Our Current Structure

The Berkeley Student Cooperative’s (BSC) current governmental structure is modeled after federated political systems; the bulk of each unit’s day-to-day operations is governed/managed internally by the individual community’s council meetings and elected management teams.  Though many BSC members primarily interface with cooperative governance via unit-level engagement, the seventeen houses and three apartment complexes are all nested together under the BSC’s wider organizational/governmental structure and influence.  At this macro organizational level, the BSC Board of Directors--with the assistance of centralized professional staff members--perform the broader-stroked governmental and managerial duties for all ~1,300 members and 20 residential units.   

The BSC Board of Directors, composed of twenty-five students and three non-students, determines matters of concern to more than one house or to the organization as a whole. House officers are elected popularly on a one-member, one-vote basis, as are the representatives to the Board of Directors. The BSC student membership ultimately controls the organization through the board, which is elected proportionately by member houses. Non-student members include BSC alumni and UC Berkeley faculty members. No Board member has the power of veto. Student directors serve one-semester terms, while non-student directors serve indefinite terms. This arrangement provides continuity and experience while retaining control in the hands of the student membership. 

Membership consists primarily of students at the University of California at Berkeley, and admission is made strictly on a first-come, first-served basis, with the exception that preference is given to students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, and foreign exchange students. A significant percentage of our members were also admitted under the University’s Educational Opportunity Program. No other screening of applicants is done. Members are more or less evenly distributed at all undergraduate and graduate levels. Assignment to houses is based strictly upon member preference and seniority within the co-op system.

adapted from the BSC Owner’s Manual, Spring 2011 (pp. 25-26)