Cornell officials held a public discussion April 16 regarding the Feb. 8 report, "The Economic Impact on New York State." The report details how Cornell generated an estimated $3.3 billion in economic activity, and directly and indirectly created more than 36,000 jobs in New York state in 2005.

Cornell is also the biggest economic engine for central New York through its employment and spending on research, local goods and services, and construction, the report shows.

The public forum included a panel of university faculty members and administrators, who clarified the reasons behind commissioning the report, which included data on where students come from and where alumni go, the university's local and statewide economic impacts, construction spending, information on the number of visitors to the area that Cornell draws, how much they and students spend while here.

Among other things, the report helps Cornell be accountable for public resources and supplies hard data to the Ithaca and Tompkins County community to create more synergy and better planning for the future, the panelists noted.

"Universities are faced with more requests that they be accountable for public resources they receive in the form of grants and tax dollars," said panelist Susan Christopherson, professor of city and regional planning.

The report's data on Cornell's employment impacts, for example, will help city and regional planners know which skills are required to fit the university's available jobs, said Christopherson. And now that Cornell officials have clear data showing that half the money Cornell spends goes out of state, officials can begin to ask how they can spend more locally.

Cornell can now better address ways to "enhance the economic vitality of Ithaca and Tompkins County, given the region's significance to Cornell's own well-being," said panelist Stephen Golding, executive vice president for finance and administration.

Other data showed that Cornell drew 172,300 visitors to the Tompkins County area, where they spent close to $52 million. Students spent $99 million in the region in 2005. At the same time, the Collegetown neighborhood is listed as a poverty area on demographic maps, because students have low income even though they spend a great deal, Christopherson said. Also, the report showed that in 2005, 4,000 students volunteered over 200,000 hours in Tompkins County, Golding said.

"People really haven't thought about the role that students play in a variety of ways that contribute to overall quality of life," he added.

The other panelists were Ron Seeber, vice provost for land grant affairs, and Joanne DeStefano, vice president for financial affairs and university controller.