TownGown World : Town and Gown University Communities 

New International Organization is Created to Promote College Town Leadership and Relationship Building between College, Municipal and Community Leaders
TownGown World Article
By: Chip Boyles
Executive Director; International TownGown Association
April 2009, U.S.A

CLEMSON, S.C. — The Clemson Joint City-University Advisory Board, (JCUAB) has officially formed a non-profit corporation, the International Town & Gown Association. After two years of research, the JCUAB created this network of resources to assist civic leaders, university officials, faculty, neighborhood residents and students to collaborate on common services, programs, academic research and citizen issues. During the current economic crisis, the ITGA’s initial focus has been on sharing examples of how college and community are working together to collectively raise revenues and lower expenses. Additional college town issue discussions include economic development, alcohol use, planning & housing, health & safety, and other common issues. The ITGA has initiated a web site at www.town-gown.net that describes these communication services and member benefits of the organization.
Clemson University President James F. Barker and City of Clemson Mayor Larry W. Abernathy acting as the Founding Organizers of the new non-profit, established the first Board of Directors for the International Town & Gown Association on September 15, 2008 and appointed Chip Boyles as the agency’s first Executive Director.
President Barker and Mayor Abernathy stated in a letter to prospective founding members, “We have affirmed a need to bring the leaders of colleges and universities together with community leaders to engage their staff, faculty, volunteers, citizens and students to work together in a more collaborative effort in addressing problems and creating opportunities specific to issues of college towns. Increasing operating costs, shrinking budgets and higher living and educational demands from students and citizens make partnering for a common good more important now than ever.”
The University of Colorado-Boulder, the City of Boulder, CO and California Polytechnic State University became the first official Founding Partners for the ITGA and adding a host of general members from colleges, college towns and businesses across the US and Canada. (Editors note: You can Contact Chip at cboyles@town-gown.net )

Problems caused by high concentrations of houses in multiple
occupation (HMOs) have been highlighted as an issue in a number of
towns and cities across the country. This consultation document aims
to test the validity of such concerns and explore what, if anything,
might be proposed as a solution (Go to Article)

CLOSING THE GAP:  NEW PARTNERSHIPS FOR GREAT NEAR-CAMPUS NEIGHBOURHOODS IN LONDON, ONTARIO
TownGown World Article
By John M. Fleming – Manager of Implementation Planning, City of London, Ontario
May, 2008 CAN

The City of London has been a leader in addressing many Town and Gown issues in Ontario and Canada.  London is blessed with the University of Western Ontario and a number of affiliated colleges as well as Fanshawe College – collectively these institutions account for a student body of approximately 45,000 within a municipality with a total population of 350,000.  In response to student housing issues which have been clearly resident in London for decades, the City has, in the past, established Floor Area Ratio regulations that are implemented on a sliding scale based on lot size, gross floor area caps and innovative by-law enforcement techniques.  London was the first municipality to successfully incorporate maximum bedroom regulations for residential units.  The City, University and Colleges have also developed an innovative Housing Mediation Service which still stands as a cutting edge model in Ontario for effective communication and facilitation of Town and Gown issues. 

Meanwhile, student housing issues persist.  Following London’s hosting of the 2007 Town and Gown Symposium, the City has developed a new comprehensive draft strategy for addressing Town and Gown issues.  The draft strategy, entitled “Closing the Gap:  New Partnerships for Great Neighbourhoods Surrounding Our University and Colleges”, contains 10 strategic initiatives that are intended to help near-campus neighbourhoods move towards a collective vision that has been articulated through the consultation process. 

John Fleming, Manager of Implementation Planning for the City of London Planning Division,  who led the process and wrote the document, describes the approach that London has taken in formulating this most recent strategy and how it differs from the approach taken previously.  He outlines the 10 strategic directions and provides insight on their underlying intent.  GO TO ARTICLE

University signs on to a pact to reduce its impact
Feb, 2008  USA

It could be the end of years of bitterness between New York University and its Village neighbors.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and New York University President John Sexton on Jan. 30 signed what they characterized as “historic town-gown principles” that set guidelines for the future expansion of N.Y.U. for the next 25 years and take into account neighborhood concerns about the scale of development.The planning principles are the result of more than a year of meetings between N.Y.U., local elected officials and community associations in Stringer’s Community Task Force on N.Y.U. development.

“Everyone came to the table with an agenda but also with an open mind,” said Stringer. “That allowed us to hammer out a set of principles that will serve the university’s need to expand to meet its academic needs and local residents’ desire for real input into development that directly affects their lives and their neighborhood,” he said at the Jan. 30 ceremony in the N.Y.U. School of Law across the street from the southeast corner of Washington Square Park.“I believe that today we are turning a corner toward a new and harmonious relationship between N.Y.U. and its neighborhood,” said Sexton. “This is a step to correct some of the errors of the past on both sides. Trust has begun to develop.” ( Full Story)

Plans for 20 new university towns
Campuses are to be set up over the next six years at a cost of £150m, with many located in areas suffering high levels of unemployment
Mar 2008, UK

Up to 20 new university towns will be created across Britain under plans for a huge expansion of further education. Towns will be invited to enter a 'university challenge', bidding for the right to have a new campus or college in their area, Universities Secretary John Denham will announce tomorrow. The new campuses could be linked to existing universities or could be entirely new bodies.
The move is as much about regenerating towns with high areas of unemployment as it is about giving more adults the chance of gaining a degree. Denham said last night: 'I want to give communities the chance to show they can make the most of the power of higher education, help unlock the talent of their local people and help make them better off.'

