The University of Oregon is regularly cited as a powerful contributor to Oregon’s economy. A campus group is working to understand the breadth of the university’s impact, from creating jobs and new businesses to placing recent graduates in key regional industry clusters and communities across Oregon to work on community development.
An effort is now underway to assess and quantify the activity, and a survey is seeking help from campus and the community.
The Office for Research, Innovation and Graduate Education encourages faculty and staff to complete a 20-question survey to provide essential feedback that will help the university focus on its economic engagement. In addition to surveying internal stakeholders, the UO is asking external stakeholders for input through a similar survey that has been sent to a variety of economic development, government and business partners.
By assessing current efforts and identifying opportunities to strengthen the university’s impact, the process will help the state address pressing regional needs. The surveys will also allow the university to quantify economic engagement efforts to date, establish a baseline for the future, identify strategies to build on the university’s current impact and develop a shared understanding and appreciation with the campus, community and region about the UO’s economic engagement activities.
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) is currently leading this national effort. The process involves a survey of internal and external stakeholders, self-study and a planning process though May 2014. The UO would like to be named an “economically engaged university” by the APLU, but more important, create a framework for the university and stakeholders to evaluate and plan for the future.
Promoting the economic prosperity of Oregon is a key component of the university’s overall mission. Some of the UO’s current contributions in the economic space include:
- Establishing the Regional Accelerator & Innovation Network (RAIN) alongside local government, community partners and Oregon State University. RAIN leverages the assets of Oregon’s research universities and communities to launch companies as well as promote job creation.
- Leveraging the university’s resources for statewide impact through the UO’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center. Programs such as the UO’s Resource Assistance for Rural Environment continue to place recent graduates in communities around the state to work on economic and community development activities.
- Providing indispensable services to important industry clusters in Oregon through the UO’s CAMCOR High Tech Extension Service and Master’s Industrial Internship Program.
For more information, contact Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation Pat Jones at pljones@uoregon.edu.
- by Sarah MacKenzie, UO Public Affairs Communications intern