This study estimates the economic impact of jobs, income, output and tax revenue that would be lost in the absence of UW-Superior. The study does not estimate the income, output, and jobs created by individuals who would remain in the area even if UW-Superior did not exist.
ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-SUPERIOR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The UW-Superior Economic Impact Study Research Team would like to thank UW-Superior Chancellor Renée Wachter for commissioning this study. We thank Chancellor Wachter for promoting this study along with its many surveys, and helping to select survey prize winners. This study would not have been possible without the vast amount of data provided by numerous individuals and various offices of UW-Superior. We gratefully thank Jeff Kahler, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance; Robert Waksdahl, Controller; Emily Neumann and Emily Rose with Institutional Research and Sponsored Programs; Nick Bursik, Director of Athletics; Jenice Meyer with the Center for Community Engaged Learning; and Jeanne Thompson, Vice Chancellor of University Advancement. We would also like to thank Miranda Sve, Human Resources Office; Laura Gregory, Business Office; Heather Thompson, Amy Kanuit, and Catrina Robbins, University Advancement Office; Donna Dahlvang, Financial Aid Office; Jeremy Nere, Office of Admissions; Ethan Russom, Yellowjacket Union; Steve Kirk, Wessman Arena; Kathryn Guimond, Center for Continuing Education; Monte Stewart, Veteran and Nontraditional Student Center; Brett Jones, Music Department; Brent Notbohm, Communicating Arts; Nick Danz, Dean of Academic Affairs; Steve Rosenberg, Mathematics and Computer Science Department; Matt TenEyck, Lake Superior Research Institute; Laura Jacobs, Jim Dan Hill Library; Cassandra Roemhildt, Transportation and Logistics Research Center; Jeffery Spangenberg, Emma Hengemuhle, and Steve Marshall for providing us important data necessary to conduct this study. We very much appreciated the service provided by Jay Conley and Robert Iverson of Technology Services in effectively obtaining and installing the IMPLAN software. Our sincere thanks to Taylor Pedersen of the Superior-Douglas County Area Chamber of Commerce and Kelly Peterson from
Superior Rotary Club 40 for promoting the business survey, and personnel of several local businesses who spent their valuable time completing the business survey. We thank UW-Superior students and employees, UW-Superior Foundation and Alumni Board members, and visiting athletics teams who graciously completed our surveys and helped in make this study feasible. We would like to thank Small Business Development Center Director Andrew Donahue for being a liaison between various administrative offices of UW-Superior, local community, and the research team. Lastly, we are grateful to Robert Beam for being our superb mentor and constant source of knowledge and support. Economic Impact Study: UW-Superior and the Local Economy, 2008, prepared by Beam and his A-team of student researchers has been the ideal reference for the 2019 research team of UW-Superior Economic Impact Study. Faculty investigators, Mahjabeen, Mahmud, and Pratoomchat accept full responsibility for any errors and omissions this report may contain.
Rubana Mahjabeen, Principal Faculty Investigator Sakib Mahmud, Faculty Investigator Praopan Pratoomchat, Faculty Investigator Student Researchers: Hung Nguyen Nikolas Kosman Angelica Remache Michael Huttner Matias Lopez Opeyemi Omiwale
University of Wisconsin-Superior August, 2019
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements. ............................................................................................................................................................................... i UW-Superior Impact at a Glance..............................................................................................................................................................3 Introduction. ..............................................................................................................................................................................................4 Local Economy...............................................................................................................................................................................................5 The Economic Value of a UW-Superior Education to Students and Wisconsin.................................................................................8 Building Relationships Between UW-Superior and the Superior/Douglas County Business Communities................................12 Short-Term Economic Impact of UW-Superior Athletics Program on Local Economy...................................................................14 Economic Impact of Community Engaged Learning by UW-Superior Students and Community Engagement Through Service and Scholarship by UW-Superior Faculty and Staff...............................................................................................15 Conclusion and Recommendations......................................................................................................................................................16 The University of Wisconsin-Superior, as part of UW System, plays a positive and multiplicative role in the Northwestern Wisconsin economy. UW-Superior and its employees, students, and out-of-town visitors continuously spend money on various local goods and services. These expenditures create job, income, output, and tax revenues in the local area of Superior/Douglas County. However, some of these local jobs, income and output would be lost if UW-Superior did not exist. According to UW-Superior student and employee survey findings, 65 percent of students and 49 percent of employees would not stay and spend in the local area if they did not attend or were not employed by UW-Superior. This study estimates the economic impact of jobs, income, output and tax revenue that would be lost in the absence of UW-Superior. The study does not estimate the income, output, and jobs created by individuals who would remain in the area even if UW-Superior did not exist. The study uses data of 2017-2018 and defines Superior/Douglas County as the local area.
