Pine Press EC Election Edition 2015-16

TITLE

Voting Process Ballots will be distributed at the All Member Meeting at Phoenix on Saturday March 28th at 2pm. Ballots will be brought back to houses where they will be in the possession of house board representative until April 10th.

Votes will be counted by a team of objective members of the education committee and board of directors. Results will be announced at the April 13th Board meeting.

Candidates will be answering questions/giving speeches at the All Member Meeting on Saturday, March 28th at Phoenix from 2pm-4pm.

President, Membership VP, Education VP are up for popular vote.

Facilities Coordinator and Corporate Treasurer are going to be selected by the Hiring Committee via an interview process.

Take time to read Letters of Intent to find out who is running and why they are running before voting.

SO, look for potential EC members to extrapolate on their ideas, stating their case LIVE on March 28th at Phoenix from 2pm-4pm.

President This goes out to all you awesome Student Housing Cooperators, My name is Dan Newton and it is my intention to run for the position of President of the Student Housing Cooperative here in East Lansing. This organization has made some fantastic changes in the past year and, with these changes in mind, I’m very excited by the prospect of serving another year on the executive committee and working to ensure that our future is as promising as our recent past.

These changes, while definitely exciting, aren’t the sole reason for my running for president. The very nature of the SHC and the cooperative movement in general have struck some pretty resonant chords on my soul-piano. Moving into the SHC, becoming involved in the movement on a local and national level, these acts have changed my life personally and professionally. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that living in my co-op has helped me in innumerable ways (even in the relatively short amount of time of 2 years). I feel more comfortable in my own human skin living in a co-op than I ever have in a setting outside the home in which I grew up.

Working with co-ops immediately became apparent to me as something I wish to continue doing for a long long time.

To that end, I sought election as maintenance vice president and have been serving as such for the past year (okay, it’ll be a year this May). My time on the executive committee thus far has been extremely helpful in learning the operations of the SHC from individual house decisions all the way up to those made by the Board of Directors. Recently, I’ve even been elected to a seat on NASCOs (North American Students of Cooperation) board of directors…a position that will I want to take this knowledge that I’ve been fortunate enough to gain and apply it to the position on the executive committee where I believe my skills can be best utilized to benefit our members and all the sweet houses we live in.

As president, I want to work on the following: continuing improvements in office operations, expanding the SHC’s relationship with other cooperative organizations (locally and nationally), and exploring all development options that will improve the financial standing and longevity of our organization (while engaging our membership to ensure all vested parties have a voice). Ultimately, my wish is to help this organization in whatever way I can and, to that end, I need yo’ vote.

Thanks for reading, and I hope each and every one of you have a cool, cooperative Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, etc…

Daniel “Ship-shape” Newton

Dear Members of the SHC:

Membership

The SHC is an ever changing organization that relies on an actively involved membership. In the past year, we have experienced a 70% turnover in our membership that has brought a substantial change in our culture as an organization. Seeing this change has inspired me to venture the opportunity to become the of Vice President of Membership. I would love nothing more than to see our community continue to flourish and I would be grateful to be part of the contribution.

If I have yet to personally meet you, there are probably a few basic things you’d like to know about me.

I have lived in O’Haus(Orion) for the last two years, I have recently changed my major to Women and Gender Studies, and I am currently a junior at MSU. My extracurricular activities include, but are not limited to, hanging out with my cat, Selina (as in Kyle not Gomez), doing home improvement projects, fangirling over Batman, and baking bagels at Bruegger’s. On any given day you can find me at the house, in our Fire Room, chatting with a housemate or two, enjoying college life as a co-oper.

I was able to take on the role of Interim Coordinator at Orion for this school year. In this position I was able to introduce the new members to the house and our culture, which I really enjoyed because of how much the co-ops have given me. I had initially reached out to them once I found out I would be taking the position and created an open dialogue so that I knew what they needed from me and I was able to get what I needed from them. There was a lot of managing involved with getting all the right furniture for the right rooms, getting keys from old members to new members, and answering the concerns of the new members.

The most stressful and difficult part was scheduling move in and move outs but because I was in contact with all members I was able to mediate issues well. When move-in finally came, things went very smoothly which was rewarding in itself as the new members and their families were very gracious; I would love to welcome new members to our co-op community on a greater scale as Vice President of Membership.

During my years in the SHC I have gotten involved with our movement through helping with audits, attending various co-op events, attending the board retreat, and just generally acquainting myself with the lovely members of our community. I have experienced the vast diversity among our members and see it as a strength of our community as well as an untapped resource of expansion. There is something to be said for how many avenues we have open to us from the variety of majors and interests our members collectively share. It would be a great advantage for us to spread the cooperative movement through something that naturally occurs in our system. We have the opportunity to reach the ears of all different university

As one last note, part of this position will be to plan and throw the all member parties and I believe after two years of living in O’Haus has prepared me for such a responsibility. I have experienced throwing great parties as well as parties that just didn’t go well. The involvement of hosts is prominent in getting things to run smoothly as well as having enough interest from the invitees. If you were around early in the year, you may have seen me and my housemate dressed in togas go around to the houses to invite everyone to our first party of the year. We intended to make the new members who may have never visited Orion welcome in coming to our party and to show that we would be participating in our theme. I know the extent of planning that is involved in making a party go off without a hitch while also knowing that backup plans are always a good idea.

