NIAGARA FALLS — City and Niagara University officials have unveiled what they hope is a framework to address complaints from DeVeaux residents about unruly behavior from students living in off-campus housing.
Called the NU/DeVeaux Community Good Neighbor Plan, the proposal was unveiled Wednesday night at a meeting at the Maple Street School that saw about 50 neighborhood residents and a sprinkling of NU students in attendance.
Mayor Robert Restaino said he goal of plan was to allow both students and DeVeaux residents to “co-exist in a peaceful setting.” He said initiatives by the university would provide “short term remedies”, while the city looked at longer term resolutions to what has become annual conflicts between neighbors and students.
“We started out trying to address a problem that has gone on far too long,” Restaino said. “I give Niagara University a lot of credit for wanting to partner with us to create a safe space for students and a great neighborhood for residents.”
NU Dean of Students Averl Harbin outlined the university’s plans to better engage with the residents of DeVeaux.
“We want to be a good neighbor to all of you,” Harbin said. “We’re asking, ‘How can we be better?’”
Among the immediate steps being taken by NU is a new off-campus living orientation program for all students looking to live outside the Mont Eagle Ridge campus.
“We’ll have discussions with the students before they move off campus,” Harbin said. “We will remind them of our (student) Code of Conduct and refresh them on our expectations of (off-campus) behavior.”
The first orientation program is slated to take place in April.
The university has already begun what it described as “proactive monitoring” of student behavior in the DeVeaux neighborhood. Harbin said senior university administrators would be out on Friday and Saturday nights, between midnight and 2 a.m., in DeVeaux to “actively monitor” student behavior.
Harbin said she had engaged students just last weekend.
“We had a conversation with some students who were engaged in unacceptable behavior,” she said.
As part of the plan, campus safety officers will also act as a 24 hours a day contact for community concerns. The university also pledged to maintain routine and regular contact with Falls police to monitor and identify issues with students.
NU has established an internet portal (www.niagara.edu/reporting) where residents can file reports on student behavior in the community, both good and bad.
“We would also want to hear positive feedback on our students,” NU Vice President for Student Affairs Chris Sheffield said.
Sheffield said the university will build and maintain a database of where non-commuter students are living off campus. Beginning with the fall semester, students living off campus will be required to register their address.
In 2024, the university will also change its residence policy to require that students live on-campus for their first three years at school. The current policy requires that students live on campus only for their first two years.
Sheffield said the university’s Good Neighbor Policy will contain “specific conduct expectations that are above and beyond just our student conduct policy.”
“And consequences for Code of Conduct violations,” he said.
The university will also institute biannual meetings with the DeVeaux community every August and January.
“We’re not suggesting this strategy is perfect,” Restaino said. “But it’s borne out of listening and NU for getting involved.”
The mayor said over a longer term, his administration has been looking at how other college communities, like Ithaca and Binghamton, handle issues surrounding off-campus student housing. He suggested that changes could be proposed to the city’s Zoning Code.
“We’ll take a look at what works or what doesn’t work,” Restaino said.
The mayor also said the city is looking to attract developers interested in creating student housing specific projects.