and assists, to varying degrees, regional networking and training opportunities for co-op members and staff. In the Midwest, on the West Coast, in Ontario, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and in the Northeast, co-ops meet annually for workshops and social events, where they can discuss issues pertinent to their co-ops.

[edit] The NASCO Cooperative Education and Training Institute

NASCO has an annual conference, NASCO Institute, which is usually held in Ann Arbor, Michigan and hosted by the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan. This is a multiday conference, most of which is spent in workshops, skillshares, and caucuses. The courses cover topics of interest to participants in the cooperative movement and progressivism in general. There is typically a guest speaker and an annual theme.

[edit] Staff and Manager's Conference

NASCO annually sponsors a two-day conference for student co-op managers and staff, held every spring. This conference focuses on professional development and networking. Outside speakers and special sessions are scheduled.

[edit] Internship Network

The Cooperative Internship Network places student cooperators in jobs with cooperatives and cooperative organizations. Each spring, the Network seeks to bring together student applicants with Internship sponsors for summer employment in a wide range of cooperatives and cooperative organizations. Past internships have included: a summer internship with a low-income credit union in Appalachia; an internship with the National Co-operative Business Association; an internship with the member services department of an optical cooperative in Detroit. NASCO works with internship sponsors to identify qualified applicants, assists in setting up interviews, and provides assistance throughout the hiring process.

[edit] Anti-Oppression Action Camp

The Anti-Oppression Action Camp, held each August, provides an intensive training environment for leaders and active members of housing co-ops, worker collectives, and other democratically run communities. Participants spend one week in a beautiful, natural environment engaging in a week long program on privilege and anti-oppression work and interactive fun, using techniques from Augusto Boal's "Theater of the Oppressed."

[edit] Development Services

Special organizing and training resources are made available to groups interested in starting or expanding cooperatives. NASCO Development Services provides an array of development services including assistance in pre-development activities, financial assistance, and start-up assistance.

[edit] Kagawa Fund

In 1989, a $50,000 donation from the Japanese Consumer Cooperative Union was used to seed The Kagawa Fund for Student Cooperative Development. The Kagawa Fund, named for Toyohiko Kagawa, provides loans and technical assistance to new and existing housing cooperatives. The fund is administered by the Cooperative Development Foundation and the Campus Cooperative Development Corporation.

[edit] Property Ownership & Asset Management Services

In 1988, NASCO Properties was established as an affiliate of NASCO to purchase and hold title to property around the United States, which are then leased to local co-ops. NASCO manages NASCO Properties and through it provides assistance to the local leasing co-ops. Staff members visit each leasing co-op at least three times per year to help with finances, maintenance, and other problems or issues that may arise. In 2004, a second title holding organization was created between NASCO and Riverton Community Housing, called Lots in Common (LINC). NASCO entered into asset management contracts for the Cooperative Living Organization in Gainesville, FL and Davis Campus Cooperatives in 2006.

NASCO-Partnered Housing Cooperatives include:

[edit] NASCO Members

[edit] Affiliated Organizations & Spinoffs

  • Campus Cooperative Development Corporation aka NASCO Development Services
  • NASCO Properties
  • Lots In Common, a joint venture with the Riverton, cooperative development organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Davis Campus Cooperatives, conjoined with NASCO Properties
  • Cooperative Living Organization, co-managed by NASCO

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../n/o/r/North_American_Students_of_Cooperation_9de9.html"