As Vice President of Membership, I will strive to make new members feel welcomed into our community as well as keeping our returning members involved with our movement. I believe that I have grown immensely as a person in the co-ops and would love to use my knowledge and skills to help others find our organization. I think our community has something to offer everyone, they just need to be shown the opportunities we have to offer.

Yours in cooperation, Alyssa Young

Dear SHC Community,

My name is Ryan Ortiz, the reason I am writing to you is to announce my intent to run for Vice President of Membership. As I thought about it and discussed it, obsessively almost, I received affirmation from family and friends so loudly in favor of my credentials that they convinced me fully to a realization that there is nothing more that I want than to hold the position of V.P. of Membership for the SHC.

I have gone through a lot of hardship almost losing my life in spring 2014, having to take medical withdrawal due to being in coma for 17 days, taking on a full time job to pay back loans that were preventing me from coming back to finish school, changing majors halfway through a college career, in addition to you know all of life’s unavoidable curve balls. These life-changing events have given me new insight on what is important and has allowed me to refocus my goals. The SHC has inspired me to pursue non-profit work following college, specifically in mental health, so by holding a position where I can give back to my community and learn the functions of this position, I will be able to establish the next step in my life. The SHC has embraced me in every moment when I needed support and friendship during a period in my life when I need affirmation. Orion was my first home away from home when I visited throughout fall semester when I was working my full time job driving a Hi-low in a distribution warehouse. They were a real family away from home and because of Orion’s collection of beautiful people I decided to join the SHC. Then after the uphill battle of making it back to MSU, I am lucky enough now to be living in Howland with a house full of people that I’m always excited to see and be around.

If you were to ask anyone about my personality, they would all mention my outgoing loving qualities that I feel are essential to this position. I’ve always been a leader, standing up for what I believe is right, but not being too prideful to admit when I am wrong. I was the senior student class president in high school and I am happy to finally have an opportunity to be a leader here in college. I would be able to take on all the responsibilities that are necessary for V.P. of Membership because I graduate this fall and will have the second half of the year to focus exclusively on my position here in the SHC second only to graduate school applications. My goal as V.P. of Membership is to guide future development while preserving SHC student culture. I promise to serve the community if voted into office, advocating for students who need support regardless if they are a member or a potential member, as I once was, needing a place to call home.

Sincerely, Ryan Sean Raul Ortiz ortizrya@msu.edu | (616) 403-3699 | Howland House

Hello, My name is Nikki Turek. I’m a junior at MSU studying Arts and Humanities with a minor in Spanish. I remember the very first day I walked into a co-op in East Lansing. It happened to be Montie house, a few weeks before fall classes started. Upon arriving, I glanced around the house wide-eyed, in awe of the murals on the walls, in admiration of the live music being played and more importantly, I was in complete wonder at the amount of welcoming individuals I was encountering. Within moments, I felt a part of something so much bigger than I could ever understand in that moment. That sensation I was experiencing was real human connection. My freshmen year at MSU, like many other freshman, was a journey of trying to find where I fit in. Where can I devote my time, energy and passion for life? Where will I ever find people that reflect that same drive for connection and cultivation? A former high school teacher took me out for lunch one afternoon during my freshmen year, and I’ll never forget the advice that she gave me that day. She said, “Nikki, you will find your tribe. You will find people that make you want to dance and sing, just you wait.” In that first moment at Montie, I realized that’s what I was experiencing. I finally found a place, a community, to call my own. So here I am, almost two years and two co-ops later, still feeling incredibly inspired by this family of co-opers. I want to channel this inspiration into making this system the best it can possibly be. I want us to be able to utilize the full potential of our shared spaces, become more engaged in the Lansing community and really empower one another through the use of sharing our own skill-sets and knowledge. I believe I would be a great candidate for Vice President of Membership for a few reasons. My passion is bringing people together in a manner that is cultivating and empowering for both parties involved. If someone asked me what my biggest strength is, it’s being a human icebreaker. There was a time when I played junior varsity soccer in high school. I was crossing my fingers that I would make the varsity team for the next year. When my coach informed that he was keeping me on JV, before I could be upset, he said to me, “I’m not keeping you on the junior varsity team because you’re not good enough for varsity, it’s because I need someone to welcome the freshmen girls into the family and you’re really good at making people feel comfortable and excited, so I want you to continue to do that.” That, like many other lessons I’ve learned throughout life, has really helped me develop my purpose. I’ve participated in various community organizations such as Degage Ministries, Habitat for Humanity, ArtPrize, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, West Michigan’s Center for Art & Technology, Reach Studio Art Center, the Refugee Development center and I’ve also spent some time studying abroad learning how to become more collaborative and a better facilitator in the midst of unfamiliar situations. I feel very grateful for the experiences I have had, and I want to use them as a catalyst of growth for the cooperative community that I’m living in. Becoming the Vice President of Membership will have its challenges, such as getting used of public speaking more frequently and becoming more vulnerable and open with all those I interact with. Nevertheless, I am up for the challenge and am incredibly excited to see what’s in store for the next year. So please, if you feel as though I would be a valid candidate for this position, I am ready and willing to take on this position of being the Vice President of Membership for the SHC. Thank you for taking time to read this. I’m looking forward to cooperating with you!

Nikki Turek

Education Jessica Sietsema Corporate Secretary, Student Housing Corporation Candidacy: Vice President of Education Personal Relationship to the SHC I have lived in Hedrick House for nearly three years prior, and I am living in Bowie Ellsworth next year. I am a Philosophy and English - Creative Writing double major and will graduate in Spring of 2016, and intend to pursue either a Ph.D. in Philosophy or a J.D. I have worked at the Michigan State University Library since 2012, and for the Department of Philosophy as a tutor since 2013.

Being LGBT and coming out of a fairly toxic Christian schooling environment, the Student Housing Corporation (SHC) is the Þrst place I consider to be a home. It is the Þrst living environment that I feel comfortable in be(com)ing myself. I see this aspect of openness to difference as one of the foremost advantages that our system offers, and would bring that perspective to my work as an Executive OfÞcer.

I also see the SHC as a radical economic institution that emphasizes the social bonds of its members rather than proÞt. Being run largely by students, and for students, in the past Þve decades, the SHC has accumulated millions of dollars in assets, not to mention the enormous value for thousands of members past and present.

Since May of 2014 I have sat on the Board of Directors as the representative for Hedrick House, and since September of 2014 have also served as the Corporate Secretary. The Corporate Secretary is the Board member that sits on the Executive Committee and is responsible for ensuring the Executive Committee complies with our Code and Bylaws.

In my duties, I have:

¥ Been an active, vocal member of the Board of Directors. ¥ Participated in various development discussion and planning, both for the proposed

Collingwood project, and more recently for the feasibility study underway by Claire Evans of MIT.

¥ Positively represented the SHC to the community and student body. ¥ Facilitated, participated in, and taken minutes at Executive Committee meetings. ¥ Learned the corporate Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, and the Code of Operations to ensure that the EC, Staff, and Board comply with SHC policies.

¥ Conducted the evaluative surveys for the performance of the Executive Committee.

Philosophy of the Education Committee Both the Membership and Education Committees are principally concerned with the membership of the SHC. Membership is responsible for Þlling contracts for the following year, and also ensuring that individuals fulÞll their Þnancial and social responsibilities as outlined in these contracts. Education, meanwhile, is responsible for ensuring that the membership is able to ßourish.

I see the Education Committee as enabling the membership to ßourish in four ways: 1. Informing the Membership of the operational structure and outcomes of the SHC. This is done through training events, such as the New Member Orientation, All Member Party/Orientations, and house level trainings, and communication (such as the Pine Press).

2. Coordinating activities between houses and members. In the past this has included a wide range of things - charity events, swap meets, book clubs, etc.

3. Maintaining the operational structure of the SHC. The Vice President of Education is responsible for maintaining and revising all corporate documents (the Articles of Incorporation, the Bylaws, the Code of Operations), as well as House Constitutions and Motion records.

4. Maintaining the institutional memory of the SHC. This is again achieved partially through the Pine Press, but also through other means, such as archive and scrapbooks, a practice which I intend to re-establish. n.b.: The incumbent ofÞcer has failed to execute (3) and (4).

As Vice President of Education, I Would: Address (1) by conducting more professional training; increasing the accessibility of SHC operations through documentation that clearly presents how current procedures work and why (such as vacancies, releases, desk referrals, etc.); and through increased editorial standards in the Pine Press.

Address (2) through a weekly email newsletter delineating all SHC events that are open to the membership, and events around the community that are pertinent. I would also hold the Executive Committee to a standard of setting their meeting dates and locations several months ahead of time.

Address (3) by overhauling the Code of Operations. I have discussed with our Executive Director the idea of moving our code of operations to a policy governance structure. On this

structure, the Board of Directors would set ends and values for the SHC, and the EC and Staff would be responsible for enacting policy that achieved these ends and addressed these values.

This would be a systemic overhaul, and would require a year-long commitment to revising the Code of Operations and Bylaws. I have extensive experience working with the Code and am looking forward to this opportunity especially.

Address (4) by digitizing all past issues of the Pine Press (something that I do at the Library), increasing editorial standards of the Pine Press, and interviewing past OfĂžcers and staff of the SHC, as possible.

Further, I would work towards integrating Membership and Education, by crafting a uniĂžed communications strategy and presenting a united front between the SHC and the community.

Hello!

My name is Christina Rebbe and I am applying for Vice President of Education. I am a perfect fit for the position! Not only do I have incredible artistic ability in order to compose the Pine Press, I also have a sharp intellect, a powerful positive mental attitude, and strong interpersonal skills. I have already been fulfilling the responsibilities of contacting outside organizations to benefit the SHC by creating close bonds among members through ice breakers Student’s Today Leaders Forever (STLF) administers. I am in contact with a former SHC President, Shelby Couch, who is now affiliated with STLF in order to bring strong bonding activities to members at every co-op. I believe one way to effectively live and operate a co-op is through creating activities through which the members can bond on deep levels and get to know one another. I have personally lead two different bonding activities at both Vesta and Phoenix co-op with great success. I am looking forward to the opportunity to craft new systems through which members can be properly informed of the unique and incredible experience co-ops provide through their active participation. I believe in the power of art when combined with logic to create an effective means of communication. I am currently learning animation which will be a powerful tool to create messages to fellow co-opers. I have immense leadership training and skill traits. Starting in high school, I attended multiple leadership conferences as part of student council and won ‘Most Creative Presentation’. I also have taken a class at MSU called Student Leadership Training which has allowed me to study the effective skill traits of a leader. I have excellent peace resolution conflict abilities and an intense drive to create and maintain harmonious systems and I know I could offer so much to SHC given the opportunity to do so. I also have cooperation in my blood as I played team sports for many years and understand how to collectively succeed. I hope you understand how purrr-fectly placed this role is for me and give me the opportunity to shine as Vice President of Education at SHC!

Hello,

Acting as Education VP for the past year has taught me a lot about the SHC, its role in our lives, and our role in the community. I’ve restarted a monthly printing of the Pine Press, and coordinated educational workshops like “Container Gardening”, “Meeting Facilitation”, “Know Your Rights” and “Composting.” These events weren’t very popular, so I’d like to use this past year’s experience to develop better events in coordination with you all.

Next year I’d like these events to be much less Education VP driven, and much more member-driven… that way we can create more interesting events, worthy of community participation versus just the co-ops. The same thing goes for the Pine Press. I’d like for everyone to be able to contribute in ways that they enjoy so that we can spread our newsletter across the nation to other co-ops, and receive theirs. This way, we can get a sense of what coopers like us are doing, so we can get a grip on our vast network.

To make these changes happen I’m going to have to delegate more responsibility across the Education committee and SHC membership as a whole, utilizing the diverse amount of talent the SHC has. This issue was one of my biggest faults last year!

Discovering our talents and areas of interest will take a skill sharing initiative, which will help us find out who we are and how we can best use our abilities together to act more efficiently as a large body of people in the context of a greater East Lansing community. Along this same vein, it will be great to connect with our respective organizations and majors to create relationships that foster growth beyond the SHC. It’s a collective thing, but it starts with us unique individuals (I’m talking to everybody) understanding our uniqueness and how to practice it effectively.

Having a consistent Membership Services Coordinator and Executive Director for the entire year will help as it was difficult to adjust with the transitioning of these positions throughout what has been my first year.

I’ll also be taking 2 classes next year and will graduate in December, which will allow me more time to focus on my position. This year I have balanced 7 classes with my position and have done fine, but will appreciate more time to dedicate to the SHC. This should allow me to dedicate and delegate much more time/energy to tending to needs pretaining to SHC’s Code, Constitution, and ties to Co-Op Principles.

It will be awesome to venture into creating other cooperatives through the resources that the SHC has to offer (co-op record label, co-op cafe, co-op bookstore, and co-op “insert interest here”) which can all begin next year at a grassroots level! A co-op is not just a housing system, it’s a buisness model that has proven successful for over a hundred years.

At the end of the day it’s important that we have caring people, caring homes, and caring relationships between homes. So, as I stated last year, I want to do my best to listen to our voice as a people, not just mine as an individual, to ensure that we head in a truly cooperative direction.

Sincerely, Joshua Schriver

Chloe Jennings

501 M.A.C. Ave. East Lansing, MI 48823 Phone: (586) 764-6417 • E-mail: chloedavenjennings@icloud.com Website: chloejennings.weebly.com March 13, 2015 Dear All Members of the SHC: I enjoy being involved with the SHC as a member of O’Haus (Orion). The community that we have is everything I want my college experience to be; I have made several close friends and have made some of my favorite memories living at Orion. It is because of the time I’ve spent at Orion, that I want to run for Vice President of Education. I would love the opportunity to create wonderful experiences for all members, new and old, that will be cherished for time to come.

I am a Media and Information Major and currently a sophomore. Some random facts about me are...

Nature is one of my favorite things (but I kill every plant I own, irony) My form of procrastination is creating art I am the oldest of SIX children (wow!)

