Presentation Format
Individual Presentation
Intended Audience
All Audiences
Presentation Description
It takes very intentional efforts on behalf of a university to listen to what its neighbors are saying and to respond. Furthermore, it is the university’s responsibility to communicate with its off-campus students about their rights as tenants, their responsibilities as community members and the importance of being civically engaged. The goal of this presentation is to inform participants of VCU’s efforts to collaborate with its surrounding neighborhoods, the City of Richmond and its off-campus students. Participants will begin to consider what they can incorporate into their current engagement efforts in the surrounding community.
VCU’s Neighborhood Team was created in 2010 through the leadership of the Vice Provost for Community Engagement, Dr. Cathy Howard. The Team strives to develop a more positive relationship between VCU and its surrounding neighborhoods, especially those in which VCU students now reside. Key to this success was the hiring of a dedicated professional, a neighborhood outreach director, to oversee operations, to be present in the communities and to manage university-community projects. The neighborhood outreach director attends all area neighborhood association meetings as the university's primary liaison.
The Neighborhood Team consists of university units that may have contact with neighborhood residents and off-campus students. These include:
Fraternity and Sorority Life
Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity
Student Affairs
University Relations
VCU Police
Presentation participants will see how a comprehensive approach that fosters communication between university units can help build mutually beneficial relationships, both internally and with the community. Additionally, participants will learn about related programs that VCU has developed, including:
Moving On, Moving Out (MOMO) - Workshops to help students learn about the process of moving off-campus, their legal rights and responsibilities as tenants and how to be a good neighbor
Paint the Town Green - An annual event that brings students and neighbors together for neighborhood cleanup and beautification events. For years this event was organized by a service learning class!
Project Clean and Green Move - A collaboration between the City of Richmond, VCU and five surrounding neighborhoods. The goal of the project is to address the unlawful accumulation of bulk items that students discard during the move out processes in May, June and July.
Neighborhood Liaison Group - Representatives from six surrounding neighborhoods meet regularly with the neighborhood outreach director to share information, work on joint projects and address common concerns. This group meets bi-annually with the Neighborhood Team.
VCU Neighborhood Forum - An annual town hall style meeting with the president of the university to share VCU’s strategic initiatives including progress on the master plan. The agenda is informed by the Neighborhood Team and the Neighborhood Liaison Group.
VCU Police initiatives, including the hire of an external affairs officer, party registration app, noise suppression van and Party Patrol.
The presentation will be 30 minutes, including questions.
Location
Room - 212
Start Date
4-14-2016 1:45 PM
End Date
4-14-2016 3:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Luna, Tito, "A Neighborhood Team Approach to Strengthening University-Neighborhood Relations" (2016). Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning 2016. 37.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gss/2016/2016/37
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Higher Education Commons, Service Learning Commons
A Neighborhood Team Approach to Strengthening University-Neighborhood Relations
Room - 212
It takes very intentional efforts on behalf of a university to listen to what its neighbors are saying and to respond. Furthermore, it is the university’s responsibility to communicate with its off-campus students about their rights as tenants, their responsibilities as community members and the importance of being civically engaged. The goal of this presentation is to inform participants of VCU’s efforts to collaborate with its surrounding neighborhoods, the City of Richmond and its off-campus students. Participants will begin to consider what they can incorporate into their current engagement efforts in the surrounding community.
VCU’s Neighborhood Team was created in 2010 through the leadership of the Vice Provost for Community Engagement, Dr. Cathy Howard. The Team strives to develop a more positive relationship between VCU and its surrounding neighborhoods, especially those in which VCU students now reside. Key to this success was the hiring of a dedicated professional, a neighborhood outreach director, to oversee operations, to be present in the communities and to manage university-community projects. The neighborhood outreach director attends all area neighborhood association meetings as the university's primary liaison.
The Neighborhood Team consists of university units that may have contact with neighborhood residents and off-campus students. These include:
Fraternity and Sorority Life
Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity
Student Affairs
University Relations
VCU Police
Presentation participants will see how a comprehensive approach that fosters communication between university units can help build mutually beneficial relationships, both internally and with the community. Additionally, participants will learn about related programs that VCU has developed, including:
Moving On, Moving Out (MOMO) - Workshops to help students learn about the process of moving off-campus, their legal rights and responsibilities as tenants and how to be a good neighbor
Paint the Town Green - An annual event that brings students and neighbors together for neighborhood cleanup and beautification events. For years this event was organized by a service learning class!
Project Clean and Green Move - A collaboration between the City of Richmond, VCU and five surrounding neighborhoods. The goal of the project is to address the unlawful accumulation of bulk items that students discard during the move out processes in May, June and July.
Neighborhood Liaison Group - Representatives from six surrounding neighborhoods meet regularly with the neighborhood outreach director to share information, work on joint projects and address common concerns. This group meets bi-annually with the Neighborhood Team.
VCU Neighborhood Forum - An annual town hall style meeting with the president of the university to share VCU’s strategic initiatives including progress on the master plan. The agenda is informed by the Neighborhood Team and the Neighborhood Liaison Group.
VCU Police initiatives, including the hire of an external affairs officer, party registration app, noise suppression van and Party Patrol.
The presentation will be 30 minutes, including questions.
Program Abstract
At an urban university like Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), people and programs often blend into the cultural fabric of its surrounding neighborhoods. Opportunities and challenges inevitably arise. How can a university partner with contiguous communities to develop mutually-beneficial relationships? This presentation describes how a neighborhood outreach director works closely with neighborhoods, a neighborhood liaison group, university police and the City of Richmond. Learn how various university units came together to form the VCU Neighborhood Team.