Officials from the City of Binghamton are teaming up with students and faculty of Binghamton University for a forum on the livability of the City in hopes of closing the gap between the two communities.

The forum, which is next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the University Union West Lounge, will include Mayor Ryan and Director of Off Campus College Dave Husch, among other speakers. It will cover a range of topics, from the City’s cultural side to employment.

“The forum theme is the livability in the City of Binghamton,” said Andrew Block, director of community relations for the City. “It concerns opportunity for everything from jobs to housing to community service to concerns people have about quality of life to opportunities of art, entertainment and athletics.”

“The hope is to basically provide an opportunity for people who would be in attendance at BU to learn more about opportunities in Binghamton and to place their questions to City officials,” he added.

The initiative was spearheaded by BU senior Joe Conforti, an intern in the Mayor’s office. As an intern, Conforti has shared information from campus with the City. The forum is another one of his efforts to improve the relationship between BU and Binghamton.

“In hosting this forum regarding the livability of the City, [the University] offers students the opportunity to take a look at the City of Binghamton beyond State Street and to see some other aspects of what the City has to offer,” said Conforti, a senior double majoring in history and sociology.

When it comes time for students to graduate, they’re faced with the choice of going back home, starting somewhere new or sticking around the Southern Tier.

The third option might not be as popular, as The Princeton Review ranked BU number 11 out of 361 schools last year for “strained” town-gown relations in its annual book, “The Best 361 Colleges.”

But Husch contends that some local internship sites would be “perfect” for jobs after BU.

“It is vital to bring campus and the City residents and officials together,” he said. “In terms of business in the area, it would be perfect for our students to learn more about the City, and to help the economy by staying in our area.”

Husch said he planned to “tap into the neighborhood assembly” through his involvement in the Campus Community Coalition of Binghamton, and get the word out to the neighborhoods so not only students but also residents will attend the forum.

In addition to Ryan and Husch, confirmed speakers at this forum include Merry Harris, director of the Economic Development Office for the City, Ana Shaello-Johnson, director of the City’s Youth Bureau and David Bass, SA president.

Conforti said that to foster a connection between the students and the City, there needs to be more communication, like the recent, successful meeting for preparing for this year’s Bar Crawl.

“The City and the student community work together successfully on many things with the most recent being the Bar Crawl Coalition,” he said. “I think that continuous dialogue and interaction is the best way to strengthen the relationship.”