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FY 2017-18
MILLION 3.06 54.41 626
jobs generated and supported
MILLION
local Superior/Douglas County economy
in local and state taxes generated
million in output million in labor income jobs in Superior/Douglas County UW-Superior Athletics Program supports 4.2 2.73 92
2.73 2,400
UW-Superior students were involved in community engaged activities for 58,000 hours with at least 700 community partners
MILLION in labor income for workers and proprietors in the state
or higher 14.43 %
Average long-term internal rate of return of a UW-Superior bachelor’s degree
INTRODUCTION
This study aims to capture economic impact of UW-Superior on the local economy. Economic impact refers to activities created by the presence of UW-Superior. If UW-Superior did not exist, many of these activities would be lost from the local economy. The main question is – how important is UW-Superior to the local economy and its population and how does UW-Superior impact job creation, income generation, and output in the local economy. According to UW-Superior Common Data Set 2018-2019 (UW-Superior, 2018), there are 2,601 total numbers of students of which 2,294 are undergraduate students, while 307 are graduate students and 708 are online students. Almost half of the students come from the Midwest states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. UW-Superior is ranked second among UW schools in percentage of undergraduate international students. UW-Superior has an average class size of 18 and a student- to-faculty ratio of 14:1. The campus houses four world-class research centers. Forty-five percent of students are involved in solving community issues as service learners. UW-Superior offers on-campus as well as online courses and grants associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and specialist degrees.
According to the UW-Superior Human Resource Office, the university has 503 full-time and part-time employees.
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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.
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This study used IMPLAN to estimate economic impact of UW-Superior. IMPLAN is a software that uses an input-output modelling system. An input-output (I-O) model describes interrelations among different economic agents of an economy. Specifically, it records all the sales and purchases of goods and services that occur between all sectors of an economy during a given time period (Deller, Hoyt, Hueth, and, Sundaram-Stukel, 2009). For the purpose of this study, the Douglas County I-O model with 2017 data was used to represent the local economy. The IMPLAN model utilized the SAM (social accounting matrix) multiplier and described total output by industry, personal income, total income, value added and employment to display economic activities of Douglas County. Expenditures by an institution or individual work through a multiplier process in an economy. For example, suppose UW-Superior uses the services of Exhaust Pros Superior for university vehicle maintenance and pays $1,000. Exhaust Pros Superior then uses that amount to pay its employees and suppliers. Some of its employees and suppliers are residents of local area and spend the money they receive in the local economy. In this way some part of the initial $1,000 is spent again in the local economy. This is how the multiplier process works. It should be mentioned that some of that $1,000 will leak out of the local economy as Exhaust Pros Superior has to pay federal taxes, suppliers that are located outside of Superior/Douglas County, and employees that spend some of their money outside of Superior/Douglas County. To estimate the economic impact of UW-Superior on the local economy, this study utilized expenditures by UW-Superior institution, employees, students, and visitors in the IMPLAN model. The IMPLAN model provided estimates of how much these expenditures affected Superior/Douglas County in the form of initial spending, direct spending, indirect spending and induced spending. According to UW-Superior Budget Office, in fiscal year 2018, UW-Superior made an initial spending of $32,502,476 in employee payroll and fringe benefits. Direct spending was made of institutional spending on local supplies and expenses (non-payroll spending), employee spending, student spending, and visitor spending. Indirect spending included inter-industry spending or local spending made by businesses which supplied goods and services to UW-Superior, its employees, students, and visitors. Induced spending was composed of local spending that occurred due to changes in household income resulting from directly and indirectly affected local businesses.
