UPDATED: Oct. 31, 2017 at 3:37 p.m.

A study examining Syracuse University’s investments in the city of Syracuse and surrounding central New York region indicates that SU will reassess funding for certain community initiatives.

The study, “Syracuse University Impact: Central to Central New York,” published by the university Monday, does not reveal any specific plans for SU moving forward, making it unclear exactly which initiatives could be affected.

But the report alludes to changes SU will need to make regarding its community investments, stating that SU differs from “national benchmark” institutions because it makes large investments in multiple community groups.

The report comes two weeks after Syracuse.com reported SU is diminishing its financial support for the Near Westside Initiative, a project launched in 2006 under former SU Chancellor Nancy Cantor that sought to revitalize one of Syracuse’s lowest-income communities.

The report is divided into two studies: an analysis of the university’s investments and a study of the economic impact of those investments. The analysis of the investment was commissioned by Enlight Advisors, a Seattle-based consulting firm, while the economic impact study was commissioned by Emsi, an Idaho-based career building company.

Four SU administrators provided oversight of the study: Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation Mike Haynie, Vice President for Community Engagement Bea González, Chief of Staff Candace Campbell Jackson and Kevin Quinn, senior adviser to the chancellor for executive communications and public affairs. The university’s chief financial officer, Amir Rahnamay-Azar, was not among those who provided oversight for the report.

The economic impact report states that, in 2016, SU made $1.1 billion in “total impacts” in the central New York region — which is defined as Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties.

SU’s investment in the central New York region totaled about $50 million in 2016, according to the report on community investments. The report doesn’t specify what each of SU’s investments are, but it notes about $25 million went toward “financial investments” and another $24 million went toward “financial investments with engagement.”

Of the investments that fall under “financial investments,” scholarships for students from underrepresented populations make up $20.7 million. The report notes that SU differs from “benchmark universities” in that those universities “do not consider access scholarships to be part of their community investment efforts.”

In an interview Monday, when asked if SU strives to be like those benchmark universities, González said the university is “looking for best practices.” González and Haynie, the other administrator interviewed Monday, could not immediately say what the methodology was for determining those benchmark universities, which include some of SU’s peer institutions in addition to non-SU peer institutions.

In the past, SU has invested in community projects such as the Near Westside Initiative, the Community Folk Art Center and Say Yes to Education. The report notes that the benchmark universities do not make “significant financial investments in multiple community organizations.”

Syracuse.com reported earlier this month that SU was pulling its financial support for the Near Westside Initiative. The initiative’s former executive director, Maarten Jacobs, is no longer with the organization.

Marilyn Higgins, SU’s former vice president for community engagement and economic impact, who worked closely with the initiative, retired from SU last year. She then began serving in a consulting role to the initiative, but her tenure in that role is set to expire this month. González said Monday that SU’s partnership with the Near Westside Initiative and other community groups are “naturally winding down.”

The Near Westside Initiative started as a way to rehabilitate and generate revenue for the area, González said. Now that multiple “vibrant programs,” including the Lerner Center and La Casita, have been established, SU is rethinking its role.

“But it doesn’t mean that our commitment and our investment in that community is over,” González said. “It’s just different.”

The university’s Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development also no longer exists in its current form. It now operates through Hendricks Chapel as the Office of Engagement Programs. The former office was housed at the Nancy Cantor Warehouse downtown.

Haynie said the report’s conclusions don’t necessarily mean the university will reduce its overall level of investment in the community, even if some partnerships and programs are ended.

“I would argue that the university community … wouldn’t want the two of us sitting here making that decision,” he said. “The plan moving forward is, now that we understand the foundation, to engage the university community and have those kinds of conversations.”

The report also calls for the university to align its community investments with the Academic Strategic Plan. Haynie, who has served as the head of the university’s veterans initiatives, said that will include ensuring community investments align with the university’s desire to become a better place for veterans.

“I think that’s part of it. I think it’s bigger than that as well,” he said. “The Academic Strategic Plan is clear, with regard to these pillars of excellence that we aspire to build at the university, it makes sense that at a high level, as we move forward, we’re looking for opportunities to be synergistic with what we do in the community relative to where we’re going to be making internal investments at the university related to the Academic Strategic Plan.”

The study’s footnotes show that two staff members at the university participated in the data collection for the community investments report: Cynthia Carnahan, senior associate director of the Office of Budget and Planning, and Raymond Toenniessen, assistant vice president for veterans development.

González said Monday that she is looking into establishing an advisory board for community engagement at SU to help the university implement the suggestions and conclusions outlined in the report. She said faculty and students often come to her with ideas for community engagement.

“I’m establishing tools,” she said. “One of my goals is to really work at investment tools to understand the impact of the work that we’re doing. But ultimately I see myself as bringing resources together.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, certain information in Syracuse University’s “Syracuse University Impact: Central to Central New York” study was misstated. The study does not indicate that SU will reduce funding for any scholarships or community organizations in the city of Syracuse or the surrounding central New York region. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

Published on October 31, 2017 at 12:35 am

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu