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4th Annual Best Practices in Building University/City Relations Conference
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June 1-4th, 2009
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GENERAL MEMBERS
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ARTICLE CORRECTION
Last week's Newsstand
incorrectly identified Glassboro, NJ as Glassboro, PA in an article about town & gown growth. Our apologies to everyone in the great college town of Glassboro, NJ. | |
 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. Explore membership opportunities at www.town-gown.net to help keep these communication channels open to all. |
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Town & Gown Leadership
Global Economic Conditions Increases Public Service Interest by Recent Grads
BOSTON, MA - The Boston Globe writes about the decrease of job prospects for thousands of
college seniors, especially those who had set their sights on Wall Street. Many of these graduates are now pursuing less lucrative but potentially more satisfying opportunities in public service. The grads are enrolling in record numbers in the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and Teach for America and other public sector positions. Other students seeking refuge from the recession are flocking to graduate schools, increasing competition for admission. Some students say they feel liberated to consider alternative career paths, crediting not only the tanking economy but also President Obama's call for public service. According to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers expect to hire 22 percent fewer graduates from the class of 2009. The Northeast is expecting a 39 percent decrease from last year.
City Council Requesting Information on Off-Campus StudentsBOSTON, MA - An editorial in the Daily Free Press writes that Boston City Council President Mike Ross is continuing his efforts against college students living off campus. The Boston City Council is working to force Boston-area universities to release the addresses of students living off campus. Officials from universities have refused to provide the city with this information. It isn't a matter of universities refusing to cooperate with the city -- it's that they can't. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act specifically states "Schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them."
Recent Graduate / City Council Member Delivers Report on Town & Gown RelationsNEWARK, DE - A report in The Review, the University of Delaware's independent student newspaper states that despite attempts to bridge the gap between the university and the city, some members of the university community feel they are not a part of the city community. City Councilman and December Graduate, Ezra Temko, presented a report that included bridging community-university relations. Issues between the community and the university include land use, binge drinking, neighborhood relations and communication. Some college students are unaware that a Town & Gown Committee exists of university students and administrative officials, as well as representation from the city, with the objective of serving as an open line of communication between the university and the city. One student said, "It would be a good idea to make the committee more prominent within the city and the university so more students could know about it and know that their opinions were being considered by the city and the university". |
Economic Development
Westfield State College President Wants Students to Help Revive Downtown WestfieldWESTVILLE, MA - Business West, The Business Journal of Western Massachusetts reports that
Evan Dobelle, the recently installed president of Westfield State College, has a new initiative of creating more student housing downtown to boost the economy in an underachieving central business district of Westville. Currently underway is a plan for WSC to utilize downtown buildings for student housing, with that development the catalyst for urban renewal, as well as for further college facilities to integrate into the city center.
Before coming to WSC, including presidencies at four other colleges, Dobelle coordinated expanding relationships between the schools and their host municipalities from as far afield as Honolulu, HI and as near as Lowell, MA.
Colleges Benefit TownsMARTINSBURG, WV - The Journal-News reports the announcement that Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is moving out of Martinsburg to build a campus in an Industrial Park 5 miles outside of the city. The provost and executive vice president of American Public University System in Charles Town was speaking to the City Club of Martinsburg on the benefits of a community college to a community, and questioned why a community college such as Blue Ridge would want to leave a city and "not leaving a footprint in the town". The Provost spoke during his presentation on reasons why a college is beneficial to a town and why towns should recruit colleges and universities. "Colleges are great economic engines for communities," "All vibrant cities have a university at their heart." A community college brings value to a city. It increases shopping, dining and lodging. It increases the quality of life. It brings nightlife to a city".
Universities and NASA Announce New Green CampusSANTA CRUZ, CA-- deliveringthefuture.org web site announces from a press release that The University of California, Santa Cruz, Foothill-De Anza Community College District announced a new partnership with NASA to establish a sustainable community for education and research at the NASA Research Park at Moffett Field. According to UCSC chancellor George Blumenthal,"The goal of the partnership is to create a prototype for an environmentally sustainable community and contribute to the economic vitality of the region, while providing a unique collaborative environment in which to deliver innovative education and research." "Our vision is to seed innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability through the creative reuse of an important public asset for regional benefit. Carnegie Mellon University, Santa Clara University, and San Jose State University have also been involved in the planning and may eventually join the partnership. The vision includes an integrated community featuring state-of-the-art research and teaching laboratories, shared classrooms, housing, accommodations for industrial partners, and modern infrastructure. The community will be designed to have a minimal carbon footprint and will serve as a model site to deploy and validate new renewable-energy and resource-conservation systems.
City Redevelopment Commission Approves Tax Increment Funds for University Art & Cultural CenterSOUTH BEND, IN - A report in the South Bend Tribune tells that the South Bend Redevelopment Commission unanimously approved the first step to renovate a municipal building into an arts and cultural center that will house some University of Notre Dame programs. The university intends to house its Institute for Latino Studies and the Notre Dame Center for Art and Culture in the building. The latter will have two galleries, studio spaces for artist-in residence programs and meeting rooms. The commission approved up to $370,000 in tax incremental financing district money for the project, if the resources are available.
College Students Helping Local
Restaurants SurviveBEVERLY, MA - WBZTV 38 in Boston reports that Endicott College in Beverly is encouraging students to forego the eating at the campus dining halls and eat at local restaurants instead where student business makes up 20% or more of total sales. Students get to use flex dollars from their college meal plans to buy food off campus. College President Richard Wylie says students spent $121,000 in Beverly's restaurants this past semester. He expects that dollar amount to double by May. Wylie says it's not only good for students and businesses, but also for the college. "All the colleges are under fire for a payment in lieu of taxes. This is an economic engine that helps this community and it also helps build the reputation, the link between town and gown." Other nearby colleges offering similar programs includes Montserrat College of Art and Salem State. |
Health and The Environment
Editiorial Calls for Town-Gown Cooperation to Reach Sustainability GoalsGREENCASTLE, IN - The DePauw college newspaper writes in a recent editorial that the City of Greencastle's recent move toward a more sustainable community is an exciting local improvement. While DePauw has worked to "go green" in recent years, it is encouraging to see the rest of the community strive for environmentally friendly lifestyles. Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray is assembling a sustainability commission for the city creating an opportunity for DePauw and Greencastle to integrate their sustainability efforts.
Global Climate Change Begins Locally with Town & Gown
Middlebury, VT - A Middlebury VT blog discusses an interview with NASA climate expert James Hansen in London's The Observer claiming that the Obama administration offers the world a last chance to stop global climate change. If it fails, global disaster - melted sea caps, flooded cities, species extinctions and spreading deserts -awaits mankind. The Middlebury blog breaks this global issue down to a more local understanding and how a local college community can have an impact. With Middlebury College's new biomass plant producing heat and electricity, the college has cut its carbon footprint by a massive 40 percent. Few other institutions, anywhere, can make that claim. There are roles for colleges in helping to be a demonstration project in how to adapt, survive and even prosper in this potentially cataclysmic age. Such demonstration projects for Middlebury may only be successful as joint efforts with:
* Middlebury and the county's business community, especially the
Addison County Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development
Corporation, and the Better Middlebury Partnership.
* Town governments.
* The increasingly maturing coalition of those aligned with the land. Farmers looking for a livelihood not tied to the price of milk; "localvores"; vendors at farmers markets; and those willing to pay a fair price directly to local producers. | |
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Clemson, SC
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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