MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Town and Gown Association Ontario (TGAO) Is Here To Help!
Every fall, municipalities containing institutions of higher education welcome returning and new students into their community and every fall there are media reports of misaligned expectations of students living away from their parental home in a near campus neighbourhood. This fall has been different. Many news agencies are now reporting on how well "frosh" or "orientation" week has been planned with very little issues for the local community. When asked: "Why is this year different?, many communities are pointing to the fact that within their community a "town and gown" association has evolved either formally or informally. Discussions are occurring, partnerships are being forged and solutions are being implemented. Municipalities are seeing the economic and cultural benefits of hosting a higher level educational intuition within their community. Municipalities are also seeing that the challenges are manageable if everyone is "at the table".
Much of the success of "starting off the year" in a positive direction stems from the discussions that have occurred between institutions of higher learning and the communities in which they reside. Student leaders are talking to police sergeants. City by-law enforcement officials are talking to college administrators. Neighbourhood associations are talking to Mayors…and the list goes on.
The Town and Gown Association of Ontario (TGAO) is dedicated to improving the quality of life in those municipalities that host post secondary institutions by promoting and supporting activities that ensure cohesive communities that are safe, healthy and enjoyable. Our mandate is threefold: to collect and disseminate information such as education, research and best practices; to identify issues and develop solutions to problems of common interest; and to work with all levels of government to effect change. To implement our mandate, we provide a template or organizational structure for town and gown communities which helps facilitate communication and action on local issues.
As president of TGAO, I welcome your input on these important issues and invite you to join our association in an effort towards improving the community you live, work, learn and play in.
Orest Katolyk
Manager of By-law Enforcement
City of London
2012 TGAO SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCEMENT
This year, the TGAO Board put together a bid package for interested parties to respond to, in order to ease the selection decision for the host for next year's symposium. We were very pleased to receive two very strong bids to review, and in the end, the City of Kingston was selected as the host for the 2012 TGAO Symposium!
The Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), along with the City of Kingston and their academic partners, submitted a 14 page document, outlining their vision for the next symposium, entitled "Cities for People: Creative Town and Gown Communities". The symposium will run from May 13 - 15, 2012.
The TGAO Board will be accepting bids once again for the 2013 Symposium. Watch the TGAO website later in November for details and the Bid Guidelines document.
TGAO SYMPOSIUM RECAPThe Annual Town and Gown Symposium - SHARE VISION. SUPPORT CHANGE. CELEBRATE COMMUNITY- in partnership with CMHC - was held at the University of Waterloo, School of Architecture, Cambridge Ontario, May 15- 17, 2011.
The annual symposium is over but the lasting impact of the presentations and the passion of the presenters continues with those of us in attendance. From Windsor to Ottawa and Welland to Sudbury, participants gathered to share best practices and contemplate ways to support the changes and common visions that need to occur in their communities for a lasting healthy vibrant place to live, work, study and play.
Cambridge is home of a satellite campus - the University of Waterloo School of Architecture - and has made many strides to integrate into the community and assist in creating a community vision as it sits in a pristine location in a refurbished building along the Grand River. The building itself has been a remarkable conversion from manufacturing to a knowledge base and was an inspiring venue for our event.
This year, with the partnership of CMHC, we were able to bring in professors that are doing remarkable work in partnerships with the community. From being leaders in new construction technology to engaging students for learning and community development work in social housing, we heard many innovative presentations. Professor Michael Fox from Mt. Allison University in Sackville New Brunswick, talked about teaching students to respect and be community members by making it accessible as a credit course. The Town of Sackville is the first known town to hold a Council meeting on campus to further integrate the town and gown community.
A tour of the first Gold Leeds municipal building in Canada, Cambridge City Hall, with the highlight of the "green wall" was enjoyed by all.
To complete the event, a panel on residential rental housing was heard on licensing and proactive approaches to ensuring safe and quality housing.
We would like to thank all our sponsors for helping us provide this very exciting and innovative event: CMHC, UW School of Architecture, City of Cambridge and OPPI and all the volunteers who make this event possible.
Symposium presentations are available on the TGAO website at http://tgao.ca/2011-symposium/
Kaye Crawford
VP, TGAO
SAFER BARSThe City of Waterloo works closely and collaborates with many town and gown stakeholders to address concerns and issues in the community. One stakeholder identified that could help with some of the late night concerns was the local nightclubs and bars. In 2008, the City of Waterloo in partnership with the Waterloo Regional Police Service held the first event attended by over 120 local bar owners, managers and staff. A law professor gave a talk on rights and responsibilities with a question and answer segment. During the other portion of the day, other agencies including the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, local police, fire service, by-law enforcement, community relations and so on made presentations and answered questions. It was deemed a success and the bar industry appreciated the effort to assist them in running good and safe businesses.
Since that time a more formalized approach was taken where the Waterloo Safer Bars Committee was formed. The steering committee is comprised of 2 representatives from the bar industry, and 1 each from the local police, community relations and public health departments. There has been at least one gathering a year with the following as some of the topics:
- Province of Ontario representative on the new Private Security Act legislation, information on local gangs;
- counterfeit identification;
- neighbourhood concerns (litter, noise, public urination);
- parking for patrons who have had too much to drink;
- Impaired driving;
- Centre for addiction and mental health CAMH Safer Bar Training
- Fire prevention;
- Public Health;
- Public transit (developed 2 busses called the "Late Night Loop" that runs through the cores of Kitchener and Waterloo, through the universities and into a high density student area);
- Local taxi company availability and safety features aimed at delivering patrons to their destination and move them away from bars and home at closing time.
One of the more successful programs has been the partnership with the local BIA to facilitate training of bar staff on prevention of bar related concerns delivered by CAMH through their Safer Bar program. This has been a project promoted by the city and Waterloo Regional Health Unit. The training touches on everything from standing in line to get into the premises to the time patrons leave the property. There have been over 125 people trained in the City of Waterloo and another session is planned for the fall of 2011.
If you would like more information, please contact, Kaye Crawford, 519-747-8716 or Kaye.Crawford@waterloo.ca
INTERNATIONAL TOWN AND GOWN ASSOCIATION (ITGA) CONFERENCE RECAP
Beautiful Boulder, Colorado played host to this year's ITGA 6th annual university/city relations conference, held May 31st - June 3rd, 2011. With representatives from the U.S., Canada and Australia, it was the largest conference in the organization's history. The City of Boulder, the University of Colorado - Boulder and Naropa University came together to plan and execute this event - an excellent example of "Partnerships in Action" , the theme for this year's conference.
The conference included a variety of session styles including several key note speakers, information sessions, workshops and collaborative, shared sessions between two or more universities or city groups presenting on related topics. Three major topic streams emerged: Environmental Sustainability; Social Sustainability; Economic Vitality. There were many great examples of how cities and universities have come together to tackle some typical student issues that we're all familiar with, but also some less talked about issues in Canada, such as alcohol abuse and racism on campus.
The president of Naropa University, Dr. Stuart Lord, delivered a compelling keynote address on the concept of "CommUniversity". He coined this term himself, based on his observations that a university and its host community are in a symbiotic relationship, each having great influence on the other. Dr. Lord believes there are too many redundancies found in a university and its neighbouring community - many duplicate buildings and facilities that cost governments and universities millions of dollars to produce, which is not a sustainable model. He urged attendees to consider how different things might be if these spaces "were built with a shared purpose and identity in mind". The vision shared by Dr. Lord would lead to improved integration of students into the community, ultimately resulting in shared responsibility and improved partnerships. An interesting concept to consider, indeed.
For more information about the 2011 ITGA Conference, and to view some of the presentations, visit www.itgaonliine.org for details.
Submitted by
Jennifer Kleven
McMaster University
Manager, Off-Campus Resource Centre
TORONTO NEAR-CAMPUS NEIGHBOURHOODS CONSULTATIONThe City of Toronto commenced a consultation on near-campus neighbourhoods in Toronto in September 2011. Sixty two people were in attendance on September 20th at York University to hear a presentation from City staff regarding Municipal Licensing and Standards issues in the Village at York. The majority in attendance were landlords and homeowners. Below is a link to an article which was published on-line at the York Excalibur website (Excalibur is the York University on-campus community newspaper).
http://www.excal.on.ca/news/village-houses-still-illegal
The next session is scheduled on Wednesday, September 28th, at York. The York Federation of Students (YFS) and the York Administration are expected to make presentations to the City.
Submitted by
Simon Burke
VP, Village of York Residence Association
THE MCMASTER PJ PARADE!
Orest Katolyk (President)
Manager of By-law Enforcement
City of London
ph: 519-661-2500 ext.4969 (office)
okatolyk@london.caKaye Crawford (Vice-President)
Manager, Community Relations
City of Waterloo
ph: 519-747-8616
kcrawford@city.waterloo.on.caDale Brown (Secretary)
Executive Assistant to Councillor McHattie
City of Hamilton
daabrown@hamilton.caJennifer Kleven (Board Member)
Manager, Off-Campus Resource Centre
McMaster University
klevenj@mcmaster.caJoe Xamin (Board Member)
Senior Project Manager
City of Hamilton
Joe.Xamin@hamilton.caNatalie Cockburn (Board Member)
Vice President Finance
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
finance@ousa.caSimon Burke (Board Member)
Vice President
Village of York Residence Association
simon@villageatyork.caLaura Stevens (Board Member)
Student Community Support Network
McMaster Students' Union
scsn@msu.admin.mcmaster.caVinnie Welsh (Board Member)
Ainslie Wood / Westdale Community Association of Resident Homeowners Inc.
vwelsh@cogeco.caRoni Oestreich (Board Member)
Off Campus Housing Specialist
University of Waterloo
reoestre@uwaterloo.caRon Jones (Board Member)
Councillor
City of Windsor
rjones@city.windsor.on.ca
Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. We certainly hope it was useful for you. Please take a moment to send us your thoughts and feedback for future issues. Also, feel free to forward this to others you think might be interested in hearing what going on in the area of "Town & Gown Relations". Sincerely,
Jennifer Kleven
TGAO Board Member
McMaster University
