Constituents

Iowa State University’s contributions to the local community and the central Iowa region are a distinctive point of pride. The beautiful campus environment, shared facilities and, most importantly, the service ethic of faculty, staff and students all contribute to the local community. One of Iowa State’s five strategic planning priorities is to “ensure that the university is a great place to learn and work.” In order to achieve this goal, the city of Ames must also be a great place to learn and work. The University recognizes its responsibility to contribute to the quality of community life and to cooperatively address issues that relate to the impact of University activities and students on the local community.

The University has excellent relationships and partnerships with the City of Ames and its leaders. Long-standing and robust cooperative arrangements for law enforcement, utility infrastructure, emergency response and physical planning are particular areas of strength. There are also very strong university/community partnerships centered around economic development activities including attracting and incubating new businesses, promoting conventions and tourism, and coordinating entertainment and sporting events that draw large crowds to the area.

Improving student/community relationships is one area that has been a focus of increased attention. Iowa State is a residential campus with relatively few commuter students. Students comprise over half of the Ames population of slightly over 50,000. Approximately 40% of the students are housed in University facilities with the remainder housed in Greek houses and rental properties in the Ames community.

Iowa State’s town-gown relationship has been strained at times by city and community responses to students behavior. Students often view such responses as overzealous. A disturbance occurred in the spring of 2004 during the annual student-run VEISHEA festival that caused extensive property damage and further exacerbated tensions. Student leaders, city officials, and University administrators realized that proactive steps were needed to address these tensions. President Geoffroy suspended the VEISHEA celebration for 2005; a 31-person commission with extensive community, University, and student representation was formed to recommend measures to prevent future disturbances. The task force made its recommendations in November 2004. The central recommendation was to undertake an extensive list of activities designed to create “One Community” that would bridge the gaps in community relationships. Examples of activities that have been undertaken in 2005 include a community-wide Character Counts campaign and active discussion with student leaders and City Council to create a student commission that would advise City Council on issues of importance to students. In November 2005, ISU hosted a national summit on preventing student disturbances.

Other examples of responding to community needs and enhancing relationships include:

• Breaking Down the Barriers, a group that meets monthly to actively promote diversity within the Ames/ISU community

• The Commission on Improving Relations, a group of faculty, staff, students, and community members specifically tasked with determining how the Ames and ISU communities can work collaboratively to enhance the quality of life in this area

• The Get A Grip program sponsored by Iowa State and presented at ISU and in high schools throughout the state; professional presenters facilitatde sessions dealing with teen leadership, substance abuse prevention, and traffic safety

• Summer conferences (1991-2005) reaching 255 communities, 1,856 students, and 415 adults, and regional workshops (1999-2005) reaching 115 school districts, 2,150 students, and 255 adults.

• Participation in a United Way-led effort to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to identify social services needs in Story County

• Iowa State-hosted “Business After Hours” annual event for approximately 500 community and business leaders at Reiman Gardens.

• Representation on the Community Mental Health Task Force, which meets regularly to assess the quality and availability of mental health services in the Story County area.