Sunnyvale University & Quaintown:

Bridging the Gap

SU Dean of Students

Team Leader: Adam CrawfordTeam Members: Robin Hamilton, Alex Johnson, & Erin Sullivan

Missouri State University

The Issue

• SU is an integral part of the community

• School has slowly encroached upon the community proper

• Over the past decade the methodical advance upon the area’s borders has frayed the symbiotic relationship between the two entities

• Late night parties have disrupted the genteel fabric of the community.

• Roaming groups of students have been an unending nuisance during the weekend hours

• The town/gown relationship became even more frayed during last year’s Sestercentennial celebration when it seemed the community was constantly under siege by students and even alumni

• Undergraduate students raising "ruckus" in the community

• occasional articles in both the school newspaper and local publication about the town/gown problems

The Stakeholders

• Community Memberso Familieso Business Ownerso Church Affiliationso Politicians

• Student Government Association

• University Senate

• General Student Body

• Faculty and Staff

• Mayor

• Deputy Mayor

• Town Council

• University President

• Board of Trustees

• Dean of Students

• Director of Residence Life

• Director of Student Activities

• Media (Newspaper, Local News Stations)

Commonality of our Struggle

• Town/gown issues are not isolated to Quaintown & SU (Fischer, 2010; Steinkamp, 1998)o University of Massachusettso Carnagie Mellono University of Pittsburgh

• This is not a new issue (Marcus, 1999).

• Therefore, it is important that we not reinvent the wheel; use what is availableo relevant researcho best practice modelso theoretical frameworks

Research - Trainings

• Professional trainings offered on effective town/gown relations

• ITGA Certificate Program in Town-Gown Relationso International Town-Gown Associationo Online, six week program led by town/gown expertso Capstone Project: develop action plan to address students'

own town/gown issues

o (International, 2013)

• Incidental Impacts (Universities provide jobs, spend money, build)

• Intentional Contributions (Universities consciously set out to strengthen their cities)

• Extracted Benefit (Something the city demands of the university as a quid pro quo)

“Universities should move from merely coexisting with our communities, or reaching out to them only when we need something, to incorporating regional vitality into our planning for institutional growth” (Freeland, 2005).

Community /University Interactions

Research: Successful Relationships

• "Think Outside the Lunch Box" @ Univ. of Evansville o brings university faculty to an off-campus venue to

give brief talks about current issues and events impacting the community. (Kazee, 2012)

• Universities/cities/community organizations should find alignments in missions to find focus for collaborative partnerships (Stevenson, 1999).

• White (2010) recommends:o transparency in goals, operations, decision-makingo choosing representatives with interpersonal skills

and authority to create effective changeo shared authority between university & community

Research - Unsuccessful Partnerships

Lessons learned from others:• increase student accountability

• orientation to partnership should include community members/agency staff as well as students

• opportunities should be limited by resources to maximize communication and oversight between community and university

• (Ostrander & Chapin-Hogue, 2011)

Research - Initiative Examples

• Michael Lehman (2007) lists:o Renovation of vacant buildings/lotso Community-friendly university parkingo Clear sign markings for navigationo Mutually beneficial zoning o Connect professors/teachers for professional

development

• Corporate Givingo many corporations have already adopted a

community partnership and support modelo Education, environment, and economic development

(Coca-Cola Foundation, 2012; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; 2012).

Student Development Theory

• Chickering's Environmental Influenceso Clear institutional objectives positively affect student

buy-in and engagemento Student Development Programs/Services should

focus on whole student, including community engagement

o Friendships and student communities encourage student development; can be achieved through student interaction on service projects

(Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn, 2010)

Student Development Theory

• Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Approacho Context: the situation in which interactions between

the individual and the environment occur (student/citizens interacting with university/community)

o Mesosystems: mid-range, multiple settings that affect students' lives

o Community can have just as much of an effect on students as the university. There is value for students in having a supportive community

(Evans et al., 2010)

Best Practice Model

• Yale Universityo New Haven, Connecticut; est. 1701o Similarities: location, duration of town/gown affairso Town/gown best practice model (Schneider, 2008)

• Office of New Haven & State Affairso Office dedicated to develop a thriving New Haveno Partnership between city & universityo 5 Focus Areas

Office of New Haven & State Affairs

1. Economic Growth & Fiscal Impacto investment in facilities to spur private interesto voluntary payments to city ($74m since 1990)o Scholarships for New Haven youth

