Thank you to the Sally McDonnell-Barksdale Honors College for the opportunities I had while studying at the University of Mississippi, especially Dr.
Introduction
The Special Relationship between a College and the Town in which it is
However, perhaps none of these relationships is more notable than the City of Oxford and the University of Mississippi. This planning and collaboration must address the potential benefits and burdens for both the school and the town.
Oxford and The University of Mississippi
- A shared history
- A future of growth
- Common Issues in Town-Gown Relations
Most other problems in relation to urban dress can be related to the basic conflicts over the availability and use of land. The use and management of land has been a prominent source of conflict in the urban fabric.
Town and Gown Plan for the Future
Oxford Plans and Goals: Vision 2037
Specific points of focus include: (i) the overall growth of the city in terms of both population and land development; (ii) the growth of the University of. These parts of the plan reveal the impact the University has on the city of Oxford.
The University of Mississippi Plans and Goals: UM 2020
An overarching theme of Vision 2037 is the impact and significance of the University of Mississippi for obvious reasons. In fact, the third sentence of the entire document says, "Its key institution, the University of Mississippi, has grown significantly" (Vision 2). Vision 2037 serves Oxford as a combination of land use plan and statement of goals and focus for the future of the city.
It is in these objectives where the University's attitude is discernible, especially in relation to its relationship with the city of Oxford. The University's expressed priorities refer to the City of Oxford and the desire to escalate the collaborative relationship with the City, enabling the University to achieve its goals and flourish. The plan notes the “picturesque, small-town setting of the university's main campus with the unique.
The priority of these strategies outlined in the plan gives an idea of the value the University places on its association with Oxford. The last point of discussion for UM 2020 is the last goal of the University, which directly relates to Oxford.
The University of Mississippi Campus Master Plan 2009
This may simply be the result of the former being completed much more recently than the latter and therefore reflecting an increase in cooperative attitude from years ago; however, it may also reflect the nature of the relationship where the UM does not have to account for the city as much as the City has to account for the college. Although the mere reference by one institution of the other in its planning document does not negate the relationship, it is clear that, in describing the future, Oxford seems more focused on UM than the other way around. The Campus Master Plan begins with an introduction to its objectives which gives an idea of the direction of the planning.
One aim is "Improving Campus Life", with the plan addressing the City of Oxford directly in its relationship with the University:. The Ole Miss campus not only serves as a setting for collegiate life, but is also an important place in local, state, and regional culture. the identity of Oxford's local community, providing a wider context for social life in places such as the Town Square. The statement of plan to improve these links with Oxford is a very strong indication of the University's priorities to expand its connection with the city of Oxford.
Further evidence of a broader relationship with the city comes from the section of the plan relating to the university's sustainability efforts, with the principles of "natural systems and habitats, water resources, energy and atmosphere, integrated transportation and community." While a number of these would logically include Oxford simply by association, since the water sources and environment are shared, it is the community aspect that is most appropriate. This suggests the involvement of local individuals in a committee that would be directly responsible for the implementation of the master plan, as it is a living document and would be a serious effort for the city's input on university matters, especially if official representatives of the city were involved out above community members only.
Transportation, Parking, and Centralization
This makes the parking and transportation aspect a relatively positive aspect of the city-to-city relationship between Oxford and UM. This very similar concept is reflected in university plans cited from all UM sources (UM 2020, the Campus Master Plan 2009, as well as Ian Banner) regarding a focus on reducing the number of vehicles on campus, both for traffic as for traffic. and parking to enhance the pedestrian experience. This also provides the City of Oxford with increased recreational availability for community members to take advantage of.
This has already been reflected in the use of the park and ride on campus and the creation of the O.U.T. The bus system provides an example of an actual Oxford-UM success with this common issue. This parking overflow issue may be evident in areas of campus closer to the plaza, such as the Ford Center parking lot.
The Campus Master Plan includes plans for the construction of more parking spaces and parking garages along the edge of the campus that will be connected to the pedestrian network and reduced in size. Oxford and the University appear to be adequately addressing these issues on an individual basis, but should form a formal partnership in the form of a joint committee on the issues of land use and parking, in particular to ensure that these are addressed to mutual satisfaction of the city. and University.
Housing
With the University of Mississippi experiencing tremendous growth in enrollment, there is an increased demand for housing from the student population, but limited space on campus for new student housing. The issue of this student housing exposes a weakness in the relationship between Oxford and the University which is evident in a lack of communication regarding their future growth which makes the job of providing this housing more difficult for the City of Oxford. Census Bureau data refined with data collected in the 2013 Community Survey, as well as with input from the University.
This reflects similar problems for Oxford and the university that are present in other urban areas related to a lack of affordable housing. Greater collaboration between Oxford and the university in the form of a joint committee on student behavior in the community could benefit this aspect of the residential nature of the town dress relationship between Oxford and UM. The residential aspects of the city dress dynamic in the relationship between the City of Oxford and the University of Mississippi is a very crucial aspect of theirs.
As such, this growth has had a dramatic impact on Oxford's housing market, with the university's lack of campus space shifting the burden of student housing supply onto the city. However, Ian Banner and Andrea Correll suggest greater communication and collaboration between the University and the City of Oxford in the future, which would have significant benefits for the housing aspects of their relationship.
Economic Development
Oxford and the university have largely been able to avoid these kinds of problems in their relationship. As a state institution of higher learning, Mississippi is tax-exempt, and there is very little, if any, public friction between the city of Oxford and the university over its tax-exempt status. This lack of friction despite any pilot payments may be due to the fact that the university funds and provides many of its own services rather than burdening Oxford (Sparks 2016).
The financial importance of the University of Mississippi to Oxford is perhaps one of the most comprehensive of all the city-gown relationships examined in this work. The economic impact of the University of Mississippi on the City of Oxford is addressed by Vision 2037 in many ways. More than just the higher tuition that the foreign students bring to the university, their visiting families give a boost to the city's overall economy.
Based on the evidence and analysis presented throughout this chapter, the city-to-city relationship of the city of Oxford and the University of Mississippi on economic affairs appears to be very successful. The problems that plague and strain other relationships due to the university's tax-exempt status have largely not been experienced by Oxford-UM.
Conclusion
This virtual absence of collaborative language in the documents is particularly a weakness of the University. This will be particularly relevant to the problems of parking for the University and the spillover affecting Oxford neighbourhoods. The most feasible and potentially successful option to improve Oxford-UM relations is the creation of a committee such as a Joint Town-Gown Advisory Council.
These entities are common in more flourishing city-clothing relationships and serve as simple but effective keys to success in communication and collaboration. The most fantastic suggestion to improve and maintain city-clothing relationships involves using links from each entity. The establishment of links to improve relations between the town and the outfit would involve a representative from Oxford in some position at the Lyceum and the opposite representative from the university as a non-voting member of the Board of Alderman.
Such a move is usually associated with success in city-city relations, as was the case for UNH and Durham. Charlottesville and the University of Virginia are working together to solve community problems.” Relations between cities and gowns: a handbook of best practices.
