University of Wisconsin-Superior is located in Northwest Wisconsin at the tip of Lake Superior. The campus is situated at City of Superior in Douglas County. For the purpose of this study, local economy covers City of Superior and Douglas County in Wisconsin. Douglas County is comprised of one city, 16 towns, five villages, 43 unincorporated communities, and 11 zip codes. The details are listed and Figure 1 displays the location of Douglas County. LOCAL ECONOMY
Source: State Cartographer’s Office, University of Wisconsin-Madison; https://www.sco.wisc.edu/maps/wisconsin-outline/ Figure 1: Douglas County, Wisconsin
Methodology
The following steps were taken to find economic impact of UW-Superior in Superior/Douglas County, Wisconsin, for 2017-2018. The study focused on expenditures made in Superior/Douglas County by various entities of UW-Superior, namely UW-Superior as an institution and its employees, students, and visitors. Data was collected from the UW-Superior Budget and Business Office to find out institutional spending by the university in the local community. Specifically, spending in the 11 zip codes that represent Douglas County. During October-December 2018, an online random stratified survey of UW-Superior employees was conducted to find out their monthly spending in Superior/Douglas County, among other topics. During October-December 2018, an online random stratified survey of UW-Superior students was conducted to find out their monthly spending in Superior/Douglas County, among other topics. Data from numerous UW-Superior offices was collected to find how many individuals visit UW-Superior for various reasons. Further, during October-December 2018, one online survey was distributed to Alumni and Foundation Board members while a different online survey was given to visiting athletics teams to find out about their spending patterns in the local economy when they visit UW-Superior. IMPLAN software was used to estimate impact on local employment, income, output, and tax revenue due to the presence of UW- Superior. Internal rate of return was computed to find return on educational investment by UW-Superior students and Wisconsin tax payers. During October-December 2018, an online survey was distributed among Superior and Douglas County business owners to find out their opinion in assessing UW-Superior’s impact on economic activity and vitality of local community. Economic impact of UW-Superior Athletics was estimated by utilizing local expenditures made by athletics program, visiting teams, and fans and IMPLAN software. Economic impact of community engaged learning by UW-Superior students and community engagement through service and scholarship by UW-Superior faculty and staff were estimated using data collected by Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL), employee website, and findings of student, employee, and business surveys.
To access to the full report including appendices, visit uwsuper.edu/econimpact 5
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