|
Campus-Community Connections
The official newsletter of the International Town & Gown Association™ February 15, 2021
|
|
Message from Executive Director Beth Bagwell
|
|
Members and friends of the ITGA,
This year's conference will take you virtually to Milwaukee, where Marquette University and the rollicking, fun-loving City of Milwaukee will ensure we have a strong sense of being together and being there. Our theme - Innovating for Tomorrow, Together - will focus on economic redevelopment and the role of anchor institutions, social justice and community engagement, and finding peace and common ground in college neighborhoods, among other topics.
Please consider sharing this link to the Call for Proposals, with your network, and encouraging their participation. The virtual environment will provide a dynamic, international platform for the efforts they are advancing in collaboration with partners throughout their communities.
The deadline to submit a session for consideration is Friday, February 19.
|
|
The International Town & Gown Virtual Conference
|
|
Professional Development Opportunities
|
|
Since COVID-19 changed our ways of working, and our worlds, ITGA has pivoted to host online webinars and seminars to ramp up our professional connections and networking opportunities. Registration is open for the webinar and networking opportunities below:
Town Gown Turn Around - Round Table: Join moderator Sara Bloom, Executive Director, Downtown Hays Development Corp, Hays, KS, and ITGA Board Member, for this monthly discussion. ITGA will continue the virtual networking and information sharing through this Town-Gown Turn Around series. Please mark your calendars for the last Wednesday of each month, beginning Feb. 24, 12:00-1:00 pm (EST). We will continue our focus on strengthening partnerships between town and university stakeholders in 2021 and beyond. Come prepared to share your ideas, frustrations, and strategies that are working in your campus communities. If you would like to address a particular topic, please email the info to Sara Bloom, sara@downtownhays.com, who will moderate these sessions. To register, click here.
|
|
Small Colleges/Small Towns Affinity Group: Join co-chairs Monica Chavez-Silva, Vice President of Community Engagement and Strategic Planning, Grinnell College, IA, and ITGA Board member, pictured; and Lawrence P. DiRe, Town Manager, Town of Federalsburg, MD, for this networking opportunity.
If the description below fits you, please join us for our upcoming networking event on March 11, 4:00 pm (EST). You must be an ITGA member to register for this networking event.
Hosting an institution of higher education brings a wide variety of challenges and opportunities to a community. For many small communities, available housing, public safety, student conduct, parking, and impact on the property tax base, are just a few of those challenges. However, having a college or university as a neighbor also offers opportunities like access to campus arts and culture programs, stable employment centers, student volunteerism, student internship programs, faculty research, and many others. The town-gown relationship of small-sized institutions in small communities is rich, complex, interrelated, frequently untapped, and holds endless potential. This group connects small colleges and their communities with each other and with the broader conversations and resources needed for both to see the successes and benefits of an ITGA membership. To register, click here.
|
|
NEW ITGA Assistant Director: Meet Susan Stafford
|
|
Susan Stafford, MA, ITGA Assistant Director
Susan Stafford brings 32 years of direct experience to the International Town & Gown Association (ITGA), where she became assistant director in 2019. She built her career at the University of Colorado–Boulder, where she retired as director of off-campus housing and neighborhood relations responsible for strategic planning, developing programs for off-campus students, and working with constituents such as property managers, residential neighbors, the city manager’s office and the municipal court. That made her an ideal founding member of ITGA in 2008. “ITGA kept me current with town-gown issues across the United States,” says Susan, a longtime volunteer who has served as board president and treasurer, a conference planner and host, and an instructor for the ITGA certificate program. “I loved finding my people and knowing that I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel,” she says. “ITGA was the only professional organization that brought both university and city professionals together.” Her goals include boosting membership to all 50 states from the current 44 and “sharing COVID adaptations and innovative strategies” at the annual conference in May. To contact Susan, click here.
|
|
COVID and Higher Education: Lessons Learnt
|
|
Africa-Global: Weaknesses in higher education provision across the world have been magnified and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to findings presented by university leaders and researchers at a recent webinar. Poorer students and institutionally vulnerable tertiary institutions have been disproportionately harmed by the impacts of national lockdowns, according to the academics who participated in the discussion, themed “Impact of a Pandemic: Global perspectives.” Despite universities’ efforts to ensure equitable access to learning, poorer students in Africa and Europe have been disadvantaged by the global shift to online education in the face of campus lockdowns. The move has exacerbated already inequitable provision, participants from across the world were told at the virtual meeting hosted by the Society for Research into Higher Education. University World News
|
|
Obstacles to a Smooth Spring
|
|
Many universities instituted new testing protocols, hoping to avoid the problems of the fall. But coronavirus variants and uncooperative students have already driven outbreaks. With nearly a year of coronavirus experience behind them, leaders at Michigan and other U.S. universities ushered in the new term pledging not to repeat the errors of last year, when infection rates soared on campuses and in the surrounding communities. A New York Times effort has recorded more than 397,000 cases and at least 90 deaths connected to campuses since the pandemic began. Other universities across the country have also encountered obstacles to a smooth spring, ranging from the unexpected challenge of emerging variants — also detected at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Miami, Tulane and the University of California, Berkeley, in recent days. The New York Times
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|