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Table 1: Impact of UW-Superior Institutional & Employee Spending (2017-2018)
Direct
Indirect
Induced
Total
Employment
46.2
36.0
8.4
90.5
Labor Income ($)
1,041,771
1,136,340
263,616
2,441,727
Total Income ($)
1,196,324
2,261,216
545,135
4,002,675
Output ($)
2,298,155
4,038,649
996,542
7,333,346
Table 2: Impact of UW-Superior Student Spending (2017-2018)
Direct
Indirect
Induced
Total
Employment
77.7
16.7
9.9
104.3
Labor Income ($)
1,951,864
631,160
313,285
2,896,310
Total Income ($)
5,224,601
1,198,230
648,036
7,070,867
Output ($)
9,442,097
2,341,335
1,184,434
12,967,866
According to the findings of this section, during 2017- 2018, presence of UW-Superior had a positive and multiplicative economic impact on Superior/Douglas County. Based on expenditures by UW-Superior institution and employees, UW-Superior students and UW-Superior visitors, it can be concluded that during fiscal year 2018, UW-Superior contributed in creating 626 jobs, $44.42 million in income, and $54.41 million in output in Douglas County. Further, UW-Superior generated $3.06 million in state and local tax revenues. This implies that, in the absence of UW-Superior, the City of Superior and Douglas County would lose these output, income and employment opportunities, and tax revenues.
Table 3: Impact of UW-Superior Visitor Spending (2017-2018)
Direct
Indirect
Induced
Total
Employment
21.1
2.1
1.9
25.2
Labor Income ($)
426,040
78,074
60,882
564,996
Total Income ($)
582,351
136,310
125,864
844,524
Output ($)
1,113,977
259,467
230,128
1,603,571
Table 4: Total Impact of UW-Superior (2017-2018)
Initial
Direct
Indirect
Induced
Total
Employment
406
145
55
20
626
Labor Income ($) 32,502,476
3,419,675
1,845,574
637,783
38,405,509
Total Income ($)
32,502,476
7,003,276
3,595,756
1,319,034
44,420,543
Output ($)
32,502,476 12,854,229
6,639,450
2,411,104
54,407,259
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THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF A UW-SUPERIOR EDUCATION TO STUDENTS AND WISCONSIN
In this part we analyze the long-term economic impacts generated from the investment in human capital when a student earns a degree from UW-Superior. We evaluate this educational investment’s internal rate of return (IRR) from the perspective of a student and from the perspective of a Wisconsin taxpayer. This section calculates the internal rates of return for three main types of income streams that characterize students at UW-Superior, including: No Part-Time Job and No Student Loans Student Loans and No Part-Time Job Part-Time Job and No Student Loans We will compare each income stream’s IRR to the average annual rates of return on Treasury bills, government bonds, and common stocks from 1928-2018. No Part-Time Employment and No Loans Suppose a college freshman at UW-Superior pays full tuition, fees, and book expenses of $9,109.50 and forgoes $20,229 of full-time employment income for each of all five years of college. Costs in the first year equal $20,229 + $9,109.50 = $29,338.50. Tuition, fees, and book expenses increase at 1.23 percent each year so that in the sophomore year, costs rise to $29,450.55 ($20,229 + $9,221.55). By the fifth year of college, costs will rise to $29,795.02. The investment’s benefits do not begin to accrue until the student earns the college degree and enters the workforce at age 23. The initial salary benefits of college are greatly below the $41,725.33 average. It rises to $33,219 between work life years of 23 and 27 and down to $28,100 as the college graduate approaches retirement. Bottom row of Table 5 shows that the sum of the net present values of costs and benefits in this income stream are both equal to $109,839.49. The annual rate of discount at which this equality occurs is the IRR of 10.76 percent per year.
