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Featured College Town
Lewisburg, PA
Bucknell University |
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 The Newsstand is being sent to you as an introduction to the International Town & Gown Association. Members of the ITGA receive this twice-weekly publication and a monthly news letter highlighting college town news from around the world. Membership opportunities are available at www.town-gown.net. |
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Colleges, Universities and Communities Lobby Against State Budget Cuts
News Channel 8, Las Vegas Now, reports that the University of Nevada -Las Vegas held a town hall meeting on January 26th to discuss the proposed state budget cuts to UNLV and to UNR. Proposed budget cuts are estimated at 47 to 52 percent for the Nevada schools. According to UNLV President David Ashley, UNLV could lose $210 million over two years.
The Las Vegas Sun added that over 3,000 people demonstrating against the proposed budget cuts rallied at UNLV's academic mall on January 22nd. The student governments of Nevada schools have opened a web site, www.savenevadastudents.org, to promote town hall meetings and fight further state budget cuts to higher education.
Beaufort, S.C., The Beaufort Gazette writes that enrollment is up while state funding is down at the areas community college, the Technical College of the Lowcountry. TCL has seen an increase of 300 students, to 2,100 total enrollment, over last spring's record enrollment numbers. This increase follows a TCL state budget cut of $1 million for the current year with additional cuts expected for 2009-2010. Beaufort's other college, the University of South Carolina - Beaufort, has experienced a 7% enrollment increase countered by state budget cuts of $600,000 for the current year.
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Town-Gown Relations and Planning
The Southern of Carbondale, IL reports that the City of Carbondale's Comprehensive Plan Committee met to discuss housing, planning and town-gown relations. The Committee will work with staff and a consulting firm over the next twelve months to plan for the community's growth over the next twenty years.
As reported in The Windsor Star, Windsor, Ontario City Council approved creating a formal town-gown committee to address housing problems, late night activities and other college town issues. The Committee will include city officials, students, area residents, landlords and officials from the resident colleges of University of Windsor and St. Clair College. In creating the formal committee, City Council referenced other successful town-gown initiatives in London, Waterloo and Oshawa.
The Ithaca Journal reported on January 23rd that the Common Council for the City of Ithaca, NY continues to debate a "Collegetown" plan and what makes a neighbor and neighborhood. Parking, transportation and housing density occupies the discussions of student living in city neighborhoods.
The Cambridge Highlands Neighborhood Association released a statement announcing the University "Town Gown" reports scheduled for the February 3rd Planning Board Meeting. The Planning Board will meet with MIT, Lesley University and Harvard University officials to review the Annual Town Gown Update.
State College, PA, the Central Daily Times reports that about 30 permanent residents and students met in State College to air concerns around town and gown relations. Issues centered around housing stock and student behavior.
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Economic Development of College Towns
Donovan Rypkema of PlaceEconomics, a Washington based economic development consulting firm writes in his blog, PlaceEconomics, that colleges are a preferred industry for a community to attract, to retain and to nurture. Rypkema states that colleges, utilize locally produced goods (education) and sells to customers (students) bringing outside dollars into the local economy. The activity is relatively stable and there is little risk in losing the industry to other regions, states or countries. Additionally, the industry of higher education adds intellectual strength and global views of faculty and students to the community.
Lewisburg, PA - According to Bucknell University Division of Communication, Bucknell University plans to develop a bookstore in downtown Lewisburg as well as creating a shuttle service to the downtown book store. Proposed plans also include renovation of an old federal building to house about 80 Bucknell employees and on-campus additions of an inn and conference center. Bucknell officials hosted an open house attended by about 175 students, faculty, staff and community members where the officials discussed the possible developments for downtown Lewisburg and the Bucknell campus.
The January 22 edition of The Fort Collins Coloradoan included a report on Colorado state University's fiscal impact on the Fort Collins community. Regional economists for northern Colorado estimate that CSU and its state based alumni produce $4.1 billion in household income. This $4.1 billion in household income generates more than $130 million in income tax revenue and over $50 million in sales tax revenue.
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The International Town & Gown Association is a non-profit organization that brings together leaders from college and university campuses and communities. Member representatives include Mayors, Elected Officials, City Administrators, Police Chiefs, Planners, University/College Presidents, Business Officers, Student Affairs Officers, Campus Planners, Student Housing Staff, Off-campus student staff, Parking & Transportation Officials, Students, Neighborhood Officials, Private Housing Developers, and many others sharing a unified town-gown vision. The ITGA acts as a communication, education, consulting and training resource for decision makers of colleges and college communities in areas of shared resources, programs, planning and project opportunities while addressing existing and potential conflicts.
Sincerely,
Chip Boyles
Executive Director |
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