Cole Jones<\/p>\n
Background of the Problem<\/p>\n
Governors State University (GSU) was founded in 1969, a public university in a south suburban city, University Park, Illinois. Governors State is just 30 miles south of Chicago- a train ride on the Metra will take one right to the outskirts of the University. But the economic growth near the school leans more toward industrial economic growth rather than commercial and residential economic development, which doesn\u2019t give access to many things for students to do off campus. In September 2020, Reggie Greenwood, a director of the Governors State University Supply Chain Innovation Center and Business Incubator (SCIBI), said that the university was at the center of a world-class Logistics Cluster (Governors State University, 2020). Many of the new economic developments around GSU are based in the logistics industry and University Park is on its way to creating a world-class logistic cluster (2020). At the same time, the university supply chain innovation center and business incubator influence the university\u2019s ability to invigorate economic growth in the area through building relations between the university staff and students with public and private industrial entities in the University Park economy, increasing financial revenue for the village and driving out the commercial and residential economic growth portion of the town, leading to tax detriments that will increase the tax liabilities for residents, small businesses, and Governors State University. There is an increase in industrial parks and companies moving and building in University Park creating revenue, but negatively affecting the residents- and students of the University. While this is a plus in terms of boosting the city\u2019s economy, it\u2019s a drawback for the community- students and residents alike. It doesn\u2019t allow for the local community to grow together as a typical college town does. Think of a typical college town- Friday night football- a staple, University events are open to the community, and more. This doesn\u2019t mimic University Park whatsoever. University Park is a logistics cluster with a university in the same town. It doesn\u2019t entice students to want to come to Governors State University.<\/p>\n
Definition of Terms<\/p>\n
Business Incubator- An organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses.<\/p>\n
Commercial- Concerned with or engaged in commerce.<\/p>\n
Donor Funding- Funding that comes from donors (alumni or people with a connection to the University) to help subsidize student funding.<\/p>\n
Encompassing- To fully include; To come full circle.<\/p>\n
Enrollment (University Enrollment)- The number enrolled at a college or university.<\/p>\n
Industrial Economy- Branch of an economy that produces a closely-related set of raw materials, goods, or services.<\/p>\n
Logistics- Commercial activity of transporting goods to customers.<\/p>\n
Logistics Cluster- A cluster or group of logistics properties, often referred to as a logistics park.<\/p>\n
Residential- Occupied by private houses.<\/p>\n
Perception- A mental perception.<\/p>\n
Statement Of Problem<\/p>\n
In 2020, University Park, IL, had a population of seven thousand people, with an average median age group of 30-year-olds occupying the residential property (University Park Demographics, 2022). The average median household income was around sixty-thousand dollars, and the village census data showed that most of the residents living in University Park, IL, work elsewhere. At the same time, there are industrial parks and acres of vacant land surrounding the village of University Park public 4-year university Governors State University. There isn\u2019t much economic retail growth to influence positive University community growth. <\/p>\n
Admission data for Governors State University shows that enrollment has declined at the school (Governors State University, 2020). The University has a Dual Degree Program which created a partnership between the University and neighboring community colleges which increased student enrollment. This program is also a scholarship that picks up the student’s balance after their financial aid is applied (Dual Degree Program, n.d.). The school\u2019s efforts to continue building relationships have resulted in collaborating with industrial partners regarding marketing and promotional strategies to maintain enrollment stability (Governors State University, 2020). The University is constantly battling with other institutions regarding enrollment statuses and recruiting new students. There is an increase in industrial parks but no growth in creating retail spaces that would benefit the direct GSU community. Restaurants would offer more to our students with limited access to only one cafe on campus. Coffee houses like Starbucks would offer a study and social hangout without being on campus. Bars would offer socialization for our students and work events, allowing for social growth and increasing University satisfaction, while partnering with small businesses. There are numberless opportunities available to the University- but they need to be utilized in order to increase student satisfaction. The problem will continue to grow as schools increase access to higher education at a more affordable rate and students have more competitive financial aid offers to choose from. This leaves the University in an uncomfortable spot at a time when more students are utilizing virtual education, as Governors State doesn\u2019t offer that community feeling. It leaves students questioning the difference between a virtual college and a University that doesn\u2019t offer a local community built into the local economy. <\/p>\n
Purpose Statement <\/p>\n
The study aims at exploring the general perception of Governors State University students and residents on the lack of economic growth surrounding the university. Analyzing the attitudes and perceptions of the lack of community resources regarding commercial spaces and the increase in industrial business growth in the area allows for a better understanding of people’s perceptions. This may help the University to get real students’ feelings rather than relying solely on consultation firms’ feedback. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, people want to feel close to others again, they don\u2019t just want the virtual world anymore. People are ready to get back out there and engage. This will be an exploratory descriptive study aiming to clarify: what our student’s perceptions are towards the rising industrial complexes. By doing so, we can make our students\u2019 education fully encompassing. An education that doesn\u2019t end in the classroom but extends to the community. The University\u2019s future challenges due to the expanding industrial complexes include declining student enrollment, declining student satisfaction, and future reduction of donor funding for the school. The study uses survey research to analyze data on GSU students’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of the lack of resources in the local community.<\/p>\n
Research Question<\/p>\n
With this research study exploring students\u2019 perceptions towards the ever-increasing logistics parks near Governors State University, the main question is what are the effects of stagnant economic growth in University Park on Governors State University? <\/p>\n
The research questions that this study aims to answer are: <\/p>\n
RQ 1: What are Governors State University students\u2019 perceptions of the increase in logistics parks and lack of commercial locations available to the community?<\/p>\n
RQ 2: What are Governors State University students\u2019 concerns regarding the local community?<\/p>\n
Theoretical Framework <\/p>\n
We will use a quantitative study to create a survey containing questions for Governors State University students regarding the lack of commercial economic development growth surrounding the University. This survey research aims to describe and explain commonly experienced characteristics and a lack of student satisfaction. This approach will allow us to quickly gain familiar details about students’ perceptions and the lack of commercial economic growth. This will prepare the University for a more focused, in-depth study. The survey will help to identify a specific group of individuals to gather and collect the required data. We will also use student <\/p>\n
Literature Review<\/p>\n
How different businesses affect the local economy is important knowledge for communities to be aware of. Colleges and universities bring wide amounts of business to their local towns. People commonly refer to communities with big state universities as \u201ccollege towns\u201d because the local economy would not be as big without the presence of the university. While there is a vast amount of literature on human capital and growth, there is little research on the economic impact of universities themselves. <\/p>\n
One research study called, The Economic Impact of Universities: Evidence from Across the Globe by Anna Valero and John Van Reenen, that embarks on universities in general economic impact to the economy. They use World Higher Education Database (WHED) that contains the location of universities in 1,500 regions across 78 countries in the period since World War II (when consistent sub-national economic data are available). It focuses on how university formation is correlated with future economic growth. They study this by analyzing the average growth rate of universities, the difference in university quality, lagged growth in numbers of universities, lagged growth in college shares, lagged level of college share, legged level of GDP per capita, lagged level of country GDP per capita, lagged level of population, and lagged level of growth in population. These statistics provide great ways to study how economic growth positively correlates with university growth and innovation around the globe. Other studies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cole Jones Background of the Problem Governors State University (GSU) was founded in 1969, a public university in a south suburban city, University Park, Illinois. Governors State is just 30 miles south of Chicago- a train ride on the Metra will take one right to the outskirts of the University. But the economic growth near […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-107312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-paper-writing","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}