Some people say I remind them of Phoebe from Friends Favorite Author is Chuck Palahniuk Favorite Band is Coldplay all the way!

I have many event ideas the SHC could hold and things members can do to bond and grow as a community. One idea I’ve been working on is to hold a “Block Sale” with the MAC coops, where we set up tables and sell our personal belongings and things from the house that aren’t being used. Other houses can set up tables; the members can socialize and hang out on a beautiful summer day. I also want to bring a heavy structure when it comes to creating the Pine Press. This past year I helped Josh, the current VP of Education, with designing and structuring the early Pine Presses. In the upcoming year I want to make it similar to a magazine where members get featured in it, events get treated like a news article, and having more member involvement in sharing articles.

Organizing and functionality are incredibly important to me; I can’t seem to do anything without the itch to make a task list. This is why I could successfully fulfill the responsibility to create a meeting schedule with the SHC houses’ education officers, all the while ensuring smoothly facilitated meetings. Instinctively, I plan everything with great detail, predetermining essential aspects to guarantee flawless execution of the planned event.

At first I was unsure if I wanted to run for VP of Education solely because it is a huge responsibility, but then I realized, why not? I get to grow into the COOP community, meet people from the other houses, plan events and leave my mark in others’ lives.

That is pretty awesome and it fits me well.

Thanks for taking the time to read my letter and I hope you enjoy my ideas!

Fondly, Chloe Jennings

To my beloved SHC comrades, The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and the end of the school year is near! I love spring for all the contrived reasons you might expect; renewal, warmer temps, an end to winter, and the end of another semester of school. My birthday is also in spring! Hit me up May 1st if you’d like to get a drink, I’ll be legal! Spring has always been a hopeful time for me and it is with that hope and excitement that I am running for the VP Education role on the SHC’s executive committee.

It was around this time one year ago that I signed a lease to live in the bigbluehouse on M.A.C. The people I met at Howland were kind, inquisitive, and fun. They argued about the dishes and talked about spending money on house condoms at meetings. They had a cat. They shared their curry dinner with me. From my Þrst experiences as a guest at Howland, I was excited and intrigued. I knew the SHC and the people drawn to it had something to offer me; I am excited to see what I can offer back as the Education VP. As a housemate, I am now a part of those discussions on how funds should be spent, how many cats is too many (the limit does not exist), and how best to live together. Since moving into Howland, I have held various responsibilities for my house and the SHC. During fall, I served as Howland’s board representative. I liked the position because it offered me a chance to be on an organization’s board, something I’d done before and something that will likely comprise a large part of my professional career. While on the board, I was appointed by Dan Birkholz to the personnel committee, on which I helped interview and hire our new Membership Services Coordinator, Alanna Markle. Throughout our board meetings I did my best to represent Howland and relay our wishes and questions to the EC and give thoughtful input on issues at hand.

This spring, I became a house shopper. Being trusted to spend Howland’s money wisely and according to all 24 of our housemates’ dietary needs and desires has been a lot of pressure and also a lot of fun. I get weird satisfaction from getting the right kinds of milk (original almond, vanilla almond, unsweetened almond, soy, 2%, whole) and winning my housemates’ affection with surprise Nutella and popsicles. The role of house shopper has required a great deal of listening and understanding of house wishes as well as a lot of planning and budgeting.

I am an Arts and Humanities major (RCAH represent!) and am also studying Arts and Cultural Management as my minor. I hope to have a career working for arts nonproÞt organizations making art—the enjoyment of it and the chance to MAKE art—accessible to all members of our communities. Although the membership did not vote to apply for nonproÞt status, our organization operates quite similarly to a nonproÞt. I am currently taking a course with fellow SHC members Maris and Olivia about managing non-proÞts. As part of the course, I have been volunteering with a local nonproÞt childrenÕs theatre. Last summer, I was an intern for a nonproÞt theatre in Washington, D.C. Throughout all of these experiences, I have loved examining the operations of these organizations and learning what it takes to communicate and work efÞciently in an organizational setting.

From serving as a board rep, house shopper, and helping hire our new MSC, I have already learned so much in my time as a member of the SHC. With one more year at MSU left, I am looking to gain leadership experience and learn more about working in a membership community. I am eager to bring my skills and passion to the executive committee of the SHC.

Educating members on what cooperative living entails is vital to the success of our houses. It’s no secret that members who are unwilling to do chores and participate in house dialogue provide stress and strain on the rest of the dedicated members. I have often thought that information sessions for incoming members before they begin living in their cooperatives would be immensely helpful and prevent stress later. In practice, I think this might look like workshops on house expectations at fall and spring *new* member orientations. Separate workshops for previous members of the SHC to brush up on their understanding of the organization would also be helpful in addition to general all-member workshops on classic topics like meeting efficiency, confrontation, and communication.

In addition to general knowledge and understanding of cooperative living, as Education VP, I would be interested in finding out from the membership what events would be helpful to making our cooperative houses more productive and fun and how to further develop our niche in the East Lansing and MSU communities.

