Office of Vice President for Governmental Affairs - Steven M. Webster
April 13, 2007
As part of a larger cooperative effort between MSU and the City of East Lansing to build a healthy community in East Lansing, both for students and long-term residents of the city, MSU has just launched a project designed to educate students about rental life. The centerpiece of this program is the development of a video "The Rental World/MSU," based on "The Real World" (MTV). The video is compelling, funny and informative.
I encourage you to view this video at www.offcampusliving.msu.edu. MSU students who are moving off campus will be encouraged to watch the video and take a quiz to measure how much they learned -- with prizes like a Samsung flat-screen TV, Apple iPods, a Gateway laptop, two digital cameras and two on-campus meal plans. (You may be tempted to register yourself, but unfortunately only current MSU students are eligible to win.)
This program is one of the many the City of East Lansing and MSU are working on together to improve our community and to provide important information to students in an engaging format. We hope that you find this collaborative effort interesting and useful.
Steve Webster
A report providing a comprehensive analysis of the net fiscal impact of MSU on the City of East Lansing, prepared in June 2006 by the Anderson Economic Group.
A report to provide a comprehensive, factual basis for understanding how historical land use decisions have shaped East Lansing, and to identify opportunities to improve the community in the future. An executive summary of the report, prepared by the Anderson Economic Group in June 2006, is attached.
As a land-grant institution, Michigan State University is actively involved in communities throughout Michigan. This is particularly true with the communities in the mid-Michigan area near the campus. The Office serves as the university's liaison with these communities, connecting students, faculty and staff with local officials, providing assistance with regional and local issues, and solving university-community problems.
As a research university, MSU is also a powerful economic generator for the state and mid-Michigan region. MSU is engaging with the community to find ways to be innovative and entrepreneurial, and to connect that innovation and entrepreneurship in ways that will yield economic growth and development in the community.
With local and regional partners, we've helped create a mid-Michigan SmartZone. MSU has successfully fostered the establishment of Prima Civitas to help our region attract and keep businesses.
Located in East Lansing, MSU is a very important part of this city of 50,000 residents. The City of East Lansing and the university have many cooperative relationships, and work well together on many issues impacting both the university and the city's other permanent residents. The Office serves as the university's central liaison to the City of East Lansing, and works closely with local officials and residents to enhance the relationships. A summary of some of the successful partnerships that exist between MSU and the City of East Lansing are included in "A Strong Partnership: MSU and East Lansing working together for a better community."
The University periodically seeks to update residents on some of our initiatives. Letters of interest to East Lansing residents include the following:
Michigan State University derives much from being in East Lansing, and is also very proud of what it students, faculty, and staff give back to the community. Partnerships that Benefit our Community is an effort to catalogue some of the MSU class projects, faculty research, individual volunteer activities, and other initiatives that benefit residents of the East Lansing community.
A 1999 recommendation of an MSU task force called for the creation of a Community Relations Coalition to focus on creating and building more positive relations between students and permanent residents in neighborhoods in close proximity to MSU. The Community Relations Coalition (CRC) was formed in June 1999. The Board of the CRC consists of students, permanent residents, businesses and other community representatives, and representatives of both the city of East Lansing and MSU. The CRC envisions a more integrated residential community in East Lansing in which students and permanent residents grow and benefit from one another.
Since August 2000 Michigan State University students living in East Lansing neighborhoods have been placed as Neighborhood Resource Coordinators for the CRC. These students work on strategies and events which will allow all of the residents in these neighborhoods to get to know each other and live together in greater harmony. In 2006-2007 eight students serve as neighborhood resource coordinators.
The CRC is involved in many other local activities. Since 1999, the CRC has sponsored the "Welcome Bag" campaign, which delivers crucial information on living in the East Lansing community to students moving into high-density student neighborhoods close to campus. The CRC also jointly runs a dispute resolution program providing free mediation services to any resident in East Lansing, and partners with MSU to put on an annual housing fair, providing students with important educational information as they contemplate moving to an off campus setting. Every year the CRC also develops new programs to bring students and residents together, including welcoming "ice cream socials" and neighborhood clean-ups after football weekends.
MSU and the City of East Lansing are partners in the One Book, One Community program. This program encourages members of the MSU community and the local East Lansing community to read the same book over a four-week period, and come together to discuss it in a variety of settings.
The program, established in 2002, was one of the first in the country to bring together a university and a local community in this manner. The selected book is read by residents, East Lansing public school students, MSU student sin a variety of classes and resident hall settings, and is also required reading for all incoming first-year students. The four-week long program of activities includes book discussions, films, special events and panel discussions highlighting the selected book's themes, events for children and special speakers in the local schools.
The YouVote Campaign is a joint program of MSU and the City of East Lansing. It was developed after the 2000 Presidential Election when there was much confusion from students about registering, candidates, and voting.
The goals of the YouVote are three-fold:
YouVote meets as a committee, comprised of interested students, organizations, faculty and staff. Through different events, initiatives, and a comprehensive web site, YouVote looks to improve the quality of voting and voters for each election.
© 2006 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. East Lansing, MI 48824.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity institution.