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Campus-Community Connections
The official newsletter of the International Town & Gown Association™ Nov. 2, 2020
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Register for November Webinars Today! |
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Wednesday, Nov. 11, noon-1:00pm (EDT): "Now Hear My Point of View": College Student Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Wednesday, Nov. 18, noon-1:00 (EDT); 5:00-6:00pm (GMT): Roundtable Discussion: Managing Town Gown Relations During 2020 - The UK Approach.
To access the abstracts and register, click here. You don't want to miss these interactive and informative discussions! Have ideas for 2021 webinars? Contact Beth@itga.org.
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Iowa City Expects Census Undercounts |
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Iowa City leaders worry a population undercount — confirmed in early reports from the U.S. Census Bureau — will slash federal funding to the growing community. When counting for the 2020 census wrapped up earlier this month, only 68.5 percent of Iowa City’s estimated population had responded to the national head count, well below the 75.8 percent self-response rate in the 2010 census, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. Iowa’s other state college towns also were below expected counts. Ames, home to Iowa State University, had a self-response rate of 68 percent on Oct. 17, compared with 77.7 percent in 2010, and Cedar Falls, home to the University of Northern Iowa, had a 73.9 percent self-response rate compared with 79 percent in 2010. “From when the census kicked off in April, we anticipated we were going to have a lower response rate than we had in 2010,” Iowa City Manager Geoff Fruin said. The Gazette
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Meet Lisa Dvorak, ITGA Member Emerita |
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Lisa Dvorak, MA, San Marcos, Texas
Serving as the first Member Emerita on the ITGA board — a new position appointed by the president and created for former board members who have exhibited exemplary service — Lisa Dvorak has a career’s worth of achievements in policing, public safety and town-gown relations. The retired assistant chief of police and former community liaison at the City of San Marcos, Texas, she is a former president of the ITGA board and has been involved with the organization since 2008. “My focus is taking a reflective view that will assist the president in growing and sustaining the organization,” she says. Leadership, problem solving, expertise in town-and-gown issues and “visionary perspectives” are among the skills she brings toward those goals. She cites relationships among students and long-term residents, navigating the economic and public health challenges of COVID-19, and ensuring the physical and financial health and well being of college campuses and their larger communities as the ITGA board’s top priorities this year. Lisa holds a Master of Arts in wisdom studies from Wisdom (formerly Ubiquity) University.
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Pandemic Damaging Ecosystems Around Universities |
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The direct effects on a college town and surrounding region are obvious and bad. With fewer students—or no students in the case of schools that have gone online only—stores and restaurants are closing and struggling. A far larger effect is one step removed. Universities increase human capital and innovation in the surrounding region, accelerating regional GDP per capita, says a massive 2016 study by researchers at the London School of Economics and MIT. As universities cut back, regional prosperity weakens over the long term. Businesses around big, famous schools probably needn’t worry—those schools will likely bounce back after the pandemic—but some schools may struggle for years or may even close, damaging surrounding businesses for decades. Fortune
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New Care Package Service Created by Students |
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A group of seven St Andrews students have created a new care package service providing a range of boxes for students and donating the profits to charity. Saint Care was founded at the beginning of this year after looking at the toll Covid-19 had on students. Initially, our project was created for our Enterprise and Creativity module, but we hope to go beyond that and have a lasting effect on our St Andrews community. Within our brainstorming meeting, we knew exactly what we wanted to do with our project and how. We hope our products will reach anyone in our St Andrews community, both town and gown. A lot of our orders have been from parents sending boxes to their children at St Andrews as a way of checking in and sending love. We also get a lot of students buying boxes for friends and themselves. Overall, our boxes are ideal for anyone looking to send or receive a little love. St Andrews
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Concordia Welcomes Equity, Black Perspectives Office |
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Concordia welcomes a new Equity Office and Black Perspectives Office (BPO), which will play leading roles in ensuring a fair and safe environment for all members of Concordia’s community. The launch aligns with recommendations in the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) working group’s final report that is set for release in November 2020. “Today is a very proud moment for Concordia as we reaffirm our commitment to our founding principles by announcing an Equity Office and a Black Perspectives Office. They launch at an unprecedented time in our collective history that has also witnessed worldwide protests and demands for immediate action to confront and dismantle forms of institutional racism faced by Black, Indigenous and people of colour,” says Anne Whitelaw, interim provost and vice-president, academic. Concordia
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City Administrator/Treasurer for Ripon, WI. Click here for more info.
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A growing and impressive group of professionals from campus communities continue to network and share strategies for improving town-gown relations. Join us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
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