Out of 239 respondents, approximately 57% of UW-Superior students worked at off campus jobs
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Student Loans but No Part-Time Job
Suppose instead that our full-time student qualifies for a federally subsidized student loan to help pay for tuition expenses. According to our Financial Aid Office at UW-Superior, a federally insured Stafford Loan has a loan limit of $31,000 and a fixed interest rate of 4.45 percent APR. Office staffers report that the most typical term-loan students select is for 10 years. Loan repayments automatically begin six months after the student no longer enrolls in college. As a college freshman at UW-Superior, the loan would cover $5,500 of the $9,109.50 tuition/books expense, which means the student would have to pay $3,609.50 out of pocket. Part-Time Job and No Student Loans Suppose our student works part-time during the regular school year as well as during the summer months. Our student has no student loans, and pays tuition each year with cash withdrawn from savings, financial grants, scholarships or financial support from parents and relatives. We took a stratified random sample survey of the student body, and we found that out of 239 respondents, approximately 57 percent of students worked at off campus jobs and more than 41 percent of these students worked 20 hours per week or more. Based on the results of our student survey, we concluded, somewhat conservatively, that most students who attend UW-Superior work an average of 14 hours a week or more during the academic year, earning an average wage of at least $11 per hour. These students will earn $5,236 during the 34-week period of the academic year. During the 14 weeks of summer recess, most students work an average of 34.5 hours a week or more and earn an average wage of at least $11 per hour, earning an average of $5,313 during the summer. Students who match this profile will have an annual income over a 50-week period of approximately $10,549. Subtracting this amount from the $20,229 of average annual income earnings for 18 to 24-year-olds, we get an average of $9,680 in annual full time employment income that a UW-Superior student forfeits by attending college full time. The abbreviated payment schedule shows costs in the freshman year in column 5 equal to ($20,229 - $10,549) + $9,109.50 = $18,789.50. The lower cost is because part-time employment income defrays part of the tuition and forgone income costs of college. In addition, the benefits of this income stream are not reduced by loan repayments after graduation. We find that the IRR averages 14.43 percent per year over the UW-Superior graduate’s work-life of 42 years. This IRR is the highest of the three income streams, and helps explain why such a high percentage of students at UW-Superior hold part-time jobs.
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Is It Really Worth It To Go To College At UW-Superior? The table below compares rates of return on invested capital between earning a bachelor’s degree at UW-Superior and average annual rates of return on alternative capital investments such as U.S. Treasury Bills, long-term Treasury Bonds, and common stocks (Brealey, 2007).
Table 5: Comparison of Internal Rate of Return
Investment
Percent of Return on
Sum of Education
Premium Payments
Invested Capital
Bachelor’s Degree from UW-Superior No part-time employment and no student loans
10.76%
$ 977,397.16
No part-time employment and student loans
11.48%
$1,086,144.00
Part-time employment and no student loans
14.43%
$1,030,142.16
Alternative Capital Investments Treasury Bills (1928-2018)
3.43%
Treasury Bonds (1928-2018)
5.10%
Common Stocks (1928-2018) 11.36% Wisconsin Tax Payers Return on Investments in UW-Superior Education For Bachelor’s Degree 4.19%
$11,125,224.00
Our conclusion is that going to college at UW-Superior to earn a bachelor’s degree is equivalent to an investment whose IRR is significantly higher than average returns on fixed income securities, and is on a par with average rates of return on investments in equities. Even though equities investments come close to the IRR of a college degree from UW-Superior, the investment in one’s college education, particularly at UW-Superior, bears less risk and pays higher yields to maturity over time.
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The Economic Value of a UW-Superior Education to the State of Wisconsin Besides UW-Superior’s short-term income and employment impacts on the local Superior/ Douglas County economy, there is also a longer-term economic gain in the human capital investments of its alumni. Those alumni who remain in Northwest Wisconsin after graduation will add to the state’s quality of life. From their higher earnings, they will pay higher state and local taxes. Their higher spending levels will generate more jobs, which will further expand the region’s economy and its tax base. In this section, UW-Superior’s long-term economic impacts on the formation and development of human capital resources in Northern Wisconsin were analyzed. A model was developed to calculate the IRR on investing in a bachelor’s degree from UW-Superior. This rate of return was evaluated against average annual returns on government bonds and equities over the last 100 years. The conclusion is a bachelor’s degree from UW-Superior pays an average annual return on investment from 10.76 to 14.43 percent APR over the life of the investment. Now, going back to the two questions: is it “worth it” to earn a bachelor’s degree from UW-Superior? Based on our analysis, the answer is yes. Furthermore, our findings also reveal that the taxpayers of Wisconsin earn a minimum of 4.19 percent APR on the added state income taxes that UW-Superior graduates pay out of their higher earnings. Regarding the second question, is it “worth it” for the State of Wisconsin to continue supporting UW-Superior? Again, our results reveal that it is absolutely “worth it” for the state of Wisconsin to continue supporting UW-Superior.