A document being published tomorrow spells out how the government aims to support at least 20 sites, 13 more than originally planned, which will open or have their funding agreed in the next six years, at a total cost of £150m. (Full Story)

Purpose Built Development
The Second Wave ?
Dec 2007 Discussion
University towns are increasingly looking at purpose built developments (PBD's) as the answer to many of the negative impacts that unbalanced communities bring to a near campus neighbourhood. (Go to Discussion on Purpose built Development)

Collaborative Community Planning Does it Exist?
Nov 2007 Discussion
Governments around the world are increasingly focused on education as an economic driver. Academic institutions are being encouraged by their governments to accept an ever great volume of students, and enrolments are booming. Very few educational institutions or the governments that fund them extend this type of planning to include the surrounding residential community, or the host municipality in which they reside. (GO TO ARTICLE)

Many near campus neighbourhoods struggle to maintain a community balance that welcomes students into the community while maintaining the 'critical mass" of permanent residents. A number of methods have been proposed in various countries to give some guidelines for communities. This discussion explores efforts to quantify a “tipping point”, and offers a planning starting point for communities .  (Go To Article)

The 55% Initiative – An Effort to Encourage More NH College Grads to Work, Play and Stay in NH
TownGown World Article
By: Matt Cookson, Associate Vice Chancellor
University System of New Hampshire
Mar 2008, USA

The 55% Initiative sets a goal of convincing 55% of new graduates to “work, play, and stay” here. 

The University System of New Hampshire has been partnering with business, professional and community leaders, policy makers, and higher education to develop this new initiative.  Log on to www.usnh.unh.edu/initiatives/55.shtml to learn more about the 55% Initiative, join a blog discussion. Or follow the links to learn how to send in your company or organization’s logo to show your support.(Go to Article)

UNC and Chapel Hill: Partners for life
TownGown World Article
By Linda Convissor
University of North Carolina
Feb, 2008  USA

Many people call Chapel Hill the quintessential college town.  In 2004, the University recognized its commitment to downtown in a formal way, becoming a founding partner of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership.  The Partnership is made up of the Town of Chapel Hill, the University and the business and property owners.  All three groups fund the Partnership and appoint members to sit on the board. (Go To Article)

Measuring the Effectiveness of Neighbourhood Relations Efforts
TownGown World Article
By : Mary Somers, Dec 2007
Dalhousie University, CAN .(Go to Article)

Universities Are Essential to Recovery
A TownGown World Article
by C. D. Mote, Jr.- President, University of Maryland
June, 2009 USA

 In the midst of major recession, the vital impact of research universities on state and regional economies gains added importance.  Universities accomplish three tasks essential to recovery: Prepare students to compete for quality jobs; deliver economic development far beyond campus; position states to compete for the jobs, businesses, and partnerships recovery will bring. Higher education delivers critical knowledge and skills needed to secure the best jobs. It prepares people for jobs that don't yet exist, in industries that have yet to be founded. 

 Universities have long produced impressive direct economic development  for their states, helping small businesses get off the ground, moving discoveries to market, serving as powerful magnets for public and private  investments and creating research-related jobs. For example, in the case of the University of Maryland:  The Sage Policy Group concludes that each dollar in state funding to the University ($420 million) generates eight-dollars in economic impact ($3.4 billion).  Over the past decade, the University assisted 110,000 start-ups secure low-cost loans - more than $300 million-worth at a cost of $9 million - a thirty-five fold gain. 

 Over the past 25 years, the University has helped bring to market nearly $20 million-worth of products and services and created 8,500 jobs at a cost of $89 million in State support - an impact ratio greater than 200-to-1. Each dollar in faculty salaries, translates into $3 in  research grants, supporting more than 14,000 jobs, in areas like  alternative energy, climate change and food safety - national  challenges longing for solutions.
 Few institutions educate to such high standards, drive the economy by creating jobs and enterprises and prepare society to tackle its future. At this time of economic upheaval, universities are essential to recovery.

 C.D. Mote, Jr. is president of the University of Maryland, the state's  flagship institution, and a national authority on U.S. competitiveness. For more information, you can contact : Millree Williams  Executive Director, Public Affairs Strategy Office of University Communications  2101 Turner Building  University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 301.405.4621

Tackling Studentification
The "10 Point Plan "
By: Richard Tyler
Mar 2008, UK

Tackling studentification as a form of polarisation needs a range of measures, concerned with managing, housing and planning. Together they make a Ten Point Plan. ( Go to Article)

National Award for Smart Growth Achievement: Colleges and Universities/College Towns category.
Feb, 2008 USA

University Town: A new era of living and learning
TownGown World Article
By : Dr. Lily Kong
National University of Singapore
Feb 2008, Singapore

The groundbreaking ceremony for University Town on 31 January 2008 marked a milestone for the National University of Singapore (NUS) as well as for higher education, research and enterprise in Singapore. University Town is a major step for NUS in its quest to offer a wide range of educational opportunities designed to prepare students to compete globally.  It will also help realize NUS’ ambition to build bustling intellectual hubs for world-class research, and seedbeds for entrepreneurial activity.

The main feature of University Town is an integrated learning and living environment embodied in six residential colleges. Together with two graduate residences, University Town will pioneer the concept of learning and living within colleges in Singapore when ready by 2010.  Up to 6,000 students from a diverse mix of different nationalities and cultures will live, learn and play together. (Go to Article)

Time to break the town-and-gown barrier
RICHARD FLORIDA
Globe and Mail
Toronto, Canada
Feb 8, 2008

(Excerpt)"Rather than as an "engine" of development, then, think of the university as an ecosystem or infrastructure for a knowledge-driven, creative economy. The key to the future lies in building stronger bridges between universities and their surrounding communities. The old town-gown boundaries must dissolve until it becomes impossible to see where the university ends and the community begins." (Full Story)

• National HMO Lobby

• Town and Gown Association of Ontario