OCR – 5/19/23

Lindsay Mason serves as the director of Off-Campus Life at Colorado State University. She has served in Off-Campus Life for 10 years. Additionally, she serves as the Research & Assessment Chair and Co-Chair Elect of the NASPA Off-Campus & Commuter Student Services Knowledge Community, and does national work through the National Association of Safe Ride Programs and International Town Gown Association. Lindsay has her BA in Sociology, MS in Student Affairs in Higher Education, and PhD in Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership.

The International Town and Gown Association annual conference is being hosted in Fort Collins this year June 7-9th. Can you tell us what we can expect?

Colorado State University and the City of Fort Collins are excited and honored to be hosting the 2023 ITGA conference June 7th-9th. Conference attendees can expect inspiring and educational keynotes, a lot of concurrent sessions (we had so many excellent workshops submissions we decided to start the conference bright and early at 8am so we could give more room for more workshops to occur), many opportunities for networking, and excellent weather in an awesome Colorado town.

“Building Resilient Communities” is the theme of the 2023 Conference. We at College Pads are noticing nationwide increased mental health issues as well as students having more difficulties socially adjusting to life in a new college community even if that means moving off campus. Costs have gone up significantly in the off campus market as well. What are a few steps that institutions and the greater area can take together to strengthen services to the hundreds to tens of thousands of students living within the greater community?

Basic needs are fundamental to health and wellbeing. I think institutions need to think about how they support their off-campus students’ housing concerns on a spectrum. What are you doing to help students with emergency housing needs? How are you supporting students finding stable, affordable housing? How are you continuing to learn and stay current on resources available across campus and in your community that help folks with housing? How are you advocating for your students within systems that may be impacting their housing (municipal, county, or state-level housing laws/ordinances)? How are you engaging your local elected officials to make change, or advising your local student government to help them make systemic change? It’s a spectrum from helping students in the immediate to helping future students, and every piece of the spectrum is needed and important.

What are a few steps you have taken to improve decisions and be “in the room” when decisions are made that impact students living within the greater community outside of institutional borders?

I focus my energy in areas where I believe I have influence. Two examples come to mind:

I have applied and served on a City task force that focused on exploring a change in our community’s occupancy code and a possible rental registration or licensing program. Advocating for my place on the task force gave me a unique opportunity to advocate for students.

I recently have been participating in professional development around storytelling so I can improve my ability to tell the story of students experiencing housing-insecurity or homelessness. I’ve learned that some in my community have a limited view on what it means to be homeless or housing-insecure and I’m placing myself in meetings so I can show the spectrum of housing insecurity and share that it’s a systemic failure, not an individual issue.

What have been a few challenges?

Advocating for basic needs within a system (housing) that is so influenced by the owning-class is difficult and presents challenges everyday. Helping break the stereotypes of what homelessness looks like is challenging. Trying to determine how much of my time should be dedicated to different parts of the housing spectrum is challenging. Supporting students with unique considerations (students coming out of the foster system, undocumented students, international students) is challenging. Housing work is challenging. I try to pace myself and take breaks so I don’t burn out; I refuse to burn out.

You are obviously very involved with ITGA. What have been some of your takeaways from your involvement?

Being involved with ITGA has given me opportunities to network with people who do similar to me and with people who compliment my work or can help me see beyond my specific expertise, and both have been really beneficial. ITGA sets up effective, intentional networking opportunities at the conference and throughout the year. One of my markers of success is if I feel comfortable texting a colleague with a question. I use email most of the time, but I’m close enough with someone that I could text them, and it wouldn’t be weird to do so, I see that as a success in building a mutually beneficial relationship with that colleague. ITGA is one of the places that has allowed me to build those positive relationships with colleagues across the nation, and I now have colleagues that I can text coast to coast.

Registration is still open for ITGA and I would love to see you in Fort Collins!

Thank you very much Dr. Mason and the College Pads team look forward to joining you and seeing everyone this year at ITGA where College Pads will be presenting alongside Dr. Mason.