The Commuter Affairs Office recognizes that strong town-gown relationships are built on mutual respect, open communication, and shared responsibility. Students, property owners, local residents, municipal officials, faculty, and staff all play a role in fostering respectful interactions, addressing concerns constructively, and creating communities where everyone can thrive. URI students are not just students when they leave campus. They are tenants, neighbors, employees, volunteers, and members of the communities surrounding the university.
Through communication, education, and collaboration, we can support responsible off-campus living, strengthen relationships between students and their neighbors, and help create communities where everyone can live, work, and learn.
Whether you’re seeking information, raising a concern, or looking to collaborate, find the right resources and next steps here.
How Can We Help?
I have a concern about something happening in the community.
Find out where to direct concerns involving safety, noise, parking, property maintenance, or other neighborhood issues.
| In the event of … | What to do: |
|---|---|
| Immediate emergencies | Call 911 if someone is in immediate danger, a crime is in progress, or there is a fire or medical emergency. Do not use a University email address or reporting form to request emergency assistance. |
| Non-emergency community concerns | Contact the appropriate local police department, municipal office, or other authority responsible for the location and type of issue. |
| Concerns involving URI students | If you believe a student’s behavior may violate University conduct expectations, you may also share your concern with the University’s Office of Community Standards. University reporting does not replace contacting local authorities when appropriate. |
| NOTE: | Local authorities and the University have distinct responsibilities, and contacting the appropriate office can help prevent delays. |
For Property Owners and Managers
Housing is an important connection between URI students and the surrounding community. The University partners with Off Campus Partners, an Apartments.com affiliate, to connect people seeking housing with property owners and managers through the Off-Campus Housing Portal.
The portal allows students, faculty, and staff to search rentals by location, price, lease terms, transportation, amenities, and other features; find potential roommates; and post sublets. Property owners and managers can list available properties and connect with prospective renters. Commuter Affairs directs off-campus housing inquiries to the portal.
Build a positive rental experience. Beyond listing a property, property owners and managers can help foster positive relationships with student tenants and the surrounding community that can help prevent misunderstandings and support a positive off-campus living experience for everyone.
Establish clear expectations. Provide a written lease, explain payment schedules and property rules, and make sure tenants know how to contact you about maintenance and urgent concerns.
Maintain safe, habitable housing. Establish a clear process for repair requests, address maintenance issues promptly, and meet applicable legal and safety requirements.
Communicate early and professionally. Explain procedures for reporting problems, provide timely updates, and maintain records of important requests and responses.
Help renters understand their responsibilities. Communicate expectations about noise, parking, trash and recycling, guests, property care, and lease compliance. Apply rental terms consistently and in accordance with applicable law.
A listing on the Off-Campus Housing Portal does not mean that URI endorses or guarantees a property, landlord, roommate, or rental arrangement.
For Neighbors and Local Residents
We share our communities. Students who live off campus are part of the neighborhoods in which they live. Positive relationships between students and year-round residents help create communities where people can live, work, study, and feel at home.
Everyday actions can make a difference. We encourage URI students to be a good neighbor wherever they live by:
- Noise: Respect quiet hours, local noise ordinances, and neighbors’ need for rest.
- Parking and traffic: Follow posted restrictions and avoid blocking driveways, sidewalks, or access points.
- Trash and recycling: Follow municipal collection schedules and disposal requirements.
- Property care: Keep yards, walkways, and shared areas safe and well maintained.
- Communication: When a concern arises, communicate respectfully when it is safe and reasonable to do so.
Where should I direct a concern?
Emergency or immediate threat to safety
Call 911 for a crime in progress, fire, medical emergency, or immediate threat to safety.
Noise, parking, traffic, or other local concerns
Contact the police department or municipal agency responsible for the location where the issue is occurring. Depending on the concern, the appropriate contact may be local police, municipal services, code enforcement, or a housing authority.
For example:
South Kingstown: The town’s 311 system handles many non-emergency municipal concerns, including parking, property maintenance, zoning, traffic safety, graffiti, and other community issues.
Narragansett: The Narragansett Police Department can be reached at 401-789-1091. The town also provides reporting and complaint pathways for various municipal, traffic, nuisance, and code-related concerns.
