Management Assignment: Impact Of Establishing A New University

Question

Task:
Write a management assignment analysing the impacts of establishing a new university in a large city. Use this analysis to recommend ways of maximising the benefits and/or minimising the challenges of establishing a new university in a large city.

You must use the following source in your answer:

Olander, S., 2007. Stakeholder impact analysis in construction project management. Construction management and economics. [Online] 25 (3), pp.277–287.

The Analysis section should be split into 3 subsections, where you consider the viewpoints of various stakeholders. The first subsection should cover a perspective relating to your degree (either The Economic Impacts, The Health Impacts or The Impacts on the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Industries). The other perspectives should be The Environmental Impacts and The Social Impacts.

Answer

Executive Summary

The University is a centre of education, where knowledge, learning and skill development prospers. The present management assignment is focused on the establishment of a new university that is a very big challenge itself. The university setup will require a huge capital investment which is an economic aspect of the project. The project of new university establishment will have certain positive economic impacts like job creation, revenue generation, etc. On the other hand, the university which would be set up in some city on a specific plot of land, will have its environmental impacts. The university will have educated minds behind it which would ensure that the carbon footprints are reduced, the building design is sustainable and the construction of the university leaves least negative impact on the environment. The society of which the university will be a part would be highly benefitted by the establishment of the new university. This is because the university would help in reducing crimes, increasing awareness regarding health and safety, increase educational opportunities, etc. The paper discusses these economic, environmental and social impacts of establishing the new university. The paper also ends with a few recommendations for increasing the benefit of this project and reducing its challenges.

Introduction

A university is defined as an institution that provides higher education mostly comprising of liberal science as well as arts college and professional schools. The basic difference that exists between a university and a college is that a university is mostly larger in size with wider curriculum providing professional degrees to graduate students. Through admission in universities, it becomes easier for students to acquire knowledge as well as skills. A university aims to be the guardian of reason for a student thus providing him or her with a philosophical openness. A university aims to preserve pure investigation from leading public views. In ancient times, Universities did not exist in the West but had their presence in Africa as well as Asia. Going to a university involves the prospect in enjoying autonomy in comparison to working life. On the other hand, going to a university helps to accomplish an entrepreneurial outlook thus making it easier to accomplish higher order reasoning skills. The stakeholders who are involved in a university involves students, alumni, community groups, staff as well as government. The internal stakeholders in a university involves students and personnel. On the other hand, the external stakeholder includes customers as well as partners. The report will provide an analysis regarding the students having a degree that will be related to healthcare. On the other hand, the economic impacts will also be considered for individuals studying a degree. The report will show the way a university provides facilities for hospitality purposes as well as the environmental impacts that are related to students studying a degree. On the other hand, the report will reflect on the social impacts including raised education prospects. The report will also include three to four recommendations that will suggest the way in maximising a benefit along with minimising a challenge.

Analysis

Economic Impact

When a new university is established at a new location, it brings along a lot of benefits to the economy at large. The positive economic impacts of establishing a new university would include creation of new job opportunities, generate better revenue earning opportunities, etc. However, establishing a new university is a big project and involves huge cost, which is an economic impact.

Job Creation: When a new university is established, it holds the potential of creating new job opportunities. The university is an educational institute which educates several students. To impart this education, conduct classes and offer all round facilities to the university students, there is a need for recruiting various individuals for different job roles at the university. The first and most important job that is created by the establishment of a new university is the job of teachers, lecturers, professors, that is the team of faculty members who would be delivering lessons and taking classes for different courses offered at the university (Yusoff, Noh and Isa, 2021). Thus, many individuals who are experienced or aspiring to teach at university level would get jobs. Related to the academics, there are other jobs like readers, senior research fellows, research manager, research associate, etc. The other jobs would be created in the accounts department, general stores, library, infirmary/ hospital, maintenance department as well as hostels (Yusoff, Noh and Isa, 2021). Therefore, many individuals who fit in these job roles would get a job. Besides, the students pursue various courses at the university. Once they complete these courses, they get jobs. Thus, the university creates job opportunities for those who are pursuing university level education.

