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Campus-Community Connections
The official newsletter of the International Town & Gown Association™ April 1, 2021
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ROO Would Connect College Station Neighbors |
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City of College Station, TX: There has been a lot commentary recently about the Restricted Occupancy Overlay being considered by the College Station City Council. This “ROO” would allow neighborhoods to petition the city to limit the number of unrelated individuals who can live together in a single-family home to two — there would be no limits on the number of related people. For a long time, residents of College Station have sought some ability to protect the character of their neighborhoods. If approved, the ROO would give residents that option. It is a modest, bottom-up response that is long overdue. If approved, homeowners in a phase of a subdivision would be able to petition to change the occupancy limit from the current level of not more than four unrelated persons to not more than two, thereby stabilizing single-family neighborhoods from converting to high-occupancy rental areas, writes Richard Woodward, president of the College Station Association of Neighborhoods. The Eagle
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Carolina Economic Development Strategy |
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Town of Chapel Hill, NC: Today the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Town of Chapel Hill announced the Carolina Economic Development Strategy, a new partnership to revitalize downtown and further economic development in Chapel Hill. The Strategy is a comprehensive initiative to increase UNC-Chapel Hill’s economic impact in Chapel Hill and across the Triangle region by leveraging the University’s capabilities to develop talent, translate innovation and create vibrant places.The Carolina Economic Development Strategy positions us to act as a catalyst to retain, attract and grow more innovation-oriented companies and talent in Chapel Hill and North Carolina. We recognize our role as Chapel Hill’s largest employer, and we will work with our alumni, business and research partners to help us successfully implement this strategy here and across our state,” said UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz. UNC
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New Mural in Downtown Honors Black Residents |
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City of Ames, IA: There’s a new mural in downtown Ames after the Ames History Museum held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new installation Monday. The vinyl mural on the north side of the building honors nine Black people and their connections to the history of the Ames community. “The whole project started in September of 2020 as we were trying to be more inclusive and tell some of these stories,” said Alex Fejfar, exhibits manager for the Ames History Museum. “Some of the stories we’ve told before – like George Washington Carver is clearly someone we’ve honored in the past. “But there are a lot of other names that made great contributions to the history of Ames who were African Americans. The mural was a collaboration between the Ames History Museum and the Graphic Design Social Club at Iowa State University. Ames Tribune
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Time Differences Take Their Toll on Online Students |
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Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province: The sudden death of a Chinese student has highlighted the struggle faced by millions of students studying at home in overseas ‘Zoom universities’ – the time difference, writes Cui Fandi for Global Times. China belongs to the UTC+8 time zone – several hours away from most destination countries for students who study abroad, which means they must burn the midnight oil to attend their lectures. There’s no respite during the day either – office hours, seminars and group discussions take up their daytime rest hours. On Reddit-like Chinese social networking platform Douban, nearly 20,000 people make up a group called “2020s Strenuous Study Abroad Students,” in which they share their hardships in this unprecedented year, with many of them reporting symptoms of depression. Recently, the sudden death of a Chinese student who took online classes at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York, US, brought this issue under the spotlight once again. Global Times
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Submit Your Nominations for Deserving Colleagues |
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ITGA is accepting nominations for the "ITGA Presidential Excellence Award" and the "Larry Abernathy Award." Topics in the past included healthy communities projects, revitalizing a downtown, and creating a sense of place. Recipients of the awards will be recognized at the 2021 virtual ITGA City & University Relations Conference in May. Submissions are due Monday, April 19. To nominate a colleague or yourself, click here. Hurry, time is running out! For questions, contact Beth@itga.org.
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ITGA News & Announcements |
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Registration: The ITGA 2021 Virtual City & University Relations Conference registration is open. To learn more about the conference or register, click here. The relevant and interactive conference session topics, presenters and keynote speakers will be available for viewing next week!
"My first conference was as a new city council member. I was in awe at the meeting with the breadth of those who attended, from city managers and mayors, to higher-ed administrators and university/city police. When I returned to Athens, I asked city and university colleagues to attend the next year's conference, and we have kept that model going for several years.”
Mayor Steve Patterson, Athens, Ohio, home to Ohio University
Sponsorship: Interested in being a conference sponsor? We welcome sponsors wishing to support strong town-gown relationships while showcasing their services and products and interacting with hundreds of campus-community stakeholders from the UK, Canada, the US and beyond. Learn more.
Contact Susan@itga.org to discuss conference registration, sponsorship opportunities, or ITGA membership.
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