February Monthly Bulletin

It’s official – the 2024 International Town & Gown Association Conference (ITGA) will be hosted in College Park from June 5 to 7, 2024. The University of Maryland, College Park, the City of College Park, and the Partnership proudly present this conference to highlight our commitment to fostering diverse perspectives for actionable change and strengthening town-and-gown relationships. 

What is ITGA? 

The nature of college towns – places that welcome students, residents, employees, and visitors  – create a unique set of policy considerations that resonate with numerous town-gown communities nationwide. These considerations include an array of issues specific to college cities: on and off campus housing and services, the efficient management of student and employee commuters, and managing high and low economic seasons to name a few. The ITGA is an international resource for exploring challenges and opportunities between and amongst higher education institutions and the communities in which they reside. Each year, college and university administrators, city officials, and campus neighbors convene to collaborate on topics impacting campuses and communities.  

ITGA 2024 – The Power of Partnerships  

This year’s theme, The Power of Partnerships: Solving Grand Challenges Together, underscores our intrinsic connection between campuses and surrounding neighborhoods, and shared responsibilities to address complex challenges in local, state, and global communities. The theme is inspired by University of Maryland President Dr. Darryll Pines’ campus-wide commitment to addressing unprecedented global challenges through the exchange of stories, collaborative exploration of issues, and the pursuit of innovative solutions. 

Program  

The conference program tracks are designed to encourage presentations that will inform and inspire the future of our communities and allow for a broad range of discussions to address society’s grand challenges – on our campuses, in our towns, or around the world. We’ll address some of the challenges cities and universities face via three tracks: 

Track 1: Partnerships for the Public Good – Health, Safety and Sustainability 

Explore the partnerships between cities and universities in reference to community-based strategies to advance health, public safety, and sustainability in communities. 

Track 2: Equity, Belonging and Civic Engagement 

With this track, participants can discover how cities and universities can collaborate to establish vibrant communities that service the needs of employees, students, and residents alike. It will also explore innovative strategies for enhancing the connection (or sense of belonging) between students and local communities, boosting civic participation both on and off campus. 

Track 3: Placemaking, Housing and Development 

This track fosters discourse on how cities and universities can collaborate to establish vibrant communities that service the needs of employees, students, and residents alike. We’ll discuss on and off campus housing solutions, neighborhood character considerations, and relationships between permanent residents, landlords/property managers and students. 

ITGA 2024 is now accepting proposals for presentations for this year’s conference! If you would like to submit a proposal for consideration, please do so by Friday, February 23, 2024. For more information and to submit a proposal, please visit ITGA’s website. To register, click here. 

Register Today!

If you would like to register for this year’s conference, click here.  

More Information: To learn more about the International Town and Gown Association, visit ITGA.org.  

Proposals: If you would like to submit a proposal, click here. To be considered, proposals must be submitted by Friday, February 23, 2024. 

Sponsors: If you would like to support the ITGA 2024 conference, contact Susan Hartmann via email; [email protected].   

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