Revenue Generation: The establishment of the university will also increase the revenue generating options. The university earns its revenue from various revenue streams. These revenue sources include tuition fees, gifts, endowments, athletics and grants. The university can charge its students tuition fees and admission fees for the course enrolment. The international students or those who are willing to avail the hostel facility can be charged food for accommodation and food. The revenue is earned from canteens, stores and hospitals (Bound et al, 2019).

Cost Incurred: For establishing a new university, a huge amount of capital is required. Thus, the founders incur huge cost. The maximum amount of money is required for buying the plot of land on which the university will be built (Xue et al, 2020). Besides, the other aspects which demand investment includes hiring the faculty members and other staff, setting up laboratories, library, machine installation, etc. Thus, huge cost is incurred in setting up the infrastructural backbone of the university.

Environmental Impact

Impacts on the city's carbon footprint: As per Müller et al (2020), the carbon footprints refer to the total emissions of greenhouse gases which is caused by persons, organizations, events, activities, etc. These emissions are expressed as CO2 equivalent. The establishment of a university would result in changes in the level of carbon footprint of the region/ city. The university that would be established will be acting as an innovation driver. Thus, the formation of this new university could lead the city towards a great transformation and help it move towards carbon-neutrality. The university could also aim at achieving the zero carbon emission target.

? Opportunities for sustainable building and design: The University will be an educational centre fostering sustainability and environmental protection. The sustainable university buildings will be designed in such a way so that it decreases the overall adverse effect on the environment. During the construction of the buildings as well as after the construction, the human health and environment should not be impacted negatively. The sustainable buildings of the university would facilitate preserving the natural resources and protecting them. The sustainable buildings and an entirely environment friendly university campus can be created. This would be possible if the existing buildings over the selected plot or the brownfield sites are utilised. This would mean that the sites where redevelopment is possible would be put to use by the university. This will prevent resource wastage and reduce environmental degradation (Minelgait? and Liobikien?, 2019). The university campus' construction would be a long process involving huge costs and long time. The aim of the university should be to minimise the pollution caused by the harmful ground gases. The advantage of having sustainable building designs is that it would maximise the durability and further increase the replacement intervals. The university having sustainability in mind, would facilitate generation of local employment. The construction effect would also be minimised through sustainable designing. The consumption of water would be reduced through sustainable project planning for the university. The university can shift to renewable energy sources, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.

? Environmental impacts of any construction work that is needed: The construction project of the university would attract various stakeholders (Olander, 2007). These stakeholders will have their expectations from the project. However, in meeting the needs of the stakeholders, the environment should not be harmed. The construction project requires natural resources. However, keeping the environmental needs in mind, the university should not deplete excessive resources. The transportation process, extraction of materials, etc. should follow a sustainable and eco-friendly pattern.

Social Impact

The social impact involves changes to the demographic of the area, Increased education opportunities as well as Issues related to crime and health and safety. The establishment of a new university in a large area alters the demographic landscape for pupils applying to the university. There are several universities that uses a system to predict what a college applicant will look like after 18 years. With changes to the demographic of the area, it becomes imperative for faculty members to encounter more pupils who do not possess the adequate research for university. In many universities, students are able to go through the admission by memorising concepts. However, it is expected that the students will have the aptitude to develop enhanced learning skills. It is imperative to note that existing subjects in every discipline requires to be altered to account due to changing demographics of students. Changing demographics influence the outlines of group individualities that structure several contemporary debates (Carl and Menter, 2021). The establishment of a university in a large city will raise the overall educational quality in that city. It improves the teaching system thus providing timely as well as relevant education to students. The overall teaching method gets developed. On the other hand, the establishment of universities helps the students to get more information on how to deal with crimes thus improving safety. The recent outbreak of coronavirus has increased the importance of universities to educate students regarding health as well as safety. On the other hand, crime rates are also increasing that requires to be addressed through education.

Conclusion

A University is a very significant part of the economy. It leads to an overall development of the region where it is set up. The university not only fosters education, but also positively impacts many other aspects of the economy or society at large. It can be concluded that opening or establishing a new university has several impacts on the economy, the environment and the society. The economic impacts include creation of job opportunities, opening up new revenue earning gateways and incurring costs for establishment. The environment impact includes reducing the carbon footprints, designing the university in a sustainable manner and reducing the harmful effects of construction. The social impact includes change in the demographic area, increase in the educational opportunities and reducing the incidence of crime in the society and raising the health and safety levels across the region.

Recommendations

There are a few recommendations for improving the economic, environmental and social impacts of the university. These include:

Going green: The University should aim at developing eco-friendly strategies. These would include planting trees, having a farm land allotted to the students for their own cultivation, using renewable energy sources, implementing rainwater harvesting and sustainable building designing.

Reduce the cost: The costs of building the university could be reduced by utilising the brownfield sites or existing buildings. The part-time faculty members could be recruited first. Once the university attracts sufficient students, the permanent faculty members could be hired. The university should not compromise with the infrastructural facilities which the students require. However, the university in its initial days should try to curtail their excess expenditure.

Improving educational and job opportunities: The University is a centre for education and knowledge. The students who were unable to get admitted in the existing universities can now be admitted to the newly established university. Therefore, the new university should open its gates to take in students from various backgrounds. This would foster educational enrichment of the students and society at large. This new university should also aim at bringing in companies who offer jobs to the university pass-outs so that it creates new job opportunities. This would lead to job creation. Besides, this would also improve the employment condition across the economy.

Social enlightenment: The University as an educational institute caters to various needs of the society. For instance, as discussed in the analysis section the university would help in reducing the crime in the society. To enhance this social impact, the university can call for rallies and walks in support of social causes. This would improve the mind-set of the students and the people across the society. When the students march in support of issues like, ‘prevent racial discrimination', ‘accept gay marriages', ‘fight against HIV/ AIDS', etc. This widens their perspective about these issues. The society also starts becoming accepting towards these issues. The students of the university can also increase awareness about health and safety by organizing medical camps, free health check-ups, etc.

Reference List

Bound, J., Braga, B., Khanna, G. and Turner, S., 2019. Public universities: The supply side of building a skilled workforce.RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences,5(5), pp.43-66.

Carl, J. and Menter, M., 2021. The social impact of universities: assessing the effects of the three university missions on social engagement.Studies in Higher Education,46(5), pp.965-976.

Minelgait?, A. and Liobikien?, G., 2019. Waste problem in European Union and its influence on waste management behaviours.Management assignment Science of the Total Environment,667, pp.86-93.

Müller, L.J., Kätelhön, A., Bringezu, S., McCoy, S., Suh, S., Edwards, R., Sick, V., Kaiser, S., Cuéllar-Franca, R., El Khamlichi, A. and Lee, J.H., 2020. The carbon footprint of the carbon feedstock CO 2.Energy & Environmental Science,13(9), pp.2979-2992.

Olander, S., 2007. Stakeholder impact analysis in construction project management.Construction management and economics,25(3), pp.277-287.

Xue, Z., Liu, H., Zhang, Q., Wang, J., Fan, J. and Zhou, X., 2020. The impact assessment of campus buildings based on a life cycle assessment–life cycle cost integrated model.Sustainability,12(1), p.294.

Yusoff, S., Noh, N.H.M. and Isa, N., 2021, November. University Students' Readiness for Job Opportunities in Big Data Analytics. InJournal of Physics: Conference Series(Vol. 2084, No. 1, p. 012026). IOP Publishing.