Opportunities for educational workshops and events could include: —Expanding the already strong presence of beer brewers and masters, and explore the wonders of brewing your own kombucha and kefir!

—Cooking and baking workshops. With such a heavy emphasis on sharing meals, we should ensure those meals are tasty, healthy, and ethically produced. Also, Howland has always dreamed of it’s own Iron Chef competition!

—Things like lip balms, scrubs, hair conditioner, and soap are all easy and a lot of fun to make, not to mention a lot cheaper. A day of making these at a workshop would be informative, fun, and participants would get to take something home.

—Clothes swaps! I did one of these this winter and it was a lot of fun and FREE! I left with fifteen new-to-me items and got rid of things I wasn’t wearing anymore.

—Consent workshops, Know Your Rights workshops, and meeting efficiency workshops have all been enjoyed and effective in the past, and I would be eager to continue them.

I am excited about the possibility of becoming the SHC’s next Education VP. I have grown to really love the organization and the members I have met. If I am to be elected, I promise to listen, brainstorm, and have fun with all of you. I think one of the biggest duties of being an EC member is to listen closely to the membership and work towards the mission and vision of the organization. I would be happy to chat with any and all of you, acquaintances or not! Feel free to friend me on Facebook or write me an email. Thanks for reading such a long letter. tl;dr: Nora Carpenter wants to be VP of Education. She wants to host all of the favorite events like Know Your Rights & Consent workshops in addition to some snazzy new ones. She cannot change her loud laugh or her urges to use words like snazzy, but she hopes you’ll vote for her anyway.

Hello!

My name is Becca Brunk, and I’m running for the position of VP of Education.

I’ve been an education officer for half the year, and have really enjoyed learning about the SHC ideals, and coming up with innovative ways to integrate it into our larger community. However, I think there is a lot of untapped potential in the Education sector of the SHC. I have looked through older issues of the Pine Press, and was really impressed by it’s humor and extent of artistic expression--whether that’s doodles, or drawings, writing or poetry. I really want the Pine Press to illuminate the people of our Coop Community.

In addition, I hope to promote activities that spread interest in the SHC throughout the MSU and greater East Lansing populous, like participating in the Homecoming Parade with an SHC float, mimicking the East London Morningville Glory raves to demonstrate that dancing and partying doesn’t have to be dirty and drunk, and raising awareness in community sustainability with all the environmentally minded members we currently have. I honestly believe that our possibilities are endless!

Thank you for your consideration!

Becca

Referendum Clarification The following pages are compirsed of Frequently Asked Quesions about the recent referndum proposal to bring MSU SHC to 501(c)(3) status and their corresponding answers.

What are the benefits of having 501(c)(3) status to SHC members?

Having 501(c)(3) or tax exempt status will enable the SHC to more effectively advance its mission of providing quality housing at an affordable rate to our members. The taxes we pay on our properties, purchases, etc. represents a significant cost to the organization, which is passed on to members through assessment rates. Moreover, having 501(c)(3) status would enable us to receive discounts on basic operational inputs like software.

Being classified tax exempt furthermore allows us to engage in fundraising, an important means to expand and improve the cooperative experience without members bearing the financial burden. Two key fundraising strategies the SHC is considering are donations and grants. 501(c)(3) status helps an organization appear more "legit" so people are comfortable donating to it; donations are also tax­deductible, a major consideration for large donations.

For instance, co­op alumni have expressed interest in donating to make improvements to their former houses; getting tax exempt status is super important to making this happen.

Additionally, having 501(c)(3) status makes the organization eligible for grants, which is HUGE. It would be awesome to have tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing into the SHC! An example of a project we would like to undertake with the assistance of grant funding is making Bowie our first fully accessible house, opening the possibility of membership to people with disabilities. While this does not directly benefit current membership, removing barriers (physical and otherwise) is critical to our organization’s mission of proving housing that is “equally accessible.”

Finally, tax exempt status guarantees the organization perpetual existence. The cooperative can never be "de­mutualized" by the members looking to received a "windfall" payout. Our articles protect us from this now, but 501(c)(3) would guarantee that no private party will ever reap the benefits of our collectively­owned housing.

How do we put these benefits into practice?

Here are some examples:

● Tax­deductibility of donations to the SHC —we can give tax­deductible receipts for all cash and non­cash donations such as food, furniture, equipment, professional services, computers, building materials, etc.

● No sales tax on items purchased in the State of Michigan. Like Woah.

● Opportunity to apply of property tax exemption in the City of East Lansing. SHC currently pays $110,000/annually in property taxes. Exemption is not automatic, but we are ineligible to apply without 501(c)(3).

