| The Student Cooperative Association has existed for several decades at IUP.
It was organized in 1933, for the purposes of controlling the collecting and
budgeting of student activity fees, and supervising the Cooperative Bookstore.
By 1936, the OAK described the Student Cooperative as the key organization in the extra-curricular life of Indiana. At that time, the organization was
composed of the fifteen members of the Student Council and seven faculty members.
While the charter of the Association gives it very broad powers in providing
almost any type of services to the students, faculty and staff of IUP, its major functions through the years have been to provide financial and other support
for extra curricular activities, to operate recreational and service facilities, and
to operate the campus store. In its present form, the Student Cooperative Association, Inc. is an amalgamation of two prior organizations, the
unincorporated Student Cooperative Association and the Indiana
Students Lodge Association, Inc.
The Indiana Students Lodge Association was formed in 1927 when the
students and faculty formed a nonprofit corporation in order to own and
operate the College Lodge, now part of the Co-op Recreational Park. It was developed as a center for outings, picnics, nature study, etc. through annual contributions of the faculty and from the funds of the Student Cooperative Association. The Students Lodge Association operated the lodge property up
until 1960. During these same years, the Student Cooperative Association
disbursed funds from the student activity fee for the various campus activities
and operated the College Store, the Indiana Film Service, the Student Union, a banking service for campus organizations, and other services. The organization
slowly grew through the years as the campus population grew.
In the late 1950's a movement started to provide a College Union Building
for the students and faculty of Indiana State College. At the time, the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would not agree to construct such a center
on any of the state college campuses. Therefore, a plan was arrived at to
provide the funding locally to construct a College Union Building. In order to accomplish this, the charter of the Indiana Students Lodge Association was
revised and all of the prior activities of the two separate organizations were combined into one new corporation, The Student Cooperative Association,
Inc. At the same time, the College Student Union Association, Inc. was formed
in order to provide a local building authority for construction of the Student
Union Building. The main purpose for forming a separate corporation was that
a lease could be negotiated between the two corporations which could be
used as additional collateral for raising funding for construction of the building.
Through this device, it was possible to borrow 100% of the funds needed to
construct the building. The original 1960 lease between the two corporations
has been renegotiated several times, and additional funds have been borrowed
in order to finance additions to the Student Union Building as well as the
construction of the Co-op Store.
A major renovation and expansion of the Union was completed in the summer
of 1985. The renewed building was named the S. Trevor Hadley Union Building,
in honor of IUP's first Vice President for Student Affairs. The $7.5 million project
was financed primarily through an Indiana County Industrial Development
Authority bond issue. Activity fees are pledged for the life of the bond issue
(thirty years) to guarantee payment of interest and principal on the bonds.
The bond issue was refinanced in December 1986 to take advantage of the
drop in interest rates for tax exempt bonds. The Co-op Store was renovated
in 1990, and the Rec Center in 1991.
Operating on its own, the Student Cooperative Association has more than
doubled the property of the Co-op Recreational Park and is continuing to
develop facilities and programs on the 280 acres of property. The Association
has also constructed a Student Union Building for the Punxsutawney Campus
of IUP. A Student Center has also been developed at the Armstrong County
Campus of IUP which has been developed through the cooperative efforts
of the Armstrong County Trust and the Student Cooperative Association
working with the director and staff of the Armstrong County Center.
In 1972, the Association amended its charter to provide for a major reorganization of the Board of Directors and the committees of the Association. The Board of Directors was substantially increased in size to provide for more input from the student and faculty members of the Association. At the same
time, several committees were formally organized to give the members of the Association a far greater role in establishing policy and in making the major decisions.
In 1979, the Charter and By-Laws were again revised to give students a
majority on the Board of Directors and every committee and to give the
Board a more active role in setting and revising policies.
From small beginnings, the Student Cooperative Association has grown to
meet the growing needs and interests of the students, faculty, and staff of
IUP in many areas of extracurricular life. The annual student activities budget
has grown to where it is now over $6,151,000 and the annual sales of the
Co-op Store have grown to over $8,000,000.
Student Cooperative Association bylaws and other public documents are available upon request to Marian Stockdale at 724- 357-2590.
Student Co-op B oard Of Directors 2009 - 2010
Mr. Timothy P. Barnes
Mr. Bill Balint
Dr. Elaine A. Blair
Mr. James Collins
Ms. Rachel A. DeStefano
Mr. Raymond G. Edwards
Ms. Melissa J. Kornock
Dr. Rhonda H. Luckey
Dr. John A. Mills
Mr. Christian N. Minich
Dr. David M. Piper
Mr. Richard J. Power
Ms. Sara J. Selan
Ms. Elizabeth Solomonides
Dr. Mark J. Staszkiewicz
Mr. Daniel W. Stover
Mr. David Tiscione
Dr. Cornelius Wooten
Mr. William J. Zimmerman
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