A memorandum of understanding between Dunedin city and Otago University students is expected to be signed this week.
The president of the Otago University Students' Association (Ousa) said the memorandum between the Dunedin City Council and Ousa would recognise students as citizens rather than visitors, including all the rights and responsibilities that went with that, and list a set of action plans agreed by the two organisations.
Francesco Hernandez believed it was the first agreement of its type between a council and a student body and he was ''really excited about it''.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said the memorandum would be an agreement for the council and students to work together generally and focus on improving the issues that students had said they were concerned about.
Students who recently completed an Ousa opinion survey on city council services said while they were on the whole quite satisfied with council-provided services, they would like to see improvements in some areas such as rubbish collection, recycling and public transport.
They also wanted to see the council push for improvements in student flats, including incentives for landlords to insulate and a better flat rating system.
Mr Cull and Mr Hernandez said those concerns, and things like improving alcohol safety, could be some of the issues specifically identified for action in the memorandum.
It was still being negotiated, but he hoped it would be signed this week.
Mr Cull said it was felt it would be helpful to have something ''constructive'' that set out how students and the council could work together for the benefit and welfare of both students and the city.
The aim was to improve the relationship between the council and students and get students participating more in the broader community, he said.