UW-Superior alumni who remain in Northwest Wisconsin help generate more jobs and expand the region’s economy and tax base.
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In this section, survey analysis was conducted to assess UW-Superior’s impact on the local business community from the perspective of local business owners. This section tries to determine if UW-Superior contributes to a positive business climate in the region. To answer the question, a statistical profile of the Superior/Douglas County business community was developed, then the questionnaire responses were summarized to identify areas where the university’s relationships are strong and where they can be strengthened. Purpose and methodology BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN UW-SUPERIOR AND THE SUPERIOR/ DOUGLAS COUNTY BUSINESS COMMUNITIES We designed a survey questionnaire to provide a better understanding of how much impact local business owners feel UW-Superior has on their business community. Survey results were reported and recommendations were given on how to improve relationships between the university, its student body, and the Superior/Douglas County business community.
Figure 2: UW-Superior’s Presence in the Region Enhances the Economic Vitality of Northern Wisconsin
40%
5 Strongly agree 4 Agree 3 Neither agree or disagree 2 Disagree 1 Strongly disagree
44%
12%
4%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
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Conclusion and Recommendations
By working together, the university, its students, and the business community can all benefit. Survey results conclude that important business impact relationships exist between UW-Superior and the following sectors: Accommodation and Food Service, Finance and Insurance, and Management of Companies and Enterprise. This conclusion is derived from the average score of the survey response that presence of UW-Superior benefits a business. Other sectors where the university can strengthen its relationship are Public Administration, Other Services, Construction, and Real Estates. We can consider the low impact areas to be set as targets for enhancing and strengthening relationships between UW-Superior and the local community. First, the university can use incentives to encourage the students and employees to buy more from local businesses. This encouragement will show that the university appreciates the existence of local businesses. Second, most of the businesses in our survey did not hire any interns from the university, but had shown interest in hiring UW-Superior students. The university can work through units such as the Center for Community Engaged Learning to establish internship positions with these local businesses and organizations. By having a larger pool of qualified interns, the business community would have the opportunity to hire a more experienced, better trained, and more loyal labor force. This target on internship is then linked to the last target on employment. Local businesses in our sample employ on average about six UW-Superior graduates. Almost half of the respondents reported that no more than five of their current employees are UW-Superior graduates. This issue might be challenging since there are fewer jobs available in the area in the past decade. However, the university can set the goal to increase or maintain the number of UW-Superior graduates employed in the sectors that are showing demand such as Educational Services, Finance and Insurance, and Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation. The sectors where the university should strengthen the relationship in term of employment are Real Estate, Rentals, and Leasing, and Management of Companies and Enterprises. Through this active synergy, the community gains and economic vitality thrives. Businesses in the community may not currently have close ties to the university, but business survey respondents see the potential of coming together and growing together.
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This section estimates the economic impact of UW-Superior Athletics Program. Specifically, the employment, income, output and tax revenue generated during 2017-2018 in Superior/Douglas County due to the expenditures made in the local area by the athletics program, visiting teams and fans. First, athletics program and its revenue and expenses for 2017-2018 are described. Next, local expenditures by athletics program, visiting teams and fans are explained. Then, using IMPLAN, the short-term economic impact of Yellowjackets Athletics Program is estimated. SHORT-TERM ECONOMIC IMPACT OF UW-SUPERIOR ATHLETICS PROGRAM ON LOCAL ECONOMY
Methodology
Impact results consist of economic outcomes of employment, income, output and tax revenues. Employment results show the total number of local jobs that were supported by Yellowjacket Athletics. Income shows the amount of labor income generated by the direct spending of athletics. Output results show how much the total county output changed due to initial output expenditure change, after taking account of indirect and induced effects. The economic activities supported by the Yellowjacket Athletics generated state and local tax revenues through income taxes, sales taxes, and other property taxes.
