When a University Comes to Town

This article is written entirely by a UBCO student as part of the school's Economics and the Media course. It has not been fact-checked by KelownaNow.

When a University comes to town, there is a general tendency to get excited, and reasonably so. Student deals pop up everywhere, the housing market is greeted with a surge of apartment-seekers, and the downtown takes on a life of its own in the wee hours.

It wasn’t long ago that UBC planted its feet in Kelowna, and despite the numerous educational institutions that already existed here, much of the above effects were observed.

Businesses like the handful of climbing and bouldering gyms, the downtown bars and nightclubs, and the growing bunch of craft breweries and food trucks are all frequented by the growing student population. However, universities make cities great in ways more fundamental than a vibrant student social scene.

This trend has a tendency to hold true wherever a University chooses to settle. A report by Bloomberg observed exactly “How Universities Make Cities Great” and found that despite many graduates leaving communities where they studied once they graduate, universities “attract other smart, educated people.”

These folk come to the university with ideas, and when these ideas manifest themselves in research and invention, the benefits are tenfold for the communities that host the university. The ideas leak out into the community as the universities “cross-license technologies to the private sector.”

According to the report, however, there are a myriad of benefits beyond just technological spill-overs: “academics consult for local businesses…grad students, researchers, and professors start local businesses of their own. Companies establish research centers and hire smart people away from their Ph.D. programs or campus jobs. Some universities provide forums for local entrepreneurs, inventors and academics to meet each other, exchange ideas and offer employment.”

Each one of these partnerships can be found in the Okanagan. A number of academics work in partnership with the UBC Wine Research Centre and consult local wineries on industry-leading practices. Simone Castellarin is the Canada Research Chair of in Viticulture (the study and science of grapes) and professor at UBC, where he works “with the goal of producing better fruit high quality and more valuable wine.”

Source: UBC Wine Research Institute

The newly announced UBC Okanagan Media Studies program is, in part, a response to the growing “media and internet technology” sector in Kelowna, which has observed a 16% growth rate in terms of its workforce since 2013. Not only will innovations from the new Media program spillover into the community and the private sector, but the BMS (Bachelor in Media Studies) graduates will contribute to an increasingly educated workforce in the Okanagan.

Source: UBC Faculty of Media Studies

Similarly, the Okanagan Sustainability Institute leads and supports a number of environment and health-related projects in communities all across the Okanagan. The UBC Southern Medical Program, with its Education and Research site attached to KGH, brings medical professionals and new grads to the Okanagan year over year.

Media, health, and internