The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1 - 104

Danielle Twigg

Community links are important,
as higher education institutions
increasingly rely on the private

partnership.

collaboration between local residents and
universities a mutually beneﬁcial partnership
(Rugg, Rhodes, & Jones, 2000). This approach
would also support students in learning to
identify healthy housing situations, rather
than solely learning through trial and error
with negative experiences which may be detrimental to their own health and academic pursuits (Christie, Munro, & Rettig, 2002; Wang,
Arboleda, Shelley, & Whalen, 2003).

Strategies for Protecting Students
from Substandard Housing and
Unscrupulous Landlords
Community concerns in relation to the maintenance issues associated with students living
in off-campus housing are conﬁrmed in the
literature (Kenyon & Heath, 2001; Macintyre,
2003). Nearly two decades ago, Gose (1994)
wrote about the phenomenon of large universities across the United States developing a
speciﬁc ofﬁce for students living off campus in
order to combat the bad landlords and protect
students; unfortunately, as a result of the development of these off-campus housing ofﬁces,
some landlords felt they had been blacklisted

104

by the universities, which has caused additional problems for individuals in the business of
managing off-campus housing properties.
Some Australian universities operate with
a student housing ofﬁce model (e.g., University of Canberra), but many are reluctant to
support students in this way because of all the
legal implications. As Hart and Wolff (2006)
assert, "leading or managing change requires
the 'buy in' from senior staff and university
leaders" (p. 122). The ﬁndings from this study
suggest that community members would
support having a student housing ofﬁce and
would also be willing to participate in orientation activities for new students moving into
their own neighborhoods. Further planning
is underway through the Community Liaison
Group based on these ﬁndings.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
The present study draws on data from a survey
and focus groups to provide a snapshot of
community perceptions about off-campus
student housing at two campuses in Australia. The overall ﬁndings indicate that community members regard registration of student
housing as a positive vehicle for change.
Within the context of this study, a number of
recommendations were proposed:
1. It is recommended that a working group be
formed which includes members of the local
community, higher education institutions,
and local government to support students
in off-campus housing arrangements. The
activities of the working group should be
determined by its members but should
include orientation for domestic and
international students and a handbook for
new residents living in area suburbs.

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1