2. Public Schools & Youtho Literacy Initiativeso Professional Development Opportunities / Teacherso Free dual credit for local high school students

3. Strong Neighborhoodso Yale University Homebuyer Programo Community development initiativeso Dixwell-Yale Community Learning Center

Office of New Haven & State Affairs

4. A Vital Downtown• Event Sponsorship

• Open-to-public Yale events, often $0

• Market New Haven: partnered marketing

5. Yale Community Outreach• Free business/management consultations

• TreeHaven 10k: plants 10,000 local trees

• Volunteer/service programs

(Yale, 2013)

Solution - Office of Quaintown Affairs

• Establish Office of Quaintown Affairs (OQA)o modeled after Yaleo address town/gown issues (noise, housing, etc.)o ensure continued community developmento hire an OQA Director to set-up, run office

• Advisory Council for OQAo Made up of community/university representativeso All members complete ITGA Certificate Programo Develop priority action plan for community projects,

development initiatives, etc.o Advise OQA Director

Solution: Expected Outcomes from OQA

• Facility development

• Scholarships

• Professional development outreach

• Homebuyer Incentive Program

• Increased security/cleanup efforts

• Community service projects

• Environmental initiatives

• Residence Life Outreach

• Increased student engagement

• Student-Led Initiatives for community support

Solution - The Campaign

• Sunnyvale Loves Quaintown Campaigno Fosters student/faculty/staff buy-in for new Office of

Quaintown Affairso Builds community/university affinity for future projects

• Advertisements to Garner Interest: o Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Website)o Website with Resources/Suggestion Boxo Public Service Videoso Commercials, Bus Adso T-shirts, Buttons

Solution: Integrating Social Media

To garner student attention, it is essential to bring Social Media into a campaign:o Fast way to release informationo Information goes to a wider range of individualso Students get instant notifications about service

opportunities and community concernso Target information to the younger generations at

Sunnyvale University

Benefits

• Quaintown Publicityo Through the campaigno Word of Moutho University and Town having one goal=to make

Quaintown a better place to liveo Increase recruitment for Sunnyvale University

• Rebuilding the communityo Reputation of Quaintown o Encouraging growtho Fostering the connections with surrounding communities

IQuainto

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Buy-Ins

• To help improve Quaintown and Sunnyvale University o Improve relationship between these groupso Wear a Free T-shirt to promote this relationshipo Give back to the community with community service

events o Increase Retention & Recruitment of students in this

area

• Employment: 3 of Massachusetts’ 25 employers are academic institutions (Freeland, 2005).

ReferencesAnheuser-Busch Foundation (2012). Login. Anheuser-Busch. Retrieved from https://www. anheuser-busch.versaic.com

Coca-Cola Foundation (2012). Corporate giving. Coca-Cola. Retrieved from http://www.coca-colacompany.com/

Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student development in college (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Freeland, R.M. (2005). Universities and cities need to rethink their relationships. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/UniversitiesCities-Need/31692/

Fischer, K. (February 5, 2010). Towns, gowns, and taxes. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 56(21), pA1-A32. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com

Kazee, T. A. (2012). Think Outside the Lunch Box. The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://wwww.chronicle.com

International Town-Gown Association. (2013). The ITGA program in town-gown relations. Certificate Program. Retrieved from http://www.itgau.org/

Lehman, M. (2007). Walk the line: The town-gown advantage. University Business, September 2007, 80. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com

Marcus, D. (May 24, 1999). Between town and gown. U.S. News & World Report, 126(20), 60-62. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com

Ostrander, N., & Chapin-Hogue, S. (2011). Learning from our mistakes: An autopsy of an unsuccessful university-community collaboration. Social Work Eduation, 30(4), 454-464. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com

Schneider, S. N. (2008). Contributing to a strong new haven. TownGown World. Retrieved from http://www.towngownworld.com/

Steinkamp, J. (1998). Reshaping town-gown relations. Connection, Spring 98, 24-27. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com

Stevenson, J. M. (1999). Bridging academies and economies for the future: Leadership and partnership for “town and gown” communities. Education, 119(1), 126-129. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com

White, B. P. (2010). Power, privilege, and the public: The dynamics of community-university collaboration. New Directions for Higher Education, 152, 67-74. doi: 10.1002/he.414

Yale University (2013). Office of new haven and state affairs. Office of New Haven and State Affairs. Retrieved from http://onhsa.yale.edu/