EAGLE
EaglE
NEwspapErs
Education, Business Finance
& Excellence
February 23, 2011
A
Week Four 20 Pages
business and economic forecast.
Schools make $54.3 billion impact for New York 15 Central New York institutions generate $7.9 billion
With total payroll exceeding $19.5 billion for 360,200 direct, indirect and induced jobs, New York’s independent colleges and universities are major private employers in all regions of New York State, according to
a new economic analysis by the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) released today by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU). As private employers, independent (private, not-for-profit) colleges and universities provide 174,000 direct jobs with a payroll that exceeds $10.7 billion. In nine of the state’s counties, private higher education employment represents five per-
cent or more of total employment and six percent or more of total wages. Further, in 2009 two of the top employers in New York State were private higher education institutions: Cornell University and University of Rochester. In total, the 100-plus independent colleges and universities in New York State contributed $54.3 billion to the state’s economy in 2009. This is an increase of $6.8
billion (up 14%) since 2007 and more than $12.9 billion (up 31%) from 2005. In 2009, direct institutional spending was more than $46 billion and academic medical center spending more than $4.3 billion. “This study reaffirms the critical role that independent colleges and universities play in the New York State economy. We know that the knowledge sector has
safe
See CICU on page15
Are students By Gina Colonette On Monday Nov. 15 of last year an Onondaga Community College student was jogging right outside of campus when he was thrown to the ground and attacked by a mugger. There have been incidents of school shootings reported across the country. Opinions on the reaction of college campuses to such events has been mixed, with some questioning if more could have been done both before and during the crises. So how safe are our college campuses and has crime increased? Syracuse University Director of Public Safety Chief Tony Callisto gives SU’s campus a rating of 9 or 10 for safety. “The campus itself is the safest part of the city of Syracuse, without a ques-
tion,” Callisto said. At Le Moyne College’s 150-acre campus there isn’t much crime, John O’Brien, Director of Security at Le Moyne College said. In an entire year they may only experience a couple of crimes; that includes crimes committed by students and non-students. Le Moyne tries to make students aware of how and why crimes take place, hopefully giving their students some responsibility for their own safety. “Crime is about opportunity, if you take the opportunity away from people the greater chance it won’t happen,” O’Brien said.
Crimes Still Occur According to the U.S. Department of Education’s summary crime
“The campus itself is the safest part of the city of Syracuse, without a question.” -Chief Tony Callisto, director of Syracuse University Public Safety
on campus? Efforts made locally to keep crime down
statistics, robberies on-campus, offcampus and of public property for four-year private universities and colleges totaled 224 in 2009, 32 more than 2008, but only two more than 2007. Syracuse University reported three robberies in 2008 in their “Your Safety and Security at Syracuse University” brochure, less than the eight robberies of 2007. Callisto said there has been a fairly
dramatic decrease (35 percent) in violent crimes including street-side robbery, attempted robbery and assault since he joined the Department of Public Safety five years ago. Part of the reason for that decrease is because of the new safety measures the university is taking. Taking the right precautions SU started a new patrol program in See Campus safety on page 13
Generating local-leaning engineers Le Moyne connects to SU with bachelor’s/master’s degree program By Ned Campbell In the spring of 2012, Le Moyne College will graduate its first batch of undergraduate students to take part in its five-year dual bachelor’s/master’s degree in engineering program. Students achieving a 3.0 GPA, both overall and in their science courses, will go on to study at Syracuse University’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering for twoto-three semesters, graduate, and be equipped to enter a booming job market. The program provides tracks in chemical, computer, civil, environmental, electrical, me-
chanical, aerospace and biological engineering. “Students in the program complete their four-year bachelor’s degree — in physics, computer science, chemistry, or biology, as appropriate — at Le Moyne, while taking engineering courses at Syracuse University at no additional cost,” reads the program description at lemoyne.edu. Denny Nicholson, Dean of Admissions at Le Moyne College, said the program provides a unique opportunity for students interested in attending a smaller liberal arts college for undergrad who also aspire to have a master’s degree from a larger school like
SU. It’s ideal for the student “who wants to be a civil engineer but wants a liberal arts undergraduate experience in the Catholic Jesuit tradition such as Le Moyne,” Nicholson said. Le Moyne students take, on average, four courses at SU during the course of their undergraduate studies in the program. “It’s been a great partnership with Syracuse,” Nicholson said. And as a result of the partnership, Le Moyne’s physics, chemistry and computer science departments have experienced growth. 8 percent of this past fall’s incoming students expressed an interest in pursuing the bachelor’s/master’s engineering
program, Nicholson said. “Most of the aspiring engineers happen to be interested in civil engineering,” Nicholson said. “But as the reputation of the program grows we’re going to see natural growth in all these areas.” Nicholson said the primary mission of the cooperative arrangement is to provide SU with students more likely to stay in the area. SU’s engineering students have had a strong tendency to leave the area upon graduation. Approximately 30 percent of Le Moyne students are from the five-county Central New York region, and those students tend
to stay local. “SU was very interested in the prospect of having Le Moyne graduates go through their graduate program, particularly students who might have an interest in staying in the Syracuse area and working in the various engineering firms here in Central New York,” Nicholson said. Nicholson said that, in general, Le Moyne’s science program is expanding. Le Moyne has added “a number of wonderful programs over the last decade,” and established a partnership with St. Joseph’s Hospital where students spend two years of fullSee Dual degree on page12