This Boston Globe article by Robert Gavin includes a video interview with University of Massachusetts president Jack M. Wilson, which begins with him talking about the $1.9B of building the university has done in the last few years.

Underlying all the construction is the university’s growth. State funding pays for 14 percent of this year’s $2.8 billion budget, down from 28 percent a little more than a decade ago. But since 2003, enrollment has risen nearly 15 percent systemwide, to about 66,000 students, while revenue from tuition, fees, and other non-state sources has doubled to $2.3 billion. Federal and corporate funding of UMass research has jumped 50 percent to nearly $500 million last year. Fees from licensing technologies developed at UMass nearly quadrupled to more than $70 million.

Just as important has been a cultural shift borne of dwindling state support. University officials say, they have had to take an entrepreneurial approach to make the most of available resources.

Many institutions have found it useful to publish a "Community Impact Statement," by one name or another. The statements attempt to make clear the value of the campus to its surrounding community and region. SCUP has begun a collection of links to such statements. You can view the current collection here and you can add additional links to more community impact statements at this easy to use online form.

We have links to community impact reports from North Carolina A&T State University, Missouri Western State University, Nicholls State University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, University of Texas at San Antonio, State University of New York at Oswego, Smith College, and Southeastern Louisiana University.

Please share yours.

 This piece in Land Line, a publication of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, is from 2001 but is worth the read as an exposition of the myriad of issues campuses face in development at or near the campus edge. Very thoughtful.

Even when universities succeed in securing new development sites, they have to balance many competing demands. For example, donors favor signature buildings; the city requires regulatory compliance; neighborhood activists call for input into the school's expansion plans, as well as benefits from that expansion; parents want a safe environment for their children; and students desire retail and entertainment options, as well as housing and security. Meeting all of these demands is difficult and none of the possible responses speaks directly to furthering the core educational mission of a university. ...

Because most universities will remain in their current locations indefinitely, their futures will continue to be intertwined with their surrounding neighborhoods. However, the inevitability of future change and persistent development pressure highlights the differences between universities and the private real estate sector. Profit and speed motivate private developers-two qualities not usually associated with universities, particularly public institutions. Furthermore, given the broader mission of a university, short-term, market-oriented thinking is not always suitable. It is clear that future prospects for university expansion remain a complex challenge, especially in urban areas where land available for development is limited and expensive. 

Click on its title to access the original resource, Universities as Developers.

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SCUP has begun an online database for the sharing of links to a variety of college and university "community impact statements. These are anything from simple statements to comprehensive websites. They serve the purpose of making evident the institution's economic, social, or community benefits to its surrounding community or region. Please consider taking a moment to locate your institution's pertinent document and share the title and link.

Input data here (very simple form)

Browse the output here

Thank you.