North American Students of Cooperation
Encyclopedia
The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is a federation
of housing cooperative
s in Canada and the United States, started in 1968. Traditionally, NASCO has been associated with student housing cooperative
s, 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 cooperative
s 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.
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.
NASCO holds numerous workshops with topics including meeting process, board roles and responsibilities, planning, staff relations, marketing, diversity awareness
, conflict resolution
, facilitation
, consensus decision-making
, and organizational development for new cooperatives. 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.
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.
, provides loans and technical assistance to new and existing housing cooperatives. The fund is administered by the Cooperative Development Foundation
and NASCO Development Services.
Its first property was the House of Commons, a 21 bedroom student house in Austin, Texas.
It acquired the title from an ailing student housing co-op, ICC-Austin, with the purpose of keeping the building in the affordable cooperative housing sector.
ICC-Austin bought the house back from NASCO Properties in 2003.
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 Davis Campus Cooperatives
in 2006.
NASCO-Partnered Housing Cooperatives include:
Cooperative federation
A co-operative federation or secondary co-operative is a co-operative in which all members are, in turn, co-operatives.Historically, co-operative federations have predominantly come in the form of co-operative wholesale societies and co-operative unions...
of housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
s in Canada and the United States, started in 1968. Traditionally, NASCO has been associated with student housing cooperative
Student housing cooperative
A student housing cooperative, also known as co-operative housing, is a housing cooperative for students in an educational institution.Unlike a resident who acquires shares at market rates to earn the right to occupy a specific apartment on a permanent basis , a resident of a student co-op acquires...
s, 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 cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
s 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.
Linking and networking activities
NASCO acts as the organized voice of the "group-equity" cooperative housing movement, both in terms of bringing together studentStudent activism
Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding...
and community co-op activists, and in maintaining relationships with national cooperative organizations, including the National Cooperative Business Association
National Cooperative Business Association
Founded in 1916 as the Cooperative League of America, the National Cooperative Business Association is a United States membership organization for cooperatives, businesses that are jointly-owned and democratically-controlled....
and the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada.
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 consultation and training on a variety of topics as a member service.NASCO holds numerous workshops with topics including meeting process, board roles and responsibilities, planning, staff relations, marketing, diversity awareness
Diversity training
Diversity training is training for the purpose of increasing participants' cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills, which is based on the assumption that the training will benefit an organization by protecting against civil rights violations, increasing the inclusion of different identity groups,...
, conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
, facilitation
Facilitation (business)
Facilitation in business, organizational development and in consensus decision-making refers to the process of designing and running a successful meeting.Facilitation concerns itself with all the tasks needed to run a productive and impartial meeting...
, consensus decision-making
Consensus decision-making
Consensus decision-making is a group decision making process that seeks the consent, not necessarily the agreement, of participants and the resolution of objections. Consensus is defined by Merriam-Webster as, first, general agreement, and second, group solidarity of belief or sentiment. It has its...
, and organizational development for new cooperatives. 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.
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. The newsletter articles are written by and for co-op members.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.The NASCO Cooperative Education and Training Institute
NASCO holds an annual conference, NASCO Institute, which is usually held in Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
and hosted by the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan
Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan
The Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan is a student owned and operated housing cooperative serving students and community members in Ann Arbor, 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
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
in general. There is typically a guest speaker and an annual theme.
Action Camp
The 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."Augusto Boal
Augusto Boal was a Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical popular education movements...
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.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 KagawaToyohiko Kagawa
thumb|right|200px|At Princeton Theological Seminarythumb|right|200px|Great Kantō earthquake, 1923thumb|right|200px|In America, 1935 was a Japanese Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and labour activist. Kagawa wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to employ Christian principles in the...
, provides loans and technical assistance to new and existing housing cooperatives. The fund is administered by the Cooperative Development Foundation
Cooperative Development Foundation
The Cooperative Development Foundation is a 501 charitable organization engaged in cooperative development in the United States. CDF administers revolving loan funds, provides grants, and fosters economic development through the formation of cooperatives...
and NASCO Development Services.
Property ownership and asset management services
In 1988, NASCO Properties was established as an affiliate of NASCO to purchase and hold title to housing around the United States, which is then leased to local co-ops.Its first property was the House of Commons, a 21 bedroom student house in Austin, Texas.
It acquired the title from an ailing student housing co-op, ICC-Austin, with the purpose of keeping the building in the affordable cooperative housing sector.
ICC-Austin bought the house back from NASCO Properties in 2003.
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 Davis Campus Cooperatives
Davis Campus Cooperatives
Davis Campus Co-ops 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.
NASCO-Partnered Housing Cooperatives include:
- CHEA, Austin, TexasAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
- COUCHCommunity of Urbana Champaign Cooperative HousingCommunity of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing, or COUCH, is an association of student housing cooperatives in Champaign and Urbana, Illinois...
, Champaign-Urbana, IL - Kalamazoo Collective Housing, Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo, MichiganThe area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
- Nickel City, Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
- Pacifico Student Cooperative Housing, DavisDavis, CaliforniaDavis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, California - QumbyaQumbyaQumbya is a Chicago housing cooperative. The cooperative is made up of three houses in the Hyde Park neighborhood: Bowers, Concord and Haymarket. All three are within a few blocks of each other. Each house has its own ambience and routine, but all three offer residents the opportunity to live in a...
, ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, IL - Santa Cruz Student Housing Co-ops (SC-SHC), Santa CruzSanta Cruz, CaliforniaSanta Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... - Student Cooperative Organization (SCO), Athens, OhioAthens, OhioAthens is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Athens County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Hocking River in the southeastern part of Ohio. A historic college town, Athens is home to Ohio University and is the principal city of the Athens, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...
- Waterloo Co-operative Residence IncorporatedWaterloo Co-operative Residence IncorporatedWaterloo Co-operative Residence Incorporated, also known as WCRI, is a non-profit student housing co-operative located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by its residents, who are mostly students at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, or Conestoga College...
, [Waterloo, Ontario], Canada
See also
- Co-operative living arrangementsCo-operative living arrangementsCo-operative living arrangements occur when three or more unrelated people chose to live together and share a common residential structure.Typically, in these co-ops, several people occupy a single dwelling unit, such as a large house, with each person having a private area, including a bedroom...
- List of NASCO member cooperatives
- Campus Cooperative Development Corporation aka NASCO Development Services
- Lots In Common, a joint venture with the Riverton Community Housing, cooperative development organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Davis Campus CooperativesDavis Campus CooperativesDavis Campus Co-ops 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...
, conjoined with NASCO Properties