Local & Community News Update

University of Arizona Government and Community Relations is partnering with neighborhood associations around campus to distribute 3,000 door hangers with COVID-related public health guidance, general good neighbor principles, and important University contact information.

GCR’s Local and Community Relations staff continues to communicate all the ways UArizona is serving the community during the COVID-19 crisis. These efforts include virus testing and tracking, medical supply production, and innovative patient care.

We continue to remind our students and parents that despite all the changes around us right now, the U.S. Census remains important. 

This year, GCR spearheaded an effort with our campus partners to support early childhood literacy.  Every year the United Way of Southern Arizona invites the community to their Annual Business Breakfast, which highlights the need for literacy programs, and the year, through our combined efforts, we sponsored the Literacy Champion Award.

In 2015, the University of Arizona joined with the City of Tucson, Pima County, and the Southern Arizona VA Health Center as participants in the Air Force Community Partnership program.  The program is a framework through which military and community leaders can identify creative ways to leverage their capabilities and resources to focus on achieving reduced costs by finding shared value. 

The final Community Partner Breakfast of 2019 was a spectacular one!  Held on stage at Centennial Hall, before a large group of captivated community leaders, Arizona Arts presented an overview of the ways they engage with the community and how they are carrying out the reimagined vision for the arts.

Last week GCR hosted over 30 community leaders on Tumamoc Hill as part of the successful Community Partner Breakfast series designed to regularly connect university and community leaders so together they can identify new ways to work together for the benefit of our community.

The annual Arizona League of Cities Towns conference is the Super Bowl of Arizona local government.  Last week, the conference drew more than 1200 people, including 600 local elected officials, many state legislators, Governor Doug Ducey, and Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally to the JW Marriott resort in Tucson.

Tucson Primary Election Day is August 27, and registered Democrat voters in the City of Tucson have been mailed their Primary Election ballot. This is a good time to remind all University of Arizona employees and DCCs about political activity policies. 

The Decennial Census is quickly approaching and GCR is leading efforts to be sure the UA has a complete count.  Students and renters are both traditionally hard groups to count, so it will take a well-organized campaign to get the word out about the importance of participating.