Close your eyes and imagine a world without the University of Connecticut. As a UConn alum, your first thought might be concern about your own education. Where would I have gone to college? Could I have afforded a quality university experience elsewhere?
Let's put those concerns aside for the moment and assume that somehow you would have managed to pursue your college education at another institution. But what about all the other benefits and services the University provides? If the University of Connecticut did not exist, from where would Connecticut get its supply of doctors, dentists, lawyers, pharmacists, scientists, judges, engineers, social workers, nurses and business and education leaders? Where would state government and our cities and towns turn for assistance with complex issues ranging from improving infant nutrition to protecting the environment? Who would partner with Connecticut business and industry to capitalize on emerging opportunities and improve efficiency? And how would the Nutmeg State endure the long months of the cold New England winter without the heat of Husky basketball?
The truth is plain: UConn has a profound impact on the economy and quality of life in Connecticut. Data from a recent study by the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis provides the evidence:
- As a result of its productivity, research spending and employment, UConn accounts for $3.1 billion of Connecticut's gross state product, which is the total value of goods and services produced by residents of the state.
- There is also a multiplier effect because of UConn: For every state dollar invested in UConn, gross state product increases by $6.18.
- The state's contribution to UConn attracts an additional $800 million in private and federal investment into Connecticut.
- If one were to rank order the economic sectors that make up the Connecticut economy (retail trades, manufacturing, finance, real estate, etc.) in order of the value of their output, UConn as a singular entity would emerge in the top 25 of the list.
This, along with the accompanying list of examples, illustrates the powerful direct economic impact that UConn has on the state. But UConn also has an indirect economic impact on the state's economy that is equally significant. Without UConn there would be a void in the variety of educational and research resources the University provides to businesses, schools, government agencies and nonprofit organizations throughout Connecticut. There would be fewer educational solutions to help businesses grow and organizations deliver better and more efficient services to their clients and customers and fewer continuous learning programs to keep private and public sector employees current and trained to improve productivity.
Human capital is Connecticut's principal natural resource, and the state relies on UConn to educate and prepare a highly skilled
workforce. UConn helps Connecticut retain its brightest and most ambitious young minds while drawing outstanding students from other
regions who ultimately make their homes here. There are more than 90,000 UConn alumni living and working in Connecticut, holding jobs
throughout the state's diverse workforce, occupying senior positions in virtually every industry that contributes to the economic
vitality and quality of life in the state. UConn's enrollment for 2003-04 is more than 26,600 students. Last year, the University awarded
6,300 degrees in fields ranging from accounting to water resource management. While its primary mission is to educate Connecticut
students, the wide range of activity connected to UConn has a significant impact on the state. Students and faculty are involved in
almost every aspect of the state's daily life, including relationships the University has with businesses and other state and municipal
entities.
A strong partner
Through a variety of partnerships with Connecticut's private sector, UConn helps to support and enhance the competitiveness of state
businesses, enabling them to grow and expand operations, launch new initiatives, create jobs and expand Connecticut's tax base. A wealth
of partnerships that the University maintains with private corporations and organizations across Connecticut creates opportunities for a
marshalling of resources that provides benefits far beyond what the University or the participating organizations can achieve
individually, helping the state's businesses to be competitive in the global economy.
"That is the leveraging effect," says Stan McMillen of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis. "UConn attracts money into the state in the form of grants, tuition and gifts that add to what can be done to expand programs and enhance business development opportunities."
UConn's partnerships with state and local government agencies provide opportunities for new financial support that extend public services, facilitate new public-private sector partnerships and enhance service delivery to Connecticut's citizens. While many of the University's public service activities remain rooted in the challenges of protecting and enhancing the Connecticut environment, UConn's faculty, researchers, students and staff routinely put their talents and energies to work for the state's citizens in ways that impact daily life in communities throughout the state.
Creating new knowledge
One of the major economic assets provided by UConn is its designation as a Carnegie Foundation Research University, which places it in a select group of only 4 percent of the nation's higher education institutions. Dozens of focused research centers at UConn conduct inquiries and seek solutions in subject areas ranging from biotechnology to urban sprawl. Annual sponsored research grants and awards approached about $200 million in 2003.
Faculty research at UConn provides direct benefits to the Connecticut economy in the form of job creation, new business development and subcontracting work with state businesses that, in 2002, was valued at approximately $50 million.
Quality of Life
Connecticut residents enjoy an extraordinarily high quality of life that is attributable in no small part to the presence and influence
of UConn. The University's impact is far- reaching and includes enhancing public schools, improving the environment, extending access to
diverse cultural activities and providing quality recreation and entertainment opportunities. Last year, for example, more than 200,000
people attended UConn events, exhibitions and performances statewide, including at the main campus, five regional campuses, the School of
Law and the UConn Health Center.
