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Greetings off-campus students and welcome back to
UVM and Burlington! We know there is much to navigate in living in the
local community and the Office of Student and Community Relations
(OSCR) created this Off Campus Life Newsletter to assist you! This
monthly resource will provide pertinent information, helpful tips, and
advertise upcoming opportunities so your life off campus runs smoothly.
We hope you find it useful and we welcome your feedback on how we can
improve it in the future.
The OSCR staff members are:
We look forward to hearing from you!
Getting
Connected - We Make it Easy
 Want to get
involved right where you live? Then join other students and neighbors
in the Student-Neighbor
Liaison Program! Liaisons have access to Neighborhood Grants to do
projects like the Buell St. Neighborhood Garden; Converse Court
Halloween Clean-Up; Davis Center Meet Your Neighbor Day; and the South
Willard St. food drive. What projects would you and your neighbors like
to see on your street? Let us know and we can work with you to make
them happen!
To become a liaison, please contact Alicia Taylor
at 656-9405 or Alicia.Taylor@uvm.edu.
Shopping
Spree for Criminals When Students Return to Town
 Last
year the Burlington Police Department noted a record number of laptop
thefts (40+) from off-campus student apartments. Criminals know when
students return to town and they know your apartments are easy pickings
- all those unlocked doors and windows. Keep your property locked up
and valuables such as laptops, ipods, cell phones, and bicycles out of
sight or locked away when not in use.
To protect yourself you can also buy renters
insurance. It is cheap and can be easily set up through your
parent's/guardian's homeowner's insurance or through your car insurance
company. It also helps to keep a log of all of your possessions and
their serial numbers in case you have to prove what you own. For more
tips on crime prevention check out the UVM Police Services and the Burlington Police
Department websites.
When
Uninvited Guests Knock On Your Door
 The Fall semester has begun and about 2,500 new 1st year
students have been welcomed into the UVM Community. The pattern has
been hard to break of new students walking in groups of 20-40 downtown
and circling the neighborhoods looking for parties. This can create a
lot of problems for our off-campus students who often get expensive
noise tickets as a result of surprise visits to their apartments
by these
large groups. This also has a huge impact on our non-student neighbors
(families, seniors, professionals, and others) who live in their
thorough-fare and get awoken during the night.
We are working to better educate our on-campus
population through initiatives like the Have
a Heart campaign but we know that this continues to be an issue for
the community, student and non-students alike. It is your right as a
Burlington resident to call the police (658-2700) if you feel like a
situation is getting out of hand or you can't make people leave your
property. You are less likely to get in trouble if you take the
initiative to responsibly manage your property.
To find out about city noise and alcohol
ordinances and associated fines check out Chapter 3 in our Off
Campus Living Survival Guide. For information on UVM policies for
off-campus students read the UVM Statement of
Expectations for Off Campus.
Keep the
Stuffed Stuff Indoors!
 Did you know that putting indoor furniture, like stuffed
couches and chairs, on your outside porch is a fire hazard? Not to
mention, it's illegal in Burlington ($500 fine!). There were two
devastating fires, one in 2007 on Archibald St. and one in 2008 on No.
Union St., because of porch couches catching on fire due to a misplaced
cigarette flicked by a passerby. Both fires destroyed everything in
sight and no one in either building had renters insurance to cover
their losses.
Don't let this happen to you! For more info on
fire safety go to page 20 of the Off
Campus Living Survival Guide. Also check out Recycle
North to find cheap plastic furniture that is safe and legal for
outdoor porches.
Helping
You to Make the Right Call
Here are some helpful resources that are available
to you through UVM and the city.
For a more extensive list of resources, please go
to page 24 of the Off
Campus Living Survival Guide.
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