Student housing cooperative

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A student housing cooperative, also known as co-operative housing, is a housing cooperative for student members. Members live in alternative cooperative housing that they personally own and maintain. These houses are designed to lower housing costs while providing an educational and community environment for students to live and grow in. They are, in general, nonprofit, communal, and self-governing, [1] with students pooling their monetary and personal resources to create a community style home. Many student housing cooperatives share operation and governing of the house. As with most cooperatives, student housing coops follow the Rochdale Principles and promote collaboration and community work done by the members for mutual benefit.

Contents

Most student housing coops in Canada and the United States are members of North American Students of Cooperation.[ citation needed ]

History

Several of the earliest US student cooperatives (e.g. at Northwestern University and Wellesley College) had begun by at least 1915, for the purpose of housing female students. [2] Most student housing cooperatives are formed to provide an alternative dorm for students who are unable to afford college due to housing costs. For example, the Harriet E. Richards House [3] at Boston University (1928) was established to provide a cheap alternative to dorm life for women scholars. [4] The Berkeley Student Cooperative, amongst others, started during the Great Depression to help provide affordable food and housing for Berkeley students. Other early examples that started in the Depression years: the Cooperative Living Organization at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida founded in 1931 and the Michigan Socialist House at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan founded in 1932.

Others were formed to provide a more inclusive and supportive environment for students. Many student housing cooperatives are focused around socialist principles or political activism (Michigan Socialist House), veganism or vegetarianism, racial or ethnic identity (Biko), or environmental concerns.

Throughout the twentieth century, student housing cooperatives expanded, but some floundered. Many formed coalitions in the face of rising debt or bankruptcy. [5] The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) was formed in 1968 as a way to link existing cooperatives together while educating and improving cooperatives across North America. [6] Today, NASCO primarily serves as an association that promotes development and communication amongst coops and promotes communal living.

Management of Student Housing Cooperatives

There is not a standard way of running a housing cooperative. Most student housing cooperative members have full voting privileges on issues such as rent, future members, and community activity and then maintain an elected board of committee members who oversee the running of the cooperative. [7] Many student housing cooperatives require work shifts that help lower the overall cost of living. These may include chores or cooking. Some coops award points to the type of chore and members are required to complete a certain number of points a week. [8] All cooperatives expect members to contribute assistance throughout the year to keep the cooperative running smoothly and efficiently. It is up to the individual coops as to whether the members elect a board or committee to oversee the entire cooperative.

Partial List of Student Housing Cooperatives

Australia

Two student housing co-operatives are presently operating in Australia:

Canada

Student co-operatives are situated in close proximity to colleges and universities. The biggest student housing co-operative in the world is Waterloo Co‑operative Residence Inc. in Waterloo, Ontario with 1300 resident members.

The East Coast is represented by:

Central Canada is represented by:

The West Coast is represented by:

Many of the co-ops are members of The Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada and NASCO.

France

In France L’Association de Coopération pour le Logement des Etudiant·es de France (L'ACLEF), founded in 2015, exists to take on the management of empty properties to rent to students. L'ACLEF operates CoopColoc, housing students in Paris and Bordeaux alongside Campus & Toits in Toulouse. [16]

Switzerland

There is one operational student housing co-operative in Switzerland:

United Kingdom

Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative houses 106 members Front view Edinburgh Student Housing Cooperative.JPG
Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative houses 106 members

There are four operational student housing co-operatives in the UK:

There are also initiatives at various stages of development to establish housing co-operatives in Glasgow, [19] Manchester [20] and Bristol. [21]

All operating coops and initiatives are members of Students for Cooperation, a UK wide federation of student co-operatives which includes a number of other groups across the UK working to establish student housing co-operatives. [22] Students for Cooperation commissioned a report on establishing a National Body of Student Housing Cooperatives (NBSHC) to help support and grow the UK student housing cooperative movement. [23] [24] In 2018 this new body, Student Co-op Homes, was launched as a secondary co-operative for raising finances to buy property to lease to student housing co-operatives. [25] [26] The organisation has similarities to North American Students of Cooperation.

An unsuccessful plan to launch a student housing co-operative took place in 2004, when MMUnion partnered with the National Union of Students and Confederation of Co-operative Housing [27] to offer cheaper cooperatively owned alternatives to city housing for Manchester Metropolitan University students. The NUS plan fell through as NUS management changed. [28]

United States

Artist, student and community co-operatives are common in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of these housing co-operatives are members of organizations such as NASCO.

Currently, the second biggest student housing co-op in the world is Berkeley Student Cooperative, formerly known as the University Students Cooperative Association, in Berkeley, CA with 1250 students living in 17 houses and 3 apartment complexes. Other large-scale co-op systems include MSU Student Housing Cooperative of Michigan State University, the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan, and UCLA University Cooperative Housing Association with 400+ students.

