State and municipal officials are doing everything they can to ensure every resident is counted in the upcoming U.S. Census, in part to ensure they get every dollar available. When Gov. Pritzker announced $29 million in state funding for the Census push was in the newly-enacted budget, he made it clear that the stakes were high for Illinois. "This is an enormous undertaking that could have dramatic, truly dramatic, implications for our state," he said. Cities near the 25,000 person mark, such as Carbondale, have an added incentive to count every resident. If the Census comes back with the college town below that population threshold, the city could lose broad taxing and borrowing abilities, referred to in Illinois law as home-rule status. The Neighbor

CoStar Group, Inc. a Washington, DC-based provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, acquired Off Campus Partners, LLC, a Charlottesville, Virginia-based online multifamily marketplace service for student housing in the United States. Founded in 2000 and led by James "Duke" Jones, OCP enters into exclusive agreements with universities, most of which are multi-year, to provide an off-campus housing listing for students, parents, and faculty/staff. Currently, it has existing contracts with 132 universities servicing over 2 million off-campus students. FINSMES

ITGA Board member Michael Fox, a Professor of Geography & Environment at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada, guested on Tuesday's Cornell University-produced " All Things Equal" to discuss " The Studentification Guide for North America," a book co-authored with Darren Smith, Professor at Loughborough University, United Kingdom, who coined the term. This well-researched and essential guide highlights good practice for effectively managing the integration of student populations in off-campus neighborhoods. Drawing upon findings from a survey and interviews from ITGA members, and previous conference presentations, "Studentification" illustrates effective ways to manage the social, economic and physical challenges stimulated by high concentrations of college-aged students. Gary Stewart, Cornell University

A group of community and campus leaders from several states and the UK responded to a recent Dateline ask for volunteers to serve on a new ITGA Outreach Committee. The group met earlier this month and discussed what we're doing well, and areas of shared interest going forward, including webinars and blogs. There was census that ITGA-branded regional conferences should be common place, and we need a regional conference "101/best practices" to share with membership. It is our goal, with the help of members and friends, for the ITGA to enhance its profile in the U.S. and abroad, and be the dominant, essential go-to town-gown resource. For more information about this new committee, and to tell us what kind of outreach-related information you'd find helpful in your daily work, e-mail gary.stewart@cornell.edu