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Campus-Community Connections
The official newsletter of the International Town & Gown Association™ July 22, 2021
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ITGA Small Towns Small Colleges Affinity Group
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ITGA’s new Small Towns/Small Colleges Affinity group convened via Zoom on Thursday, July 15 for networking and exploring topics of shared interest. Moderated by co-chairs Monica Chavez-Silva, VP of Community Engagement and Strategic Planning, Grinnell College, IA, and ITGA Board member and Lawrence P. DiRe, Town Manager, Town of Federalsburg, MD, the group discussed several topics of interest to those working in small towns and/or small colleges. What kinds of structures do small institutions have in place to foster town-gown relationships? In what cases are there formal structures in place? In what cases are these based primarily on strong individual relationships? How can we better support each other in our “multiple hats” role? Interested in joining the conversation? Mark your calendar! The group meets the third Thursday of each month at 3:00 pm (EDT).
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Partnership Program Spotlighted at ITGA Conference
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Scranton, PA: The innovation, cooperation and success of The Electric City Connection, an effort led during the pandemic by The University of Scranton, Scranton Tomorrow and Friends of the Poor, was presented at the International Town and Gown Association conference. The program, which raised more than $66,500 since its launch in March of 2020, enabled local restaurants to use donations from area residents to supply meals for members of our community who were in need. The initiative partnered with more than 20 restaurants in Scranton to provide more than 4,400 meals to area residents who were facing food insecurity during the pandemic. The University of Scranton
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Upcoming Webinars and Networking Opportunities
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Wednesday July 28, 12:00 pm (EDT): The Town Gown Turn Around Series has been focusing on how to evaluate partnerships. We’ve invited several experts who all use Collaboratory to talk about how they are using the data to 1) examine the strength of partnerships, 2) foster dialogue amongst the community about their current and future partnership work, and 3) explore “placemaking.”
Thursday, July 29, 3:00-4:30 pm (GMT): UKTGA Virtual Forum: Open Discussion: Off Campus Management - Looking Ahead. This will be an opportunity for ITGA members to learn about off campus management practices being implemented by colleagues across the UK in the fall.
To register for the webinars, click here.
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Night Mayor Confronts Nightmare of City Bathrooms
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Iowa City, IA: Many downtown Iowa City businesses are housed in century-old buildings, according to Iowa City Night Mayor Joe Reilly, often making the bathroom facilities run down and off-putting to visitors. Renovations would be difficult and costly, Reilly said, and some businesses may not be able to afford to make certain updates to their bathrooms. For that reason, he said, the downtown district is launching the Better Bathroom Campaign. This campaign’s goal is to renovate the public bathrooms of Iowa City businesses via award grants. Reilly said he got the idea for the Better Bathroom program from attending a conference about hospitality in the nightlife industry. The Daily Iowan
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Happy Valley Continues Placemaking Efforts
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State College, PA: Though State College has a reputation for being simply a college town, some downtown representatives are leading strides to make other residents and community members feel more at home through placemaking initiatives. Spud Marshall, the innovation director and co-founder of 3 Dots Downtown, said 3 Dots is the “catalyst” of downtown placemaking efforts. Marshall described placemaking as “helping community members take ownership of making the downtown what they want to live in, helping them create and contribute, and letting people shape the place they call home without the [constraints] of city planning departments.” Daily Collegian
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Students Struggling with Loneliness, Declining Health
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United Kingdom: One in every five students in years two and three in the United Kingdom say they don’t have a ‘real friend’ at university, according to a survey of more than 12,000 students nationally. The finding has renewed fears that students are struggling with loneliness and declining mental health. Some 42% of students have experienced suicidal thoughts at some time, the survey reveals. Of these, 24% – amounting to more than one in 10 of all students – say that their thoughts turned to suicide for the first time during university; and 16% say that they have had the urge to hurt or harm themselves in the past 12 months. University World News
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ITGA News & Announcements
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Save the Date - The 2022 ITGA City & University Relations Conference: The annual ITGA City & University Relations Conference will be hosted by the City of Clemson and Clemson University, June 6-8. More info available soon!
Job Posting: UMass Amherst is searching for a Director of Sorority and Fraternity Life with a priority deadline of July 23. To learn more and/or apply, click here.
Refresh of the ITGA Certificate in Town Gown Relations: The ITGA is refreshing the Town-Gown Certificate Program and we are seeking your input through a 15-minute survey. When you finish the survey you will have an opportunity to provide your name and email to be entered into a drawing for a reduced tuition rate for the next offering of the certificate program. To take the survey, click here. Survey closes eob July 26.
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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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