The Hoya, by Christian Paz

Student leaders and university administrators in the Georgetown Community Partnerships (GCP) expect to announce the 2017 Campus Plan's framework, which will include plans to prioritize student housing renova-tions, for public consultation in early June. The GCP serves as a forum for consensus-based decision making among university administrators, students and mem-bers of the community to develop the framework for the 20-year plan. Georgetown University Student Association President Enushe Khan said student leaders have a framework for an agreement with university administrators and neighborhood representatives for the draft of the plan, which will focus heavily on student housing and renovations. "For students, we have made it clear that our number one priority in terms of housing is renovations. Kerr said the final plan would show the success of the model. 

Independent Mail, by Mike Eads

Clemson's downtown and campus building booms are annoyances for anyone who tries to park a car on or near campus these days, but city and university officials have long-term solutions the believe will mitigate that. Walkability, making it preferable for students to use their feet instead of cars, is the new watchword for city and university planners. Walking to classes and other events on campus, or to downtown bars and restaurants, cuts the traffic on city and campus streets, eases parking headaches and reduces the cost of read maintenance. Three private developments at the south end of College Avenue will account for over 1,500 new bedrooms within an easy walk to campus. Newer housing will be even more important in the coming years. The university's recent building campaign is meant to help Clemson compete with universities nationally for more students to offset declining support from state legislatures for higher education. 

ABC17News, by Taylor Patras

A Columbia commission is asking the city council to revisit its alcohol code. The Substance Abuse Advisory Commission submitted a letter to the city council after reviewing a report from the Responsible Hospitality Institute. The report highlights several challenges the downtown area faces being surrounded by a college campus and filled with a variety of nightlife venues. According to the report, "Among the nighttime challenges the city currently faces are incidents of violence, robbery, sexual assault, vandalism, crowd congestion, noise complaints, underage drinking, over-service of patrons, and impairment of both pedestrians and drivers." Molly Borgmeyer, Chair of the Substance Abuse Advisory Commission, said they would like to explore a few options that may help make Columbia a safer place for everyone to live. Borgmeyer said the commission has been researching alcohol codes in other college towns such as Athens, GA and Gainesville, FL.  

LowellSun.com, by K. Murphy & J. Moloney

The city of Lowell and UMass Lowell are expanding on the conventional college town model with a joint eco-nomic-development strategy that is already yielding sig-nificant benefits for the community. Working together, the city and university administrators are promoting proximity to a nationally ranked public research univer-sity and its workforce development capabilities as a differentiating factor when recruiting new companies to Lowell. The benefit of the proximity  is reinforced by a strong and cohesive partnership be-tween the city and university on everything from grant writing to public safety to marketing. The message received by the business community is that city and university are strong partners that care about creating a business-friendly environment in Lowell. In the past year, six businesses announced relocations to Lowell while crediting the city-university relation- ship and the intellectual capital available through the university. 

Cornell Chronicle, by Staff Writers

Senior Millie Kastenbaum has been named the inaugural winner of the Cornell Division of University Relations' Campus-Community Leadership Award. The award will be presented annually to a graduating senior who has shown exceptional town-gown leadership and innova-tion. Kastenbaum was instrumental in launching and charing the Cornell Student Assembly's (SA) City and Local Affairs Committee. Its mission is to "advocate on behalf of student interest at the city and county government levels [and] organize events that foster a sense of engagement in the Ithaca community for Cornell students." Among a variety of initiatives promoting town-gown connec-tivity, Kastenbaum organized a well-attended "town hall" with city of Ithaca officials at which city staff and elected officials took questions on housing, law enforcement, planning and other quality-of-life issues. "Millie's leadership and contributions to the city of Ithaca have gone far beyond input from an average student volunteer..." said Mayor Svante Myrick. 

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The ITGA strengthens town and gown partnerships by providing a network of professionals and resources, identifying and sharing leading practices, innovative solutions and professional development opportunities for municipal and university communities.