● Lower nonprofit postage rates for mailing over 250 identical pieces of mail. We don't have mass mailing now, but could in the future for SHC alumni. ● Public service announcements on radio, TV, other media (free but limited availability). ● Government and private grants are available for tax­exempt organizations. This is especially important for SHC's expansion or renovation efforts as 501(c)(3) status would make us eligible for certain kinds of tax credit financing, loan guarantees and government housing programs. ● Miscellaneous—employee fringe benefits not generally available to not­for­profits e.g., reduced rates for group life insurance, health insurance, payments of medical expenses and approved corporate pension and retirement plans. Staff are eligible for student loan forgiveness, which would be a MAJOR benefit without increasing expense to the SHC. ● Some stores and businesses give a discount to nonprofit corporations, members and employees of nonprofits.

What is the role of the ​ “Making SHC Affordable” and Applying for Tax Exemption Referendum​ in making it possible to apply for tax exempt status?

SHC initially applied for 501(c)(3) federal tax exempt status in 1971. Due to misinformation in the application, it was denied and the case was closed in 1973. Since that time, SHC has never re­applied (contrary to oral legend). We are in this regard an outlier in the group­equity cooperative housing community, where tax exempt status is the norm.

David Sparer, an attorney in Madison, WI has successfully assisted several housing co­ops similar to SHC in obtaining tax­exempt status across the United States. His approach is to apply under the “IRS safe harbor rule.” That rule relies upon claiming that SHC’s corporate purpose is to provide low income housing, or housing to individuals earning $35,950 per year or less.

In order to establish SHC as a housing provider which complies with the Revenue Ruling 96­32, SHC needs to modify its Articles and Bylaws to say specifically that providing housing to low income individuals is part of our purpose. That is the primary purpose of the referendum.

From the attorney: ​“[SHC] will have to make the suggested amendments to the Articles and

By Laws to make those changes jump out at anyone reviewing them, including the IRS staff.

Since you will evaluate each member’s income and “rent” to 75% low income people – whether student or not student – that should cover the IRS’s most significant concern. So maybe this student or non­student concern isn’t a worry.

Does passing the Referendum mean that the SHC will now be open to non­students?

The Referendum will amend the two governance documents that we have to submit to the IRS, the Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. From an IRS point of view, the cooperative aspect or the student aspect of the SHC is just an irrelevant side issue. As long as SHC does not use language that is exclusive to students (like a sorority or fraternity), it is okay that the houses still serve primarily students. It is also okay that “Student” remains a part of our name.

Here’s the legal explanation from our attorney:

“While the rules do not require that you include non­students specifically, my concern is that since the rule relates to low income housing in general, the IRS would want to see that as some portion of your plan – the service to the general low­income public.

I can say that there are a handful of Revenue Rulings which could be looked to as a method of trying to get exemption based upon assisting a public university in its mission. However, the difference is that those only support our request to get exemption, whereas if we meet the safe harbor revenue ruling – the 96­32 low income housing ruling – then it is automatic. The automatic nature of the award of status is nice. The other way we just don’t know what will happen. ​[ed. note ­ SHC tried and failed under that public university exemption]

Interestingly, each of the revenue rulings which supports exemption for student housing, involves either an organization that is already exempt trying to add this as an additional activity, OR it involves a new private entity which is very closely affiliated with the university and even has the university president on its board.

In terms of SHC operations, there are several other factors that influence our membership makeup and selection process. One is internal governance documents, namely the Code of Operations and House Constitutions, which describe our application and contract signing process. We asked our attorney about screening and enforcing student/non­student requirements:

“​ In terms of screening – other than not screening out non­students which would create issues for your 501c3 status, other screening criteria like ­ no past record of disruption in a housing situation or good landlord references ­ are certainly quite acceptable. Also, eviction of disruptive co­op members is certainly permissible.

[SHC] will have to decide how to address the requirement that some portion of members be non­students or not affiliated with the school, yet also limit that number so it is not too high a percentage. If the membership is comfortable with the idea of saying “students, faculty or staff,” instead of just “students,” I do think that would be a useful improvement.”

Another factor is that the change does not infringe upon house autonomy or affect our recruitment process, which is largely word of mouth. Of the applications we've received this year 81% were referred by a friend. Unless there is an intentional move to recruit in the wider community there is unlikely to be much change in the kinds of prospective members we attract.

Finally, the exclusion of non­students is a relatively recent development in SHC's history. We currently admit recent graduates or people taking time off from school, who are valued members of the community and have as great a need for affordable housing as current students. Prior to joining the SHC, a number of our houses did not require enrollment in the school and some alumni have pointed out that the early vision for the SHC (originally named Inter­Cooperative Council) went beyond serving students to supporting co­ops of every type for everyone.

Will there be any restrictions on who can be in our membership?

As Keith Our Finance Guy has noted, this Bylaw change does give us the ability to discriminate based on income. Kennedys, Rockefellers and Carnegies would still be welcome, but could not exceed 5% of the total membership. According to our attorney, we may also be able to reserve a certain number of our spaces specifically for students (or non­students), like Raft Hill does for graduate students.

