Cohousing-L Mailing List: Associate seniority -- what's it good for?

[Jonnie Pekelny (jonniep]

I am a member of the membership team at North Oakland Cohousing -- a 
development-phase community in North Oakland, California. We are trying to put 
together a seniority system for our members and associates.

One subject we've had a hard time getting my head around has been associate 
seniority. I know that many communities do have a seniority system for their 
associates, but we haven't figured out what good it actually does, since 
associates do not have equity in the project, and so can't be "in line" to 
receive units unless they actually join as members. If they do join as members, 
it seems to me that that they wind up as the junior member anyway, in terms of 
seniority.

So, how does associate seniority work in your community? What's it used for? 
What are the advantages to being a more senior associate, versus a more junior 
one?

Jonnie Pekelny
North Oakland Cohousing