Universities are a key component of the U.S. economic ecosystem, returning investment through enormous public value and impact on employment, business, and manufacturing both locally and nationwide. In an effort to publicize the social and economic impact of higher education institutions, consortia are threading this economic message throughout communications to their stakeholders.

The Baltimore Collegetown Network brings 13 area colleges and universities together with government, business and community leaders to develop and market Baltimore as a vibrant place to live and learn.  They have developed a report about their economic impact on the community. Kristen McGuire discusses how this report was developed and share how the results were used for local and state advocacy about the importance of higher education as an industry.  

The Institute for Research on Innovation & Science (IRIS) is a major national source for data to support fundamental research on the results of public and private investments in discovery, innovation, and education. Jason Owen-Smith shows how it provides credible data and rigorous findings about the productivity and public value of the research enterprise to inform effective policy-making, support outreach, aid in research management, and expand the state of knowledge.

Outcomes

• Learn how colleges can work together to produce an economic impact study.
• Learn how information can be used by presidents and other consortium leaders to attract funders and partners.
• Develop familiarity with a new data infrastructure.
• Explore methods for curating, protecting and sharing restricted data.
• Understand some uses of administrative data for research and reporting.

Slides (and other episodes) are available for download at https://acl.site-ym.com/?page=webinars