If student-led groups like Catalysts for Intellectual Capital intend to reach their vision of retaining 20 percent of graduating seniors by the year 2020, events like Building Our Vibrant and Enduring Community will play a valuable role in turning this vision into a reality.
On March 14, students, faculty, alumni and community members will come together to bridge the gap between the local community and Binghamton University, discussing long-term, sustainable opportunities in terms of employment, education, business, housing and social life.
The event’s spark is a trend of international students who have shown a strong interest in relocating to the Binghamton area, but believe their opportunities are severely limited due to the prevalence of short-term employment. However, the ongoing conversation has implications for the entire student body and anyone who calls Binghamton home throughout the school year.
As many students are well aware, Binghamton is notorious for being one of the most depressed, pessimistic and obese cities in the United States. In years past, Binghamton prided itself on a skilled labor force and a prominent middle class, but as manufacturing left in large part with IBM, so too did its prosperity.
What the city does have on its side, though, is a growing student population. Binghamton needs to do everything it can to capitalize on its strengths and reinvent itself with the University.
The employment trajectory and city culture would have to adapt in turn, but by raising the aggregate level of talent, we would be investing in a healthy workforce and moving to restore the sense of promise that has been missing here for far too long.
Building Our Vibrant and Enduring Community addresses this imperative quite well. With the help of co-facilitators, the event will introduce and put in context local economic development efforts and how collaborative community building can enact continuity in student retention.
Student attrition is a natural part of any educational setting, but it is through the institutional authority and staying power of the administration that such recommendations will best be realized. To this end, each committee will have discussion leaders who will help brainstorm connections and resources needed to improve the student experience, along with student recorders who will listen and transcribe participant feedback.
While our college town has much room for improvement, Broome County and the University have recently inspired some exciting thoughts to be put into action. From a logistics standpoint, Google Maps will soon include the public transit system in its directions search engine, which will make the navigation of the current bus schedules noticeably more accommodating.
At the moment, most on and off-campus jobs available to students are temporary positions. One proposal that several alumni in the corporate workforce have endorsed would encourage partnerships with New York City businesses that already have a presence on campus, offering graduates a greater incentive to join local office branches. Morgan Stanley is a perfect example, residing just a few blocks away from State Street.
President Stenger — who currently serves as co-chair of the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) — has made economic development a priority, resulting in significant funding to retain 1,075 jobs and creating another 1,385 jobs in the region. The NY SUNY 2020 Challenge Grant and Southern Tier high-tech incubator are both substantial strides in inspiring opportunity growth for local businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. As stated by Broome County Executive Debbie Preston in an interview with Your News Now, when we bring together the college, government and private sector, the end result will create jobs, especially for former students and young professionals.
But these strategic objectives cannot alone shift the momentum toward revitalization. Truly, it takes the combined input of a student-centered campus to retain the brain power created at the University and to generate the enduring change we seek for a brighter future in the Greater Binghamton area.