The New American College Town: Designing Effective Campus and Community Partnerships

by James Martin (Editor), James E. Samels (Editor)

Overview

A new perspective on the relationships among colleges, universities, and the communities with which they are now partnering.

Colleges and universities have always had interesting relationships with their external communities, whether they are cities, towns, or something in between. In many cases, they are the main economic driver for their regions—State College, Pennsylvania, or Raleigh, North Carolina, for example—and in others, they exist side by side with thriving industries. In The New American College Town, James Martin, James E. Samels & Associates provide a practical guide for planning a new kind of American college town—one that moves beyond the nostalgia-tinged stereotype to achieve collaborative objectives.

What exactly is a college town in America today? Examining the broad range of partnerships transforming campuses and the communities around them, the book opens by detailing twenty characteristics of new American college towns. Subsequent chapters invite presidents, provosts, planners, mayors, architects, and association directors to share their views on how college town relationships are shaping new generations of students and citizens. The book tackles urban and rural institutions, as well as community colleges, and closes with predictions about what college towns will look like in twenty-five years. Contributors include presidents from Lehigh, Portland State, New Jersey City, and Connecticut College, along with five college town mayors and the current or former executive directors from the International Town-Gown Association, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, and others.

The book also traces how town-gown relations are expanding into innovative areas nationally and internationally, moving beyond familiar student life programs and services to hundred-million-dollar downtown developments. The first comprehensive, single-volume resource designed for leaders on both sides of these conversations, The New American College Town includes action plans, lessons learned, and pitfalls to avoid in developing transformative relationships between colleges and their extended communities.

Contributors: Robert C. Andringa, Aaron Aska, Beth Bagwell, Katherine Bergeron, Kelly A. Cherwin, Phillip DiChiara, Lorin Ditzler, Mauri A. Ditzler, Kevin E. Drumm, Erin Flynn, Michael Fox, Joel Garreau, Susan Henderson, Andrew W. Hibel, Patrick Hyland, Jr., Jay Kahn, James Martin, Miguel Martinez-Saenz, Fred McGrail, Kim Nehls, Krisan Osterby, Tracee Reiser, Stuart Rothenberger, Kate Rousmaniere, James E. Samels, Rick Seltzer, John D. Simon, Jefferson A. Singer, Allison Starer, Wim Wiewel, Eugene L. Zdziarski II

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421432786
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	11/19/2019
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James Martin is a professor of English at Mount Ida College and academic vice president of The Education Alliance.

James E. Samels is CEO and president of The Education Alliance and founder of Samels & Associates, a law firm concentrating in higher education law. They are the authors of Turnaround: Leading Stressed Colleges and Universities to Excellence; Presidential Transition in Higher Education: Managing Leadership Change; Merging Colleges for Mutual Growth: A New Strategy for Academic Managers; and First Among Equals: The Role of the Chief Academic Officer, all published by Johns Hopkins.

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I. Developing a New Definition of College Towns
Chapter 1. The New American College Town: Twenty Characteristics
James Martin and James E. Samels
Chapter 2. Fostering an Effective Town-Gown Relationship: Eight Leading Practices from the International Town & Gown Association
Michael Fox and Beth Bagwell
Part II. Effective Campus-Community Relationships Start with the President
Chapter 3. Urban-Serving Universities: Rethinking the College Town for the Twenty-First Century
Wim Wiewel and Erin Flynn
Chapter 4. How College Towns Have Become Regional Economic Drivers
John Simon, Fred McGrail, and Allison Starer
Chapter 5. The Public Purpose of Higher Education: Building Innovative College-Community Partnerships
Katherine Bergeron, Tracee Reiser, and Jefferson A. Singer
Chapter 6. Starting from Scratch: How Albion Reinvented Its Town—and Its College in the Process
Mauri A. Ditzler and Lorin Ditzler
Chapter 7. A Plan for Brooklyn: Engaging Community in the First Year of a College Presidency
Miguel Martinez-Saenz
Chapter 8. Right Place, Right Time: Presidential Vision and Political Realities
Susan Henderson and Aaron Aska
Chapter 9. Community College Towns: Five Ways Presidents Can Leverage Their Resources
Kevin E. Drumm
Part III. Beyond the President's Office: Expanding Missions and Leveraging Resources
Chapter 10. How Planners Work: Best Practices for Keene State College and Keene, New Hampshire, in Balancing Community Relations
Jay Kahn
Chapter 11. How Architects Envision College Towns Today and Tomorrow: Ten Best Practices for Integrated Design
Stuart Rothenberger, Krisan Osterby, and Patrick Hyland Jr.
Chapter 12. What Mayors Think: Local Politicians' Views of College Town Opportunities and Expectations
Kate Rousmaniere
Chapter 13. Money Matters: Creative Financing for Campuses and Their Communities
Rick Seltzer
Chapter 14. Hidden Opportunities and Challenges in the College Town Job Market
Andrew W. Hibel and Kelly A. Cherwin
Chapter 15. Student Expectations and Student Needs: How Effective College Towns Are Designed with Students at the Center
Eugene L. Zdziarski II
Chapter 16. Las Vegas: Designing a College Town in the Shadow of Neon Lights
Kim Nehls
Chapter 17. Remote and Ready to Partner: A Blueprint for Sustainable Town-Gown Partnerships in Rural Areas
Robert C. Andringa
Chapter 18. Collaboration Is Complex: Five Lessons from Higher Education Consortium Directors for College Town Planners
Phillip DiChiara
Chapter 19. A College Town Legal Primer: The Most Frequently Asked Questions, and Answers, about Campus-Community Partnerships
James E. Samels and James Martin
Chapter 20. Get Ready: College Towns Two Generations from Today
Joel Garreau
Notes
Bibliography
List of Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

Steven J. Diner

An excellent book full of fascinating essays. The New American College Town will be of great interest to college and university presidents and other senior administrators, who will undoubtedly read it to help them address relationships with their towns or cities. It will also greatly interest scholars of higher education and of urban history.

From the Publisher

An excellent book full of fascinating essays. The New American College Town will be of great interest to college and university presidents and other senior administrators, who will undoubtedly read it to help them address relationships with their towns or cities. It will also greatly interest scholars of higher education and of urban history.
—Steven J. Diner, Rutgers University–Newark, author of Universities and Their Cities: Urban Higher Education in America

This compendium of essays by planners, architects, college leaders, and elected officials offers a mind-expanding variety of perspectives on the prospects for communities that are fortunate to be home to a college or university. The multiple approaches in these essays show how unimaginative and even sentimental we have often been when considering how to shape the futures of these special places. Anyone who lives in a college town—or who cares about one as a college alumnus(a)—would benefit from reading this volume.
—Richard Ekman, President, The Council of Independent Colleges

James Martin and James E. Samels have created an invaluable guide to a key relationship for every college and university—the one it has with its neighbors. The New American College Town explores how institutions of higher education are stronger when they participate in the communities that surround them. It is a must-read for anyone leading a college or university.
—Leocadia (Lee) I. Zak, President, Agnes Scott College

Leocadia (Lee) I. Zak

James Martin and James E. Samels have created an invaluable guide to a key relationship for every college and university—the one it has with its neighbors. The New American College Town explores how institutions of higher education are stronger when they participate in the communities that surround them. It is a must-read for anyone leading a college or university.

Richard Ekman

This compendium of essays by planners, architects, college leaders, and elected officials offers a mind-expanding variety of perspectives on the prospects for communities that are fortunate to be home to a college or university. The multiple approaches in these essays show how unimaginative and even sentimental we have often been when considering how to shape the futures of these special places. Anyone who lives in a college town—or who cares about one as a college alumnus(a)—would benefit from reading this volume.