Civic Responsibility Task Force Recommendations

The Task Force's study led to the recommendations listed and linked below. They are grouped into four themes -- Education, Enforcement, Communication, and Collaboration -- reflecting five guiding principles:

Education

Establish and communicate expectations for neighborhood living. Encourage integration of students, landlords, permanent residents, university, and city officials into the civic life of Athens. Help build the entire community's sense of Athens as their home.

1. Establish responsibility for ensuring the sustained effort required to build community and inform present and future generations of students about expectations for civic responsibility (as suggested in the 2002 Off Campus Living Experience Committee Report).
   
   
   
   1. By the end of 2004, create an Off-Campus Living Center (OCLC), similar in scope to those at other universities (e.g., Ohio State, University of Arizona, Bowling Green) charged with coordinating and delivering educational and other outreach efforts.
      
      
   2. Establish liaison responsibilities among city officials to work with the Off Campus Living Center to ensure collaboration and coordination in achieving its mission.
      
      
   3. Establish cooperative working relationships with Students Defending Students and the Center for Student Advocacy for the purpose of pursuing common goals.
      
      
2. Led by the OCLC, develop a clear set of expectations associated with civically responsible neighborhood living in a largely rental environment. Broadly defined, these expectations should include the following:
   
   
   1. Rights and responsibilities as defined in the lease for both landlords and tenants
      
      
   2. How to set up and effectively use basic services – water, sewer, garbage, recycling
      
      
   3. City ordinances applicable to nuisance situations arising from otherwise lawful activity
      
      
   4. Housing and zoning codes and how their enforcement impacts the living environment
      
      
   5. Remedies for resolving landlord/tenant conflict
      
      
   6. University Judicial and legal procedures and potential consequences associated with violation of civil ordinances and statutes
      
      
   7. Law enforcement responsibilities by agency and associated responses
      
      
   8. Guidelines for social gatherings within legal constraints
      
      
   9. Processes for addressing and resolving complaints at all levels
      
      
3. Through the OCLC, Develop a wide array of informational resources to consistently and comprehensively educate community members about the expectations for civically responsible living. This array should include the following elements:
   
   
   1. An interactive, easy to navigate Web site, with information delivery and feedback capabilities for each of the areas outlined under the expectations recommendation. Special attention should be given to the maintenance and marketing of the Web site.
      
      
   2. Annual events designed to provide information about expectations for civic responsibility and opportunities to exercise it. The timing and content of these events should correspond to the most effective delivery of the information or opportunity. For example:
      1. Lease information, rental availability, and basic city services in Fall
      2. Nuisance ordinances, enforcement approaches and consequences of violation in Winter
      3. Move-out and clean up in Spring
         
         
   3. Focused community-building efforts targeted to specific neighborhood areas or groups of residents where expectations appear to be unclear and unmet.
      
      
   4. Focused educational efforts directed to residence hall students specifically related to the transition to off-campus living.
      
      
   5. Reinforcement of expectations by peer-based organizations designed to sustain collaborative relationships between students, permanent residents, city, and university officials. These could include:
      1. Party patrol
      2. Neighborhood associations
      3. Welcome wagons
      4. Joint city/university committee
      5. Tenants union
         
         
4. Communications strategies -- The establishment of the OCLC offers a unique opportunity to provide initiatives with a frame of reference, organization and coordination. It should be strongly considered that the Center become the focal point for educational and communications initiatives associated with this ongoing civic challenge. Drawing stakeholders together, the Center has the potential to offer a variety of perspectives designed to serve the community interest. Initial steps could include:
   
   
   1. Review goals and objectives of educational/outreach initiative
      
      
   2. Collaborate with stakeholders to conduct significant research on how best to formulate messages to support goals/objectives, identification of key audiences, creation of effective venues/timing for distribution, timing, etc.
      
      
   3. Collaborators act upon research findings to construct ongoing educational outreach program including such potential avenues as WWW sites, e-mail push, direct mail, special event planning/fairs, etc., remembering that various target audiences require unique delivery methods.

- Education
- Enforcement
- Communication
- Collaboration