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Campus-Community Connections
The official newsletter of the International Town & Gown Association™ November 30, 2020
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Giving Tuesday: A Generosity Movement |
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Colleagues,
While 2020 has certainly been a challenging year, we are thankful during this holiday season for our ITGA family. As an organization, we are committed to assisting you as you rebuild your respective communities. It is vitally important to our town-gown communities, future leaders and ITGA. Your continued dedication to town-gown work and ability to move forward during challenging times demonstrates the resiliency needed to get through 2020, together.
COVID has impacted the ability of some of our members to pay ITGA membership dues and/or to attend our virtual conferences. As a nonprofit organization, we operate on a very lean budget. Therefore, ITGA is asking for your help so that we can continue to provide support to our member institutions and communities and fulfill the mission of ITGA by strengthening town-gown partnerships and sharing leading practices and professional development opportunities for municipalities and institutions of higher education.
On Giving Tuesday, Dec 1st, we are asking for you to consider donating to the ITGA Fund.
As we gear up for another year, we encourage you to continue using the resources available to you through our listserv, monthly webinars, the College Town Resource Center, weekly newsletter and many networking opportunities. We also look forward to hearing about your accomplishments and collaborations at the 2021 ITGA Conference in May.
Thank you,
Beth Bagwell, MPA
ITGA Executive Director
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NEW Board Member Highlight: Meet Julie Emms |
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Julie Emms, MS, DePaul University
Julie Emms puts her marketing expertise and communications planning skills to work as chair of ITGA’s newly formed Outreach Committee. A new board member, she is director of community relations at DePaul University in Chicago, where she is well networked with colleagues at numerous colleges and universities. “I searched for years for a professional organization where I could connect with others in my field,” Julie says. “Once I found ITGA, I wanted to highlight the excellent work being done in the field and educate those outside of our practice area.” Julie sees the board’s biggest challenges this year as being “of value and service to our members” and helping the organization grow at a time when town-gown practitioners need to share best practices, challenges and solutions. To contact Julie, click here.
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ITGA City & University Relations Conference in 2021 |
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Join our hosts, Marquette University and the city of Milwaukee, for the annual ITGA City & University Relations conference from May 24–26, 2021. Our theme — Innovating for Tomorrow, Together — will empower you with innovative ideas to keep your campus and communities both vital and safe as we navigate a changing landscape. Three ways to engage now in the May 2021 conference:
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Register and qualify for the “early bird” rate.
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Submit a proposal. Share your own emerging and best practices.
- Encourage colleagues on your campus and in your community to attend together. Those end-of-the-day downloads are invaluable — and more fun!
We’ll innovate together. Look to the future together. Learn and lead together. And enjoy a three-day virtual visit to Milwaukee and the beautiful Marquette campus. Together. Experience ITGA, your hub for campus-and-community learning and engagement.
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In Memory and Celebration: The Passing of a Giant |
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We are saddened by the news that Willie Young Sr., senior director of Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services, has passed away. He will be truly missed!
Willie was a true Buckeye legend. He’s been with the university since 1990, and is certainly one of the most beloved people on campus. He never met anyone who wouldn’t call him a friend. I am awed and inspired by the legion of people who loved Willie. He leaves a true legacy that will never be forgotten.
Willie’s mark on Ohio State isn’t so much what he did, but how he did it. He took the time to connect with thousands of students, making sure they knew he was taking a personal interest in their well-being. He spent more hours than you can imagine driving the off-campus area, including in the past weeks, talking to anyone and everyone. And odds are good that he knew, and remembered, the mascot of the high school you attended.
Our hearts go out to his wife, Pam, and family, including his son, Student Life’s own WillieYoung Jr.
Willie was a proud double graduate of Bowling Green State University, and often talked about “soaring with the falcons.” He is soaring even higher now, and we have all lost a dear friend.
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COVID Burnout Resulting in Longer Winter Breaks |
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Most Canadian post-secondary students have traded lecture halls for laptop screens this fall and, as the pandemic continues, schools are largely staying the course through the next term. However, an increasing number of institutions are now pushing back their start dates in the New Year in recognition of strain felt by students and staff. In Ontario, Western University announced it will delay the start of classes for the winter term, joining the likes of Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, the University of Toronto, Laurentian University, Carleton University and McMaster, as well as Quebec schools l'Université du Québec à Montréal, Concordia University and l'Université de Sherbrooke. In recent weeks, there have been widespread student appeals for more downtime following a stressful autumn of predominantly online learning and being isolated from peers and instructors due to COVID-19. CBC
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GMU Opens New Center for Retail Transformation |
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George Mason University School of Business professor Gautham Vadakkepatt knows it's been a rough few years for small- to medium- sized retailers. Even before the pandemic, large companies were dominating the space and squeezing them out. But it’s far from a “lost cause” says Vadakkepatt. That's why the business school is launching a new Center for Retail Transformation, with Vadakkepatt, an assistant professor of marketing, as its founding director. The plan to start such a center predates the start of the pandemic, but the ongoing health crisis has only proven that it is needed more than ever, Vadakkepatt said. The center's goal is to provide retailers with research and data-driven forecasts and develop strategies that can help them thrive. It will include internship programs within the industry and develop courses on retail. Down the road, the center plans to partner with retailers, trade associations and local governments. Washington Business Journal
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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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