A concern involving URI students
The University’s Office of Community Standards may review off-campus behavior that falls within its student conduct policies and jurisdiction. You may submit information about a concern even if you are unsure whether it warrants University action.
After the Police Report
When an off-campus incident involves a URI student, information from the police report is typically communicated to the University’s Office of Community Standards for review. The University’s Student Code of Conduct applies to certain off-campus behavior, including conduct that adversely affects the University community, poses a threat to the safety of people or property, or damages the University’s relationship with the greater community. The University’s conduct process is separate from the criminal justice system. A police investigation, arrest, or court proceeding does not determine the outcome of a University conduct case, and a University conduct proceeding may occur before, during, or after related criminal or civil proceedings.
About Student Privacy
Student conduct records are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and are generally private. Because of these privacy requirements, URI cannot generally provide community members, property owners, or other third parties with details about a student’s conduct case, conduct history, or the outcome of a case without the student’s authorization, except where an applicable legal exception permits disclosure.
This means that reporting an incident to the University may not result in a follow-up about what action was taken, even with the person who reported it.
Questions About URI’s Response?
For questions about University communications, public information, or broader community concerns involving URI, contact External Relations and Communications.
For Faculty and Staff
Help students navigate life beyond campus
Students’ off-campus lives can affect their academic progress, well-being, and ability to participate in campus life. Off-campus responsibilities can affect a student’s schedule, finances, transportation, and ability to participate in campus life. Faculty and staff can help by knowing where to direct students and recognizing the practical realities of commuting and renting. Faculty and staff do not need to resolve every challenge themselves. Knowing where to direct students, and when to consult a University resource, can help them access the right support.
- Consider commuter schedules. When practical, account for travel time and transportation constraints when planning meetings, office hours, and events.
- Encourage preparation. Share the commuter essentials with students who are moving or renting for the first time.
- Promote community responsibility. Reinforce respectful behavior, local rules, and constructive communication with neighbors.
- Know where to refer students.
- URI offers a range of resources to help students navigate challenges inside and outside the classroom. Use the University’s Report It: How to Help a Student page for guidance on where to direct concerns and how to connect students with support.
- Other common referral resources include:
- Transportation: URI Transportation and Parking, including RIPTA bus access.
- Basic needs: Rhody Outpost, URI’s student food pantry.
- Housing insecurity or complex personal circumstances: Student Support and Advocacy Services.
- Academic challenges: Students’ academic advisors, the Academic Enhancement Center, and Early Alert Services.
- Emotional or personal concerns: The URI Counseling Center, which also provides guidance to faculty and staff supporting students.
- Medical care: URI Health Services.
- Disability-related accommodations: Disability, Access, and Inclusion.
- Potential student conduct violations: The Office of Community Standards.
- For an immediate emergency, call 911. Do not use an online reporting form to request emergency assistance.
For Municipal and Community Partners
URI and the communities surrounding the University share an interest in safe, welcoming, and respectful neighborhoods. Strong town-gown relationships depend on communication, trust, shared expectations, and opportunities to address community needs constructively.
Commuter Affairs welcomes opportunities to work with municipal officials, community organizations, local residents, property owners, and other partners.
Potential areas of collaboration include:
- Student education and outreach. Share information about local ordinances, noise, parking, property care, responsible tenancy, and expectations for community living.
- Communication and problem-solving. Exchange information about recurring concerns, identify appropriate University and municipal contacts, and explore opportunities to prevent problems from escalating.
- Community connections. Develop opportunities for students to engage with local organizations, residents, businesses, and community initiatives.
- Housing and landlord engagement. Support clear expectations and constructive relationships among students, property owners, and neighbors.
- Joint initiatives. Explore educational programs, community events, and other efforts that strengthen relationships between URI and surrounding communities.
Commuter Affairs and URI Student Senate: External Affairs can serve as a starting point for conversations about off-campus student life, community concerns, and potential partnerships. When a matter falls under the authority of a local agency or another University office, we can help identify the appropriate point of contact where possible.
Supporting Students.
Strengthening Community.
Off-campus life brings students, property owners, neighbors, and local communities into the same places. Questions and concerns are part of living, learning, and working together. When students and communities thrive together, everyone benefits.