What are the criteria on which we are legally allowed to reject prospective members?

We do have to follow Fair Housing Laws. Recently It has come to our attention that City of East Lansing prohibits discrimination in renting based on student status (similar to race, gender or age), so we may have to evaluate and improve our current processes regardless.

To minimize the risk of lawsuits, potential members may be rejected on the following grounds:

● Bad credit ● Past record of disruption in a housing situation ● Negative landlord, roommate or employer references ● Not enough income to pay (SHC require co­signers in this case) ● Past evictions ● Criminal records ● Incomplete or inaccurate application ● Inability to meet rental terms (i.e. this is where house constitutions about quiet hours, conflict resolution, work requirements and house activities are important to defining/supporting “house culture”)

How could we change our central screening process to ensure member safety?

Regardless of this change the SHC could benefit from an improved screening process. These practices would be addressed by Code, House Constitutions or office operations (and are outside the scope of Articles and Bylaws). Staff and EC have generated a number of ideas for improving the application process already. They include background checks, calling references, re­approving non­students every year, expulsion for "uncooperative behavior", reserving a certain number of spaces for students only and/or limiting non­student spots.

Passing the referendum would push the discussion about the screening and expulsion process to the top of the priority list for staff and the new Membership Committee.

What is the process for expelling a member from the house and will it be effective in preventing non­student members from becoming a burden on houses?

The current expulsion procedure will need to be reviewed and likely updated. Fortunately there is a community of practice that can aid in this process, and staff has already begun to talk with other co­ops that are open to community members and students, such at the ICC in Ann Arbor, about how they approach the issue. Some ideas include: requiring a blind vote to confirm that non­students may renew their contract each year, waiving the requirement to engage in the grievance process if there is a ¾ house vote to expel a member, and requiring more comprehensive training for Membership Officers in regards to screening and expulsion.

The current process for expelling a member is laid out in the Code of Operations as follows:

1.16

1.16.01

1.16.02

Expulsions Expulsions should be treated as a last resort measure. Expulsion proceedings should be pursued only after the Vice President of Membership has been notified and the procedures of grievance outlined in the ​ Anti­Discrimination and Anti­Harassment Policies have been executed in an attempt to avoid expulsion.

Members may be expelled from a House on any of the following grounds:

a. Continual violation of a Roommate’s Bill of Rights, which reads as follows:

A Roommate’s Bill of Rights

i. Each roommate has the right to privacy and equal use of the room.

ii. Each roommate must respect the other roommate's desires regarding lights, noise, and use in general.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

1.16.03

1.16.04

1.16.05

1.16.06

1.16.07

1.16.08

1.16.09

1.16.10

iii. A roommate must obtain explicit permission from his/her roommate to have an overnight guest in the room each time s/he has a guest.

Continual nonperformance or poor performance of duties; Malicious destruction of the property of the House or of any member; Use of force or threats, including sexual harassment, against House members or guests; Nonpayment of money owed to the House or the SHC; Continuous violation of House rules; Discriminatory harassment; Violation of ordinance of state law, including but not limited to: possession, use, or delivery of controlled substances; theft of property; destruction of property.

The accused member shall be personally notified both orally and in writing of the charges citing appropriate grounds for expulsion and shall be given a chance to respond at a House meeting (including the presentation of witness testimony if desired) before an expulsion vote is cast. Both oral and written notification must be approved by a simple majority vote of House membership (whether it be by petition, impromptu, or regular House meeting).

An expulsion vote may only take place at a scheduled House meeting where a quorum is present, following the posting for one week of signed charges citing appropriate grounds for expulsion. These charges must include specific details of the alleged violations along with the name of at least one witness.

A two­thirds majority of all House members holding current residence are necessary to expel a member. This vote must be by signed petition with all charges against the member listed.

Upon passage of the motion to expel, the person expelled shall be given 24 hours to indicate when, within seven days she/he will be leaving. If the person refuses to leave the House, the Membership Officer shall ask the Vice President of Membership to initiate formal eviction proceedings in court.

During eviction proceedings, the rights of the expelled member shall be scrupulously protected by House members.

Expelled members will be charged a fine in the amount of one month’s assessment to be used for advertising the vacancy caused by the expulsion. The expelled member will also be held responsible for any debts or fines incurred within the House until the time of departure.

In the case of a violation of federal or state law, the SHC reserves the right to enact eviction proceedings by a two­thirds vote of the Board.

If an expulsion hearing held in good faith is later found to have not been conducted according to written procedures, the hearing will be considered valid and any decision will stand unless the person being expelled objects and requests a new hearing.

1960’s Beal House Before and After becoming a cooperative.

Joining the SHC has a good effect, wouldn’t you say?

Vote!

This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of affecting MSU SHC in a powerful way!

If you have any questions, please email education@msu.coop, call 517-355-8313, visit www.msu.coop, or come in person at 541 East Grand River Ave. East Lansing, MI 48823 during normal buisness hours.