| |
|
SONOMA
STATE UNIVERSITY
1801 East Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
(707) 664-2880
|
Questions
or comments
about this site?
Please write:
sandy.destiny@sonoma.edu |
|
|
SSU's impact goes far beyond the classes
conducted for its full-time students. Its mission is spread
throughout Sonoma County with programs that bring non-traditional
students to campus and to off-campus locations, many of
them staffed by volunteers. Additionally, the University's
presence has a significant economic impact on the region.
|
JUMP
A community service program supported
by the Associated Students, JUMP (Join Us Making Progress)
offers students the opportunity to serve in numerous volunteer
programs and gain experiences relevant to their education.
A few of the programs are Adopt-a-Grandparent
where SSU students regularly visit seniors in convalescent homes;
SOUP (Serving Our Unfed People) where students
serve food to homeless people and build public awareness of
the issues surrounding hunger and homelessness; and Cougar Club,
an after school homework assistance program at Kawana School
in Santa Rosa.
[top]
ECONOMIC IMPACT
|
An
economic research project, based on 2000-2001 fiscal data,
estimated the net revenue impact of Sonoma State
University on the regional economy was almost
$213 million. |
Since the “public investment”
(defined as the State General Fund allocation and student fees)
in the University was $65.9 million that year, we estimated
that for every $1.00 of public investment, the University contributed
$3.22 to the local economy.
The study further estimated that the University had more than
40,000 visitors in 2000-2001. Visitor expenditures
contributed approximately $9.5 million to the regional economy.
| Student
spending contributed approximately $47.5 million
to the local economy in 2000-2001. |
|
With 1,460 people working at the campus, SSU
is a major employer in the region. Due to the expenditures
of the University, its employees and students, another 3,800
jobs were created in the community. Total jobs, both direct
and indirect, attributed to SSU were 5,250.
SUPPORTING THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
The Center for Regional Economic
Analysis, in the School of Business and Economics,
has become a well-respected forecasting service for the North
Bay business community. Its survey data is published periodically
in the Press Democrat.
The annual Economic Outlook Conference, sponsored
by SSU and local businesses, has become a major annual event
for businesses in the region.
OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING
INSTITUTE
An educational program designed
for people 50 years of age and older, LLI
has attracted a loyal following in the community. The courses
are primarily taught by retired faculty from SSU and other
Bay Area institutions. Retired Provost Bernie Goldstein and
retired professors Dan Markwyn and Peggy Donovan-Jeffry are
among the many popular teachers in this growing program. (See
Extended
Education.)
[top]
WINE BUSINESS PROGRAM
|
In the past
five years, the program offered 67 courses
for wine industry professionals. (See School of Business
and Economics.) |
TECHNOLOGY HIGH SCHOOL
In partnership with the
Cotati-Rohnert Park School District, SSU established
a technology high school on campus. Located in the renovated
Ruben Salazar Hall, the technology high school has completed
its third year. With its project-based curriculum, the high
school has received broad support from local technology companies
and grants from philanthropic foundations.
SERVICE LEARNING
To enhance coordination of the
University’s service learning courses, we established
an Office of Community-Based Learning. In
2002-2003, more than 30 service learning courses were offered,
integrating work experiences into the curriculum. For example,
students in one Spanish class translated documents for a wide
variety of organizations, such as Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital,
the Sonoma County Nutrition Task Force, the Jack London Historical
Society, the City of Petaluma, and the Lake County Air Quality
Management District.
Twelve SSU students, all AmeriCorps
members, provided more than 5,400 hours of service in support
of community programs.
[top]
|
|
|
GREENFARM
Greenfarm,
begun in 2001 at Sonoma State, is a summer music and performing
arts academy, providing hands-on, interactive learning
for children from 5-18 years of age, from all backgrounds
and with all levels of experience and talent.
Greenfarm is the arts education component of
the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center and Green Music
Festival. Underwritten by generous donors and organizations,
the academy enrolled 450 students during
the summer of 2002.
GREEN MUSIC FESTIVAL
The
Green Music Festival was founded in the summer of 2000. More
than 34,000 people attended festival events
during the last three summers. The annual Independence Day
on the Green draws an audience of more than 2,000 people.
Jeffrey
Kahane, conductor and music director of the Santa Rosa
Symphony, and a nationally known musician, serves as the artistic
director of the festival. He has brought innovative programming
and attracted up-and-coming new artists.
[top]
IN THE K-12 SCHOOLS
The 3-1-3 program that
SSU and the Cotati-Rohnert Park School District started in
the early 1990s won the prestigious Golden Bell award in 1998
from the California School Boards Association. The 3-1-3 program
is a rigorous year-round curriculum for “at risk”
students with the goal that they will complete high school
and college in seven years.
In 2000 Sonoma State established the
GEAR UP program, receiving a $1.7 million grant over
five years. It started with seventh grade students at Cook
Middle School in Santa Rosa and is continuing with the same
class, now enrolled at Elsie Allen High School.
During the past five years, SSU’s
Upward Bound Program has averaged two or
three high school valedictorians per year in Sonoma County.
In 2002, an Upward Bound Math/Science student won a Gates
Millenium Scholarship. These are all indications of the strong
academic component of these programs for less advantaged youth.
TEACHER CREDENTIALING PROGRAMS
Teacher credentialing programs were started at three off-site
locations: Mendocino Community College, West Contra
Costa County School District, and Vallejo Unified School District.
|
|
|
213,000,000
Dollar
amount of SSU's revenue impact on the regional economy
47,500,000
Dollar amount of SSU student spending
in the local economy in 2000-2001
9,500,000
Number of dollars contributed to local
economy by vistors to SSU
40,000
Number of visitors to SSU in 2000-2001
34,000
Number of patrons who attended events
of the Green Music Festival during its first 3 years
5,400
Total number of hours logged in service-learning
programs by AmeriCorps members
5,250
Total jobs created by SSU directly
and indirectly in Sonoma County
1,460
Number of people who work on the SSU
campus
450
Number of students enrolled in Greenfarm
in 2002
30+
Number of service-learning courses
offered in 2002-2003
2
Number of Sonoma County high school
valedictorians each of the past five years who have been in
SSU's Upward Bound Program
|
|
