RIPON COLLEGE ACCREDITATION

I am honored to be part of the Ripon College accreditation program this fall. The college goes through re-accreditation every ten years, with one of the main benefits being that accredited colleges are eiligible to participate in federal student loan programs. I will join a number of community members late Tuesday afternoon, meeting with the four members of the accreditation board, who come to Ripon from across the nation. The college has made its accreditation application public, as well as information on the entire process. That can be found here.

One of the factors for accreditation is community involvement. As mayor, I will be asked to expand upon the internal findings of the college. The public, as well, can send comments to the committee via the college. The college's internal report, to the best of my knowledge and experience, appears to accurately reflect the current state of town-gown relations:

Engagement with the Local Community: The City of Ripon and Ripon College are historically linked to the utopian movements of the 19th century United States. Indeed, two of the College’s founders, David P. Mapes and Warren Chase, who had competing interests in the land that now comprises the city, agreed that a college would “attract responsible settlers to the area.” Ripon College occupies the highest hill in the city, but the towngown relationship is synergistic rather than competitive and is remarkably, though not completely, free of conflict.

Access to events is one of the main benefits that city and area residents experience by having a liberal arts college in the town. With a few exceptions, events on the campus are open to the public. These include poetry readings, art exhibits, plays, concerts, sports events, speakers, and the annual Ethical Leadership Conference. Advertisements, the College web site, posters, and press releases publicize events, and audiences generally include people within a forty mile radius of the campus. One measure of the importance of these events to the local community is participation of many community members in groups that have recently been formed to show support for events, renovation, programing and student scholarships. Friends of Ripon Athletics, Friends of Lane Library, and Friends of the Fine Arts provide opportunities for like-minded individuals to gather on campus, get to know students, faculty, staff, and each other, while supporting something of personal meaning and interest. During the most recent fiscal year (2009), individuals in the three groups gave $7,432 in current gifts and added $14,200 to the two “Friends” endowments supporting Lane Library and fine arts programs in music, theatre, and the visual arts. The combined value of those endowments is now over $98,000.

Motor Vehicle Policy: Student parking and street closings have been the sources of some town-gown tensions in recent years. An increase in the number of students at the College coupled with a lack of bus or rail access to the campus led to an increase in overnight student parking on the residential streets adjacent to the campus. College authorities moved to increase and regulate parking and to encourage the use of bicycles on campus. The City of Ripon posted signs limiting overnight parking near the campus for most of the academic year. Some of this debate occurred in the town and college newspapers and in city council meetings before the actions listed above were taken. Similarly, public debate about the street closings that have created the pedestrian mall on upper campus was carried out over several months in various planning and governmental meetings, as well as in the Ripon Commonwealth Press and on the local radio station. The final approval of the pedestrian mall project did not satisfy everyone, but did involve compromises to address public concerns about access to the city cemetery and the availability of short term and handicapped parking near Harwood Union and Pickard Commons. Overall, tensions between the campus and the community have been significantly reduced in recent years as the College has enforced its on-campus residency policy, significantly reducing the number of students living in rental properties in the City of Ripon.

Movement of the College’s executive offices into the historic Carnegie Library building was, as mentioned earlier, a symbolic demonstration of the ties between the College and the City of Ripon. Revitalization efforts in the downtown area have been slowed by the national economic recession, but the College maintains a vital interest in that project because the downtown area is adjacent to the eastern edge of the campus. Access to local businesses is crucial to student satisfaction with their on-campus living experience. An active business community not only provides shopping and entertainment options for students but also opportunities for internships and job shadowing. As an example of the synergistic relationship of the city and the College, the college’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team 1) consulted with the downtown revitalization effort, and 2) translated the city calendar into Spanish as two of its competition projects during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Kemper Foundation Grant Proposal, 2009: The Creative Enterprise Center, initiated during the 2006-2007 academic year, and now located in the Carnegie Building is an umbrella organization that includes the SIFE team and staff who broker connections between community enterprises and student consultants. Funded by a grant from the James S. Kemper Foundation, the CEC “serves local community members and entrepreneurs as a resource for the creation of feasible and sustainable enterprises.” The CEC and SIFE have already worked with community members to develop plans for eleven enterprises ranging from selling bags made by Jamaican women as part of the Blue Mountain Project in Hagley Gap to rehabilitation of a downtown building to house a woodworking company. CEC collaborations provide students with valuable business planning experience and contribute to the ongoing partnership between the College and the City of Ripon to improve the quality of life for all Ripon residents.

Matriculation Convocation Programs, 2008, 2009 :Each year, the mayor of Ripon welcomes new students to the community at the Matriculation Convocation, and local churches put on a pot luck dinner for students during the first week of classes. Students, faculty, and staff are a driving force in the local economy, and college programs enrich the community culture. Although not without tensions, the town-gown relationship is positive and strong, and the College’s engagement with the community has been strengthened by the increased emphasis on community service as an element of liberal education at Ripon College.