Cooperatives Community of Practice Mission Statement

Leadership team at official launch of Cooperatives CoP website at USDA National Cooperatives Month celebration, October 5, 2010.

The Cooperatives Community of Practice (CoP) brings together professional peers to collaborate efficiently across boundaries, create and share knowledge, and maximize public outreach by using the eXtension forum to communicate cooperative principles and functions, and to share decision tools, case studies and other research-based information.

Overview of the Cooperatives CoP

The cooperative model is a frequently used tool for developing communities, businesses and individuals. Cooperatives are businesses jointly owned and democratically managed by their members to provide goods or services they need but cannot acquire elsewhere at the price, place or level of quality they desire. Working together, leaders and members of cooperatives help to economically develop their communities while improving their own quality of life.

With renewed national interest in revitalizing both urban and rural communities, educational resources are needed to help people of all ages understand the potential and unique aspects of cooperatives. Further, high-quality, accessible, on-line educational content and expertise are needed to guide and support the successful establishment and continued operation of cooperative organizations.

Given these needs, the Cooperatives CoP (expert providers of information) will use the eXtension forum to communicate with users about the principles and functions of cooperatives and to share decision tools, case studies and other research-based information. The CoP members will collaborate across state, regional and institutional boundaries to create and share knowledge about cooperatives to broadly serve the needs of people interesting in creating, managing or joining cooperatives.

Specifically, the CoP will provide educational content that will enable users to:

• Assess the applicability of cooperative principles in society, including commercial enterprise.
• Consider the effect of public policies on the application of cooperative principles.
• Prepare for membership, employment and leadership within cooperative organizations.

In addition, the CoP will benefit its expert members by enabling them to:

• Automate basic-level education on cooperation.
• Enhance their ability to serve clients with innovative applications of cooperative principles.
• Expand access to information on cooperatives through pioneering content delivery and fee-based services for advanced programming.

Cooperatives Community of Practice Leadership Team Members

Table 1. Team leaders.

	Greg McKee (Chair), Director, Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives, North Dakota State University, gregory.mckee@ndsu.edu
File:Photo not available.	Phil Kenkel (Vice Chair), Endowed Chair, Director, Bill Fitzwater Cooperative Center, Oklahoma State University, phil.kenkel@okstate.edu
	Madeline Schultz (Past Chair), Program Coordinator, Extension Value Added Agriculture Program, Iowa State University, schultz@iastate.edu

Table 2. Team members.

	Jennifer Bond, Local Foods, Colorado State University, jennifer.bond@colostate.edu
	Brian Henehan, Program Leader and Senior Extension Associate, Cooperative Enterprise Program, Cornell University, bmh5@cornell.edu
	Ian Herrman, Student Intern, Iowa State University, iherrman@iastate.edu
File:Photo not available.	Diane Huntrods, Web Developer, Extension Value Added Agriculture Program, Iowa State University, huntrods@iastate.edu
	John Park, Roy B. Davis Professor of Agricultural Cooperation, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M University, jlpark@tamu.edu
	Emmy Williams, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M University, elwilliams@ag.tamu.edu

Table 3. Evaluation team.

	Christa Hartsook, Iowa State University, hartc@iastate.edu
	Madeline Schultz, Program Coordinator, Extension Value Added Agriculture Program, Iowa State University, schultz@iastate.edu

National Program Leader

• John Wells, USDA Rural Development, john.wells@wdc.usda.gov

Industry Advisor

• William Nelson, CHS Foundation, William.Nelson@chsinc.com

Administrative Advisor

• Edward G. Smith (Advisor), Director, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M University System, egsmith@tamu.edu
   

rev 3/19/12.

Browse related Articles by tag: cooperatives, cooperatives cop description