Ripple Effect

“We’re entering a new stage economically in our relationship with New Orleans,” he added, referring to Tulane’s exponential growth on both the uptown and downtown campuses. “Universities are about intellectual and human capital, and that’s important in this city.”

Fitts presented the report to city leaders and government officials in the fall, detailing Tulane’s contributions to the city and surrounding areas in four categories: operations, capital investments, wage premium and visitor spending.

But the true measure of Tulane’s impact and potential far surpasses dollar figures. The university’s mission of and dedication to education, research and service define its existence and are felt across the region.
 
In fiscal year 2018, Tulane spent almost $200 million on research and development, an 18 percent increase over 2014. Over $100 million of that funding came from outside the local economy, supporting local jobs.

“We’re adding more research capacity, and that produces a multiplier effect throughout the economy,” Norton said. 

“There’s obviously a number of reasons that a healthy Tulane is good for the community,” said Vice President for Government Affairs Sharon Courtney, who worked with ESI on the report. “One is the job creation piece: The more research dollars we bring in from outside the state, the more good jobs we create. The healthier we are, the more it allows us to use our resources within the community. Being a strong institution allows us to help create wealth within the New Orleans community.”
 

ONE OF THE LARGEST EMPLOYERS IN THE STATE
From drawing in research dollars to the state to fostering entrepreneurship and technological innovations, Tulane raises the profile of the city.

The university measures its economic impact every few years, Courtney said, noting the last report was compiled in 2012. 

“What we wanted to do differently this time was to have a deeper dive into our current economic and social impact on the city, state and region and use that as the jumping off point for the plans we have for the future, and how that fits into the future of the city and the state,” she said.

ESI verified Tulane’s data and supplemented it with public data sources, in some cases averaging data over multiple years “to generate an appropriate assessment of typical annual activity,” according to ESI.

Tulane’s operations “support the university’s continuing mission of cultivating the next generation of leaders through scholarship, research and service,” the report’s authors wrote. By employing more than 7,000 people at its various facilities and hospitals, the university is one of the largest employers in the state. Tulane also engages hundreds of local and regional vendors; these operations overall are responsible for more than $2 billion in total output statewide.

When Tulane flourishes, the city and state are strengthened.

Tulane’s operating budget includes building upkeep, student services, hospital expenditures, the university endowment and more, which directly or indirectly affect a variety of industries such as health care, administrative services and real estate. 

On the uptown campus, other upcoming master plan projects include renovations at the Richardson Building — future home of the Carolyn Barber-Pierre Center for Intercultural Life — and Richardson Memorial Hall — home to the School of Architecture. There’s also construction of a new residential community for students and Steven and Jann Paul Hall, the new home of the School of Science and Engineering. Many of these projects will be under construction concurrently and will finish in 2022.

Paul Hall, a four-story, 76,000-square-foot building that will be located between Stanley Thomas Hall and Flower Hall, will include classrooms, labs and collaborative space for students and faculty. 

Kimberly J. Foster, dean of the School of Science and Engineering, is keenly involved in planning for Paul Hall so that it meets the needs of rapidly changing research.

“I am a strong proponent of building spaces that force intersection and interaction, because they enable the moments where discovery and invention occur,” she said.

With the schools of Medicine, Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Social Work located downtown, Tulane is contributing to the resurgence of post–post-Katrina New Orleans. Also situated downtown are the ByWater Institute on the banks of the Mississippi River and the A. B. Freeman School of Business Stewart Center for Executive Education on Howard Avenue. And more Tulane expansion downtown is anticipated in the coming years.

SOCIAL IMPACT
Tulane contributes to the well-being of the city and state.

The university is responsible for some 750,000 volunteer hours over the past five years, thanks to service learning programs, student organizations like CACTUS (Community Action Council of Tulane University Students) and other individual efforts, many of which benefit multiple agencies across New Orleans. 

“Our engagement with 165 different nonprofit agencies gives them the ability to have additional human resources, and it also builds capacity within their organizations. In addition, the benefit for our students — to show them the world outside of the university — connects them to the city in ways that lead many of them to stay here after graduation,” Courtney said.

Shortly after his arrival to Tulane, School of Social Work Dean Patrick Bordnick established a monthly street-level healthcare fair called Elk Place Health Spot near the busy transit intersection of Canal Street and Elk Place. Now in its third year, it brings together about 20 healthcare organizations such as clinics and municipal agencies who set up walk-in dental and medical screenings for passers-by. The school estimates that they reach between 100–150 individuals a month.

Elk Place Health Spot teaches School of Social Work students to interact with the community while delivering critical services to New Orleanians. Activities like these raise the university’s profile while serving the city’s needs.