The SafeWise Report, by Rebecca Edwards

College towns bring to mind tailgating parties, all-night study sessions, and football games. But there's more to these education-minded cities than good times and hard tests. Safety is always a concern, whether you're becoming a college parent for the first time or looking to settle down in a city with the rich art, culture and development so prominent in college towns across the country. SafeWise security experts have examined the most recent FBI crime statistics and identified safety-related programs and initiatives in college cities across the country. The result is our 2016 list of the 30 Safest College Towns in America. Your search for the ideal college community, where safety is as valued as education and innovation, is practically over. Take a look at the 30 college towns we've selected. Find out if your current town made the list of the safest college towns in the country.  

StateCollege.com, by Tracey M. Dooms

Peg and Don Hambrick's neighbors include other cou-ples, families, single professionals and about 40 frater-nities. Traditionally, that mix of permanent residents and fun-loving students in The Highlands has caused clashes over late-night noise, trampled lawns, and inebriated revelers. In 2010, the Highlands Civic Asso-ciation launched the Neighbor to Neighbor program to help head off conflicts by pairing families with fraternities so they can get to know each other better. Having grown to 28-family-fraternity partnerships, the Neighbor to Neighbor program is one of many ways town and gown work together in State College. According to Borough Manager Tom Foun-taine, the biggest recent shift in town-gown relations has been a new emphasis on cooperation in economic development. The goal is to grow private-sector business and employment in a region where public-sector jobs, led by those at the university, long have dominated.   

The Heights, by Andrea Ocasio

Tables with flavors of local restaurants covered the lawn on Brighton Campus Wednesday afternoon as part of the ninth annual A Taste of Off-Campus, as event host-ed by the Office of Residential Life, Off-Campus Hous-ing, the Office of Government and Community Affairs, and the Office of the Dean of Students. The event, which was free and open to all Boston College students, offered attendees an opportunity to try local foods and mingle with BC administrators and city officials. "We want to promote a positive relation-ship between our students and the local community," said Peter Kwiatek, assistant director of off-campus living and one of the hosts of the event. Among the faculty in attendance was the off-campus student community liaison Stephen Montgomery. Prior to the event he posted fliers on the doors of off-campus residences, encouraging student to attend. 

Inside Higher Ed, by Staff Writers

CBCNews, by Kalina Laframboise

McGill University is standing by its decision to coach faculty, staff and students on what to do if an active shooter is on campus. McGill released a 12-minute video, in collaboration with the University of Alberta, which teachers have been asked to show their stu-dents. The video shows an armed gunman prowling through a school, and suggests steps people should take to protect themselves. The university's decision to screen it in class-rooms has garnered both criticism and support. The video begins with a warning about its content, and Oliver Dyens, MuGill's deputy provost of student life and learning, said that students are allowed to leave the class if they need to. The video, shown in schools across Canada, focuses predominantly on three actions: get out, hide and, if there is no other action, fight. We want faculty to be aware of this because if this happens students will turn to their faculty to guide them through this," Dynes said. 

The UKTGA, by Staff Writers

In last week's newsletter, in the article, " UVM Students Work to Stop 'Brain Drain' With New Site"  the editor mistakenly referred to the University of Vermont as  UMV. We apologize for this error. To see the article, click here. 

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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.