Communities of Opportunity: Smart Growth Strategies for Colleges and Universities
In July 2007, NACUBO and released a publication entitled . Institutions of higher education across the United States have adopted smart growth strategies to help ensure that new growth and development meet the institutions mission to provide high-quality education, support research and innovation, and serve the community in which they live.
The , co-authored with the Environmental Protection Agency and Cunningham Quill Architects, begins with an overview of smart growth strategies and then makes a four-part argument for adopting such strategies:
1. Creating thriving, vibrant places helps to attract and keep the best students, faculty, and staff. 2. Smart growth development patterns are a more efficient use of scarce resources and are better investments. 3. Colleges and universities and the surrounding communities can work together across the traditional boundary of the campus to solve challenges in mutually beneficial ways. 4. Better development patterns allow colleges and universities to improve their environmental performance.
Examples are included from more than 20 institutions across the country and they are just a sample of the good work that is being done. NACUBO hopes this publication raises awareness about the leadership being taken by institutions and creates even more opportunities for smart growth on campuses and in communities
Have a Publication that you think should be included ? You can make your comments/suggestions through the forum, or email the editor directly at: editor@towngownworld.com
"New Times Demand New Scholarship II: Research Universities and Civic Engagement Opportunities and Challenges" Dec 2007 , USA
The report calls for research universities to embrace community engagement and outlines steps they can take to make that happen. The Center for Community Partnerships is leading UCLA's community engagement efforts, which include many of the recommendations outlined in the report. The center's goal is to nurture and develop partnerships between community groups and UCLA that produce joint efforts to improve the quality of life for Los Angeles-area residents. (Go to resource archive)
Feb 2006 Report U.K
'Studentification: A Guide to Opportunities, Challenges and Practice
When students move into an area, there's bad news and good... a more vibrant cultural scene, preserving transport links, rising house prices giving an incentive for landlords to upgrade properties that might otherwise lie empty, and graduates settling in the area. Studentification, in other words, can be the prelude to gentrification, or at least regeneration.' The Guardian.
Studentification: a guide to opportunities, challenges and practice has been published by Universities UK in partnership with the Standing Conference of Principals (SCOP)and in association with the Department for Education and Skills(DfES), the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Local Government Association (LGA).
This guide should be viewed as a starting point for HEIs and stakeholders planning to initiate or extend discussions and joined-up working, and to establish good practice that is sensitive to the local context.
OCT 2007 USA
The University and Urban Revival Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Streets Judith Rodin
Cities rely on their academic institutions as stable places of employment, cultural centers, civic partners, and concentrated populations of consumers for local business and services. And a competitive university demands a vibrant neighborhood to meet the needs of its faculty, staff, and students. In keeping with their mission, urban universities are uniquely positioned to lead their communities in revitalization efforts, yet this effort requires resolute persistence
Education at a Glance 2007
Education at a Glance is the OECDs annual round-up of data and analysis on education, providing a rich, comparable and up-to-date array of indicators on education systems in the OECDs 30 member countries and in a number of partner economies. The main areas covered are:
Participation and achievement in education
Public and private spending on education
The state of lifelong learning
Conditions for pupils and teachers
The 2007 edition investigates the effects of expanding tertiary education on labour markets. Graduation rates from higher education have grown significantly in OECD countries in recent decades, but has the increasing supply of well-educated workers been matched by the creation of high-paying jobs? Or will everyone with a university degree some day work for the minimum wage? Using recent data and indicators comparable among OECD countries, Education at a Glance 2007 finds that the expansion of tertiary education has had a positive impact for individuals and national economies, and that there are, so far, no signs of an inflation of the value of qualifications
