COOPERATIVES AND ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ENTERPRISE OWNERSHIP
Cooperatives, credit unions, and other alternative forms of enterprise are unique businesses in which users (rather than investors) are the owners. Topics will include why these models emerge, who they serve, how they differ from other forms of enterprise, and the ways in which they can be used to address social, economic, and environmental challenges.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Sophomore standing and satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A Course Designation: Core GenEd - Social & Behavioral Science Breadth - Social Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Spring 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Communicate the characteristics of cooperatives, credit unions, and other alternative forms of enterprise and their role in our economy and society. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Describe the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of enterprise ownership structures and identify potential tradeoffs and interrelationships among these dimensions at a level appropriate to the course. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Discern when a cooperative or alternative form of enterprise ownership is the appropriate response to a social, economic, or environmental challenge. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Appreciate how ownership structures affect enterprise behavior, strategy, and decision-making. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Apply knowledge of cooperatives and alternative ownership models to a real world community economic development challenge. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Use sustainability principles for developing personal goals and professional values. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Communicate the characteristics of cooperatives, credit unions, and other alternative forms of enterprise and their role in our economy and society. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Describe the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of enterprise ownership structures and identify potential tradeoffs and interrelationships among these dimensions at a level appropriate to the course. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Discern when a cooperative or alternative form of enterprise ownership is the appropriate response to a social, economic, or environmental challenge. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Appreciate how ownership structures affect enterprise behavior, strategy, and decision-making. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Apply knowledge of cooperatives and alternative ownership models to a real world community economic development challenge. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Use sustainability principles for developing personal goals and professional values. Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027