Other examples of such cooperatives include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housing cooperative</span> Type of housing development that emphasizes self-governance and quasi-communal living

A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Typically housing cooperatives are owned by shareholders but in some cases they can be owned by a non-profit organization. They are a distinctive form of home ownership that have many characteristics that differ from other residential arrangements such as single family home ownership, condominiums and renting.

The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is a federation of housing cooperatives in Canada and the United States, started in 1968. Traditionally, NASCO has been associated with student housing cooperatives, though non-student cooperatives are included in its network. 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 communities. NASCO teaches leadership skills, provides information, and serves as a central link in facilitating the fruition of the cooperative vision for students and youth.

Community of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing, or COUCH, is an association of student housing cooperatives in Urbana and Champaign, Illinois. It is a member of North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO).

The Santa Barbara Student Housing Coop (SBSHC) is a student housing cooperative designed to provide affordable housing for students attending post-secondary institutions in Santa Barbara County. It is a member of NASCO. The first coop was established in 1976, and consists of five houses; Newman, Manley, Dolores, Biko and Merton. In all, just under 100 students live in these houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan</span>

The Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan (ICC) is a student owned and operated housing cooperative serving students and community members in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The ICC is an active member of NASCO.

The Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) is a student housing cooperative serving primarily UC Berkeley students, but open to any full-time post-secondary student. The BSC houses and/or feeds over 1,300 students in 17 houses and three apartment buildings. Food is provided to residents of the 17 houses, which also offer boarding meal plans to non-residents. As part of their rental agreement, residents of the houses are required to perform workshifts, typically five hours per week. The BSC is led by a board of directors which is primarily composed of and elected by student members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Zimbabwe</span>

Casa Zimbabwe, commonly referred to as CZ, is a student housing cooperative in Berkeley, California housing 124 residents. It is the second largest non-apartment style unit of the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC), behind Cloyne Court Hotel. Opened in 1966, it was one of the first co-ed student housing in the nation, as well as the first building intentionally built as a co-op.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumers' co-operative</span> Autonomous association owned and managed democratically by its clients

A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to good and services.

Madison Community Cooperative, or MCC, is a housing cooperative composed of 11 houses in Madison, Wisconsin with around 200 resident members.

Davis Campus Co-ops (DCC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide low-cost cooperative housing for students attending University of California, Davis. Today, DCC owns one student housing cooperative called Pacifico Student Cooperative Housing, located in South Davis. In 2006, DCC partnered with the North American Students of Cooperation and the City of Davis to provide stronger cooperative education and management support. Governance of DCC is now coterminous with the NASCO Properties Board of Directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Cooperative House</span>

Michigan Coöperative House was founded in 1932 as Michigan Socialist House. It was located at 335 E. Ann Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, near the University of Michigan campus, and now is located at 315 N. State Street. It is one of the co-op houses making up the Inter-Cooperative Council. In 2016 Michigan Cooperative House and the neighboring Minnies Cooperative House voted to combine the two coops and become one functioning, democratically run cooperative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Dickinson Street Co-op</span>

The Two Dickinson Street Co-op, or 2D, is one of the five student dining co-ops at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. 2D is a 50-member vegetarian cooperative located across the street from the Princeton University campus.

Spartan Housing Cooperative (SHC) is a nonprofit member owned and operated housing cooperative. The SHC was formed as in 1969, as a federation of existing student housing cooperatives in East Lansing. Since the first of the SHC's member houses formed 69 years ago, SHC has accumulated more than 4,000 members.

Escher Cooperative House, named after artist M. C. Escher, is one of the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan's (ICC) 16 student housing cooperatives. It is located at 1500 to 1520 Gilbert Court in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The only North Campus-located cooperative, it is the ICC's largest community with over 150 spaces of residents and 9 separately themed "suites." It is also the only building in Ann Arbor built specifically for cooperative housing.

The University of Texas Inter-Cooperative Council (ICC) is a student owned and operated housing cooperative serving students and community members in Austin, Texas. ICC Austin is an active member of NASCO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oberlin Student Cooperative Association</span>

The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) is a non-profit corporation founded in 1962 that feeds and houses Oberlin College students. Located in the town of Oberlin, Ohio, it is independent from but closely tied to Oberlin College. OSCA is the second-largest student housing cooperative in North America, with the largest per-capita of any student co-op.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Students for Cooperation</span>

Students for Cooperation (SFC) is a co-operative federation of students in the UK. As a secondary co-op, the organization is owned and controlled by its constituent member co-operatives.

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