Cooperative Internships
by Mark Watne
NDFU, President of the Advisory Board of QBCC
Cooperatives across North Dakota have a need for educated and
experienced employees, according to the North Dakota Cooperative Directors Association. Our current employees and college students need
cooperative experience and education to gain a better understanding of the cooperative
form of business. This discussion led to
several meetings with the North Dakota Cooperative Directors Association, North Dakota
Farmers Union, Quentin Burdick Center for
Cooperatives, and Lake Region College.
These meetings identified a need for cooperative education and
courses to be offered at the college and university level.
We further needed to develop scholarships and internships to allow an
opportunity for students to gain hands on experience of a cooperative's operation. We need to compete for students with other
agribusiness companies that are offering internships and job opportunities to numerous of
the students graduating from North Dakota's colleges and universities.
From these discussions we have begun to develop a couple of programs.
Lake Region College may offer classes on cooperatives including the cooperative class that
is currently offered at NDSU and Dickinson State University.
A minor in cooperative management is being developed at NDSU. The North Dakota Farmers Union Foundation is
creating funding sources for Scholarships and Internships to help with the costs of these
programs.
The North Dakota Farmers Union Foundation received
a grant of $20,000 to begin the scholarship and internship program. They
along with the Quentin Burdick Center for
Cooperative will be experimenting with the placement of internships with
cooperatives for this summer. Cooperatives
or individuals interested in this program should contact Mark Watne at
1-800-366-8331 extension 189.
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