Conclusion
According to the findings of this section, during 2017-2018, UW-Superior Yellowjacket Athletics had a positive and multiplicative economic impact on Superior/Douglas County. Based on expenditures by athletics, visiting teams and visiting fans, it can be concluded that during fiscal year 2018, Yellowjacket Athletics supported $4.2 million in economic activity, $2.73 million in labor income and at least 92 jobs in Superior/Douglas County. The athletics program generated $116,000 in state and local tax revenues. Yellowjacket Athletics is critical in bringing more than 85 percent of the visiting teams and their fans to the local area and its tourism activity. This implies that Yellowjackets Athletics is vital for the economy of City of Superior and Douglas County.
Table 6: UW-Superior Athletics Program Revenue in Fiscal Year 2018
Revenue Source
Amount ($)
Non-Sales Revenues
$586,621
Contributions and Gifts
$53,222
Ticket Sales
$43,164
Figure 3: Distribution of Expenditures by Visiting Teams
(Percentage of Total Expenditures in the Local Area)
Advertising/Marketing
$26,212
Gas and Other 6%
All Sources
$709,219
Source: UW-Superior Athletics Program and Budget Office
Food & Beverages 48%
Lodging 46%
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This section estimates the economic impact of community engaged learning by UW-Superior students and community engagement through service and scholarship by UW-Superior faculty and staff. The Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) is established to bring the UW-Superior campus and local community closer and strengthen reciprocal relationship. It encourages all forms of community engagement including, academic service-learning (AS-L), community-based research, creative activities, internships and volunteering. These activities are beneficial for UW-Superior students, faculty, staff, and the local community. According to CCEL website, a primary goal for the Center for Community Engaged Learning is to empower UW-Superior students to become active citizens that tackle critical challenges by participating in hands-on, practical learning experiences while reciprocally meeting the region’s most pressing needs and priorities. The center is a hub for creating and sustaining campus engagement with the Duluth- Superior community. In this part first, methodology of analysis is explained. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING BY UW-SUPERIOR STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THROUGH SERVICE AND SCHOLARSHIP BY UW-SUPERIOR FACULTY AND STAFF
Methodology
For impact analysis, this part considers six different kinds of community engagement: AS-L, community-based research, internship, fieldwork, volunteer work and program involvement. The timeframe of these community engagements is 2017-2018. This part of the analysis considers Twin Ports (Duluth, MN/Superior, WI) to be the local area for community engagement. Data sources for this part are student survey, employee survey, business survey, UW-Superior website, and the data compiled by CCEL. It should be noted that impact of community engagement is difficult to quantify. The study followed CCEL guidelines to identify impact areas, namely, education, economic, health, natural resources, culture, law and society, and social justice.
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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Lack of data on community engagement by UW-Superior students and employees made it difficult to conduct a proper impact analysis. According to the findings of this section, during 2017-2018, 2,400 UW-Superior students were involved in community engaged activities for 58,000 hours. In terms of number of students and hour involved, ASL was the mostly utilized community engaged activity. During 2017-2018, various types of community engaged activities were possible through collaboration with at least 700 partners from the Duluth-Superior area. Student engagement impacted education and economic areas more. There is room for enhancing community involvement of students through internship and research. This finding is supported by results of Business Survey (Part 3), that internships are one area where local businesses have less interaction with UW-Superior, but are interested in strengthening that relationship. During 2017-2018, 15 of 48 student organizations volunteered for at least 1,450 hours in the local community. Other student clubs can do the same by connecting to local businesses and organizations. During 2017-2018, 47 percent of UW-Superior employees connected to local community through community services, teaching and research. This implies that there is room for engaging more employees in the local community. Based on the findings it is recommended that the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) play an active role in strengthening the reciprocal relationship between the UW-Superior campus and the local community.
Figure 4: UW-Superior’s Presence in the Region Enhances the Economic Vitality of Northern Wisconsin
Research Program Internship Fieldwork Volunteer ASL
1%
2%
6%
18%
31%
42%
0%
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
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uwsuper.edu
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