Conference Presentations

View this presentation and learn about dealing with Superstorm Sandy-Three phases of higher education institutions' helping efforts.

This list provides a resource for those concerned with the challenges of having a college/university in their community. It is not intended to be prescriptive, but rather, to stimulate consideration and discussion.

This session will explore the benefits and challenges of the campus’ unique “student initiated” approach to town & gown.

Off Campus Student Services at Towson University

This session details the university/city efforts to develop a series of metrics that will measure their college town initiative's mission to "mutually pursue economic, educational, recreational, social, and cultural initiatives."

Resiliency is breaking rapidly across campuses and communities to form the next wave of sustainable policies, partnerships, planning, design and construction. Attendees will leave with an actionable understanding and access to Resilient Design tools.

A discussion on the value of town gown relations in the new knowledge economy.

The UniTown Network just held its first annual Town-Gown Relations Conference for representatives of cities and universities in the European Union. The case studies came from joint projects and programs being undertaken by cities and universities located in North America.

This roundtable discussion will feature University administrators focusing on the town-gown issues faced by institutions in the nation's capital.

Town meets Gown on Immigration Policy

Learn how the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship opens the world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students and faculty on campus.

Hot-button topics tied to diversity, equity and inclusion increasingly envelop town-gown climates and responsiveness. When challenges emerge from a local or national event, protests and divisiveness can develop in quick order, and a campus and-or community may be forced to develop relations in a crisis.

The goal of this PAS memo is to help community and university planners understand their environment. The memo includes case studies from urban areas and small towns.

Relationships between a small college and the rural community in which it resides are very much different from those of the large university located in a metropolitan area. None-the-less, town-gown relations in the rural areas suffer some of the same challenges as in the big cities and schools. Probably one the most important issues in fostering good town-gown relations is open communications.

This presentation focuses on Northeastern's efforts to improve quality of life issues in off-campus living.

In the heat of a massive local redevelopment and revitalization undertaking, the Office of Community Engagement at the University of Maryland intensified its mission by working closely with members of the surrounding communities to learn, explore and find ways to address social needs, community assets, and quality of life issues, as expressed by our community partners. 

2013 Town Gown Report from MIT

Thomas Edison State College expands their mission to include a deeper commitment to community engagement.

Uniquely positioned in the Office of the Dean of Students, the Substance Abuse Prevention Program and the student CommUniversity Program join together to address the root cause of these issues by empowering students to become active participants in the community, creating partnerships with community organizations that build and improve relationships, and utilizing evidence-based strategies to transform neighborhood livability.

This multi- media presentation shows how traditional partners (and some rivals) created a shared vision and ushered in a period of unprecedented growth that already includes two new downtown hotels, a business incubator, a high-tech start-up, five restaurants, four dorms and a new athletic complex.

How a student partnership helped bring about a positive change in municipality.

In this session you will learn how uOttawa successfully added 1400 beds off-campus (opening 4 new residences) in the span of 24 months with the support of its neighbouring communities and transformed the perception of what it is like to be uOttawa's neighbour.

The presentation will include a history of the city and university’s connections to the riverfront, a summary of complex values and concerns community members express about riverfront development and how these concerns and values have been incorporated into the planning process.

Trends in Fraternity and Sorority Life and the Impact of Reform Measures

Trial and Error: The Community Ambassador Program for Today’s Student

In 1996, University of Vermont students worked in partnership with the Office of Student and Community Relations to establish the Community Coalition. The Coalition and its University and City of Burlington partners invest time and effort in neighborhoods utilizing a Street Strategy that focuses on community development. 

Understanding Campus and Community Relations through Marriage and Family Metaphors: A Town Gown Typology

College towns that have grown up to become University Cities possess unique characteristics that make them a truly distinct species of city, one that is poised to flourish in the knowledge economy, where investment and jobs follow talent rather than the other way around. This session will explore what that means from both city and university perspectives.

This session will outline key elements of the partnership such as faculty in-residence; the MOU process and stakeholder investment criteria; the intentional practice model of civic engagement; outcomes and impacts; and best practices for community-higher education collaboration. 

This session provides insight into different kinds of research relationships and four general strategies for establishing effective research partnerships. Participants will examine the presenter's examples, their own research collaboration experiences, the four strategies, and recommendations related to what facilitates building and sustaining effective research partnerships.

Attendees learn about the institution’s approach to reducing university/community barriers through community-based programming, the utilization of data to deepen institutional understanding of existing partnerships, and the use of storytelling to strengthening relationship.

The Groovy Projects and the culmination of the project with the We Are Not Our Crime Rate video, an original youth- produced, performing arts project, inspired by a struggle for peace and self- identity among the youth in Flint Michigan. Get techniques for encouraging dialogue on divisive issues and explore credible approaches and doable methods to produce positive social impacts.

The City of Fairfax and George Mason University, in partnership with Northern Virginia Regional Commission, hosted a three day event designed to explore the connectivity, livability and sustainability between Mason and the City’s Historic Downtown. This presentation describes planning process, initial outcomes and next steps.

A presentation about a successful Neighborhood Liaison Initiative at Washington University.

Tempe, Arizona with its population of 161,700 residents is home to the largest university in the nation with an enrollment of 98,000 students. Tempe and Arizona State are sometimes synonymous to most people that live here, given how the university seamlessly comingles within the city. Learn about 10 collaborative actions that promote positive Town and Gown relations from constant communication to welcoming activities to party house suppression.

We will share the results of the key partnerships’ collaboration and their positive actions that were focused on these two events. Learn more about upcoming initiatives that will be concentrated toward positive outcomes for the “Big 6” weekends.

This presentation will highlight the vision, methodology, and specific example of developing a community livability, peer wellness program - Community Outreach Agents – one of eight content specialization areas that comprise OSU Wellness Agents, an evidence-based peer leadership program designed by OSU Student Health Services. 

Learn about the West Chester Community Campus Coalition and their joint initiatives.

In the ongoing debate about whether colleges and universities contribute enough to local economies, formal economic impact analyses often use sophisticated models to measure dollar values of regional economic impact and net local fiscal impacts.  Often missing are positive economic impacts related to talent, economic opportunity, property values, vibrant placemaking, and service provision. 

What is the role of love in creating, connecting, and catalyzing vibrant town/gown partnership? In this interactive session Marquita Taylor and Onyeka Obiocha of Yale University will present their findings in building innovative programming with and for the New Haven community.

When there is a complaint about a loud party in the neighborhood, vandalism, and disruptive behavior by students living in a community, how can it be addressed? This presentation will share how Kent State University staff walks door-to-door, to off campus houses rented by students to proactively provide prevention, risk-reduction, safety, and neighborhood relationship-building activities. 

Take time to learn about the drug that has been saving countless lives in Franklin County. Narcan. It is an opioid antagonist that reverses the effects of an overdose. First Responders in the City of Columbus carry narcan and you can too!

When Conflicts and Divisive Incidents Arise Key Considerations for Campus Leaders

Preventing and Addressing Campus Sexual Misconduct: A Guide for University and College Presidents, Chancellors, and Senior Administrators

Learn about the Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle Emergency Operations Plan.

Jeff Malehorn is the President & CEO of World Business Chicago (WBC), where he is responsible for the attraction, expansion and retention of companies to Chicago. His role includes the overall implementation of the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs, which was produced by WBC at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s request and is the outline for the city’s overarching economic development efforts.

This is a report by Savills World Research