Cal Poly is working to improve town-gown relations

It is an exciting time for us at Cal Poly. With the approach of the new academic year, students are arriving on campus and the university is buzzing with activity. If your neighborhood is similar to those we live in, there may well be college-aged students moving in for the start of school.

Most of our students are respectful, contributing members of the San Luis Obispo community. These students benefit our community in many ways, such as providing tens of thousands of community service hours, infusing significant financial resources into our local economy and increasing the local tax base and supplying coaches and volunteers for many of our children’s youth sports teams and other community activities.

While we do know that a small faction of our students have been less-than-perfect neighbors at times, we have been hard at work to make positive changes, improve student behavior as a whole and enhance relationships with local neighborhoods. While our work is ongoing, we are proud of the progress we have made.

One of our goals at Cal Poly is to continue working cooperatively with the San Luis Obispo community to strengthen our relationships and improve the quality of life for all who live here. Indeed, collaboration among the leadership of our city, Cuesta College and Cal Poly has helped to accentuate the positives and reduce the negatives. And those efforts are award-winning, having received the Larry Abernathy Award from the International Town-Gown Association this year for the Neighborhood Wellness/Community Civility report and plan. The six goals identified in the report are designed to implement national best practices through a combination of education efforts and policy changes.

Our work is not done just because of a great accolade like the Abernathy Award. As leaders, we are dedicated to this long-term effort and will continue to work hard this academic year, including implementation of a new noise awareness educational campaign and increasing the numbers of students participating in the Educated Renters Program. Every year new students move into our local neighborhoods for the first time. We will remain focused on ensuring their behavior promotes positive interactions and neighborhood wellness.

Specifically, we are continuing our efforts this year to help college-aged students understand that when they are in the community, they are San Luis Obispo residents and have the same responsibilities as full-time San Luis Obispo citizens. We want students to meet their neighbors, create positive change and continue to give back when they take a break from their studies. We want to help students connect with their non-student neighbors and organize neighborhood-specific initiatives to enhance neighborhood relations.

Associated Students Inc. hopes to organize neighborhood barbecues to facilitate the interaction of neighbors and students. We want everyone to meet, share contact information, and be able to communicate if there are problems. We also want students to be involved in our community and contribute to a stronger San Luis Obispo.

We invite each resident of this community to join the effort and reach out to the people moving in next door. We know that positive interaction and healthy relationships throughout our neighborhoods will go a long way to produce the outcomes we all seek.

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 5:20 AM with the headline "Cal Poly is working to improve town-gown relations."