Rich Luker, who has partnered with the NCAA in developing community at the college level, says ongoing economic pressures will heighten the need for improved relationships between higher education institutions and the communities in which they are located.

Luker cited a recent New York Times story that points to a new, and more serious, need for schools to reach out to their host communities quickly – and first, if possible.

The Times uses a stalled Harvard University expansion that would have revitalized a downtrodden community as an example. Once energized by the thought of a revamped neighborhood, community members are upset with the university for abandoning the project once funding became an issue.

The article said many more university-community relations are under stress for similar economic reasons. Some communities are looking for schools to contribute more tax dollars since students use municipal services funded by local taxpayers. Institutions counter that the perception that they are awash in money is misguided.

“The recession will certainly keep private colleges in the crosshairs of policy-makers looking to expand the tax base,” David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said in the Times story. “However, it will be challenging to argue that an institution that has lost 20 to 30 percent of endowment value in the past six months, and is cutting millions from its budget, is overflowing with excess revenue.”

Luker, author of the book “Simple Community,” said the economic downturn shines a new light on the purpose and value of Division II’s development of a community-engagement strategy that could help both civic and academic leaders keep in mind the importance of their respective missions and their longer-term relationship.

While the Times story did not focus on Division II per se, Luker urged Division II institutions that have made a name for themselves as purveyors of community engagement to ensure that each party knows where the other is coming from with its economic needs, particularly in cases where capital projects are being planned or already begun.

“In better economic times, communities and colleges contributed to the overall and economic well-being of each other,” he said. “Now that times are tight and both municipalities and colleges seek to find funding to pay the bills, they are turning to each other to carry more of the load. And, as the Times article demonstrates, it isn’t always a pretty situation.”

Luker said those conversations between higher education institutions and communities now must be more cooperative as economic pressures on both groups intensify.

“The Times article is very important because there are two competing reasons for towns and schools to talk with each other now: community engagement and conflicting perspectives on local revenue,” he said. “There’s a new sense of urgency for schools to reach out with community first. I have said, and continue to believe, that the issue of lost municipal funding, coupled with the increased reliance on credit cards to pay necessary expenses, suggests the worst of the economic problems we face in America is yet to come. The municipal issue, it now appears, may place colleges and towns at odds with each other.”