Last week several current and previous ITGA members including ITGA Assistant Executive Director Susan Stafford, Dilna Cama from The Ohio State University, and Dr. Jeremy Moore from Naropa University traveled to San Diego to participate in the 2022 Apartmentalize conference hosted by the National Apartment Association (NAA). The group was asked to serve on a panel entitled, “Town & Gown: Creating Beneficial Partnerships” which was sponsored by Bradley Shaw with Greystar. The panel sought to explore and discuss how to support tenants in college towns and the value of partnerships with housing providers, community organizations, university staff/faculty, and municipal partners.
The audience was largely comprised of property managers, regional directors, and support staff specializing in purpose-built and managed student housing from all over the country. This year’s Apartmentalize conference broke association records with over 11,250 attendees from all over the country and from many different sectors of property and facilities management. Other highlights included a vendor expo, a sponsored Friday Night Party which provided food, activities, and entertainment across several city blocks in the historic Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, and keynote speakers including Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr., Danika Patrick, and Rob Lowe.
The program description was as follows:
"Town and Gown” typically refers to tensions between a university town’s coexisting communities — town residents and the university itself. This session brings together university experts who have developed beneficial partnerships with their off-campus student housing providers. It focuses on off-campus, purpose-built student housing and overcoming the challenges many providers face when attempting to build positive working partnerships with the universities whose students these providers serve."