In fact, according to the recent economic study, the University's contribution to quality of life in Connecticut is estimated at approximately $120 million.
"UConn has made a great transformation and evolved to serve the growth of industry in this state, both manufacturing and service," says Nick Perna, chief economist for Perna Associates and an economic advisor for Webster Financial Corporation in Waterbury. "I think UConn's contribution to the quality of life in Connecticut is instrumental to getting people and business to locate in the state. Businesses know they have access to quality graduates, and families know they can send their children to a top-ranked public institution."
And what about the Huskies?
The great success of UConn's athletic teams has served as a source of pride for not only the University but also for the citizens of Connecticut who have embraced student athletes and celebrated their achievements both on and off the court. "Huskymania" is the singular and unifying source of pride for Connecticut residents as well as an economic force within the state. The remarkable popularity of Husky athletics has annually drawn more than 320,000 fans to Hartford for basketball games and nearly 225,000 people to East Hartford for the first year of Division I-A football.
Major corporations also affiliate themselves with the University through their sponsorship of UConn athletics. State-based vendors produce UConn branded items that are sold in retail outlets throughout Connecticut, from family-owned businesses to local outlets of national firms, generating income for businesses and state sales tax revenues.
"UConn is a major economic driver in the state's economy," says McMillen. "It's the spending the University does, it's students and
employees who purchase goods and services and the development of the professional workforce that reduce the cost of recruiting skilled
employees. This all combines to be a powerful economic engine. It's an incredible story about what happens in towns and cities across
Connecticut because UConn is here. And there is also a large intangible result: the increase in the quality of life we enjoy as citizens
of the state because UConn helps make Connecticut a better, cleaner, safer and more enjoyable place to live, learn and play."
UConn's effect is far-reaching...
PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
RESEARCH
PUBLIC/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS
PUBLIC SERVICE
QUALITY OF LIFE ENHANCEMENTS
HUSKYMANIA AND CONNECTICUT PRIDE
PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
* Caring for Connecticut
Since 1973, more than 14,000 degrees have been awarded in numerous health care professions including medicine, dentistry, nursing,
pharmacy and allied health. Nearly one out of every four dentists currently practicing in Connecticut graduated from UConn's School of
Dental Medicine.
* Executive Power
More than 7,700 UConn alumni hold key management or senior management positions in Connecticut businesses, including 1,100 who serve as
company presidents.
* Home Schoolers
Graduates of the Neag School of Education are highly valued teachers, and 90 percent of them remain in Connecticut to work. About a third
of these graduates take jobs in the state's most challenging school districts. UConn also prepares school leaders, having awarded
advanced degrees to about 25 percent of school superintendents and principals in the state. The Teacher Certification Program for College
Graduates was developed in partnership with UConn's campus in Stamford, responding to a growing need for teachers in critical subject
areas and providing opportunities for second career professionals.
* Court's in Session
The School of Law has trained professionals who serve throughout Connecticut in law firms, state agencies, nonprofit organizations,
educational institutions, corporations and other areas of legal practice. More than 80 alumni sit as Connecticut judges in federal,
district and superior courts including three who are associate justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
* Record Setting Software Gift
UGS PLM Solutions, a subsidiary of EDS, the world's largest independent information technology services company, has awarded the School
of Engineering a software grant with a commercial value of $146.1 million - the largest contribution ever received by the University. USG
PLM Solutions will serve as UConn's educational partner, helping train engineering students using cutting-edge product design and
development software. See page 11.
* Down on Main Street
The School of Business is making a major commitment to downtown Hartford by relocating some of its M.B.A. and its Executive M.B.A.
programs to the city. The Hartford downtown initiative also will include the Financial Accelerator, a tool integrating the latest in
financial technologies and real-time databases that will enable students, faculty and business executives to work together to develop
profitable responses to insurance and financial opportunities.
* Real-Time Solutions
Edgelab, the centerpiece of a collaborative and creative partnership between UConn's School of Business and the General Electric Co., is
a high-end information technology and eBusiness facility that co-locates students, faculty, and business executives in an environment
that brings brain-power and team-power to bear on real-time, critical-path business problems. Since January 1998, the Connecticut
Information Technology Institute, located at UConn's Stamford campus, has been working with small businesses and major corporations in
southern Connecticut and beyond to increase the innovative use of information technology to address data management and related business
needs.
* House Calls
Student's enrolled in UConn's School of Nursing work with the Central Connecticut Visiting Nurses Association to provide care to
individuals who are not eligible for ongoing VNA care because of insurance regulations. With basic support from the VNA, UConn has
provided more than $300,000 in nursing care.
* Regenerating Health
The Center for Regenerative Biology in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is internationally recognized for its research in
the areas of regenerative medicine and therapeutic cloning, work that has profound implications for improving medical care and human
health in the 21st century. See page 34.
* Fueling the Future
The Global Fuel Cell Research Center was established with $14.5 million in federal, state and private industry funding to develop the
best alternatives to conventional electrical power. One of the many important projects is a $6 million U.S. Army contract to design and
develop portable micro fuel cells.
* Fighting Cancer
The Center for Immunotherapy of Cancer and Infectious Diseases at the UConn Health Center is pioneering new approaches in the fight
against cancer and diseases. Clinical trials for a vaccine for breast cancer and kidney cancer are underway, along with trials for
vaccines to treat leukemia and melanoma.
* Veterinary Detectives
The Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory provides scientific testing and biopsies in conjunction with the Department of Public Health
for diseases of agricultural, avian, companion, laboratory, wildlife and aquatic species. The laboratory specializes in responding to
newly developing disease problems.
* Safe at Home
UConn is working in a variety of areas with the federal Department of Homeland Security and state public safety agencies to assist in
keeping citizens safe. A leadership training program was developed through the UConn Health Center with the Connecticut Department of
Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control to prepare health care professionals in the event of bio-terrorist activity. The Center
for Optics, Sensing and Tracking in Homeland Security was established in the School of Engineering, which also hosted the first
International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Homeland Security. The College of Continuing Studies developed a management
training institute for the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to train managers from throughout the newly established federal
agency.
* Violence Reduction
The School of Social Work's Institute for Violence Reduction is part of an initiative to reduce violence among young people. Most program
participants have previously been suspended and been processed before the juvenile justice system. The program's year-long curriculum
emphasizes personal responsibility and features a series of sessions examining themes such as violence, courage and respect. Participants
gain real life skills, including coping strategies, decision making and goal setting.
* Helping Hands
UConn's professional schools offer a variety of critical services to low and moderate-income residents of the state. The Schools of Law
and Business provide expert tax advice in income tax clinics held in local communities. The School of Dental Medicine is the single largest
provider of dental care to the state's neediest residents while School of Medicine students operate a clinic for homeless people in
Hartford.
* Controlling Poison
Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, the UConn Health Center's Poison Control Center is available to provide important and immediate
information to residents throughout the state as well as for doctors, emergency rooms, police departments and companies in Connecticut.
* Problem Solving & Preservation
The Connecticut Cooperative Extension System is a statewide, public education program within the College of Agriculture and Natural
Resources and the School of Family Studies. Cooperative Extension educational programs and problem-solving assistance are based on
current research at UConn. Programs include pesticide safety education, forest stewardship and residential water quality, among others.
* Resident Experts
UConn is the home base for the state Archaeologist, Historian and Ornithologist, who each provide expertise and serve as a resource in
their areas of specialty for Connecticut.
* Responsible Growth
The Center for Land Use Education and Research in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources provides education and assistance that
help land-use decision makers protect Connecticut's natural resources while accommodating economic growth. Presently, the Center is
engaged in projects related to coastal habitats, urbanizing areas and the management of Connecticut forests.
* That's Entertainment
In the School of Fine Arts, the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts and von der Mehden Recital Hall each host world-class performers
in music, theater and the performing arts, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, violinist Itzak Perlman, the American Ballet Theater,
blues singer Susan Tedeschi, jazz master Dave Brubeck and poet Maya Angelou.
* Downtown Renaissance
The new UConn campus in Waterbury is a $30 million facility that is the cornerstone of a larger ($120 million) downtown redevelopment
program, which includes a grade 6 through 12 fine arts magnet school and the restoration of the historic Palace Theater.
* Environmentally Friendly
Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) is a UConn program that provides education to Connecticut municipalities in the areas
of wetlands protection, reducing water runoff, preserving farmland, and open space planning. NEMO has worked with almost two-thirds of
the 169 municipalities in Connecticut.
HUSKYMANIA AND CONNECTICUT PRIDE
* Licensed World Wide
State-based vendors produce UConn branded items that are sold in retail outlets throughout Connecticut, from family-owned businesses to
local outlets of national firms, generating income for businesses and state sales tax revenues. Demand for UConn consumables has expanded
the line of UConn Husky products from tortilla chips and salsa to bottled water, coffee, milk, chocolate bars and ice cream products that
are manufactured, sold and licensed by Connecticut companies. The world-wide licensing of Husky products generated about $15 million in
retail sales during 2002-03.
* Husky Nation
The increasing popularity of Husky athletics has annually drawn more than 320,000 fans to Hartford for basketball games and nearly
225,000 fans to East Hartford for the first year of Division I-A football. UConn's ability to draw fans has resulted in Connecticut
hosting NCAA women's basketball regional tournaments for the first time in both Hartford and Bridgeport in 2004.
* An Important Assist
Major corporations seek a public association with UConn through sponsorship of athletic programs. Sponsorships support UConn's division
of athletics, fund student scholarships and help increase the popularity of the University's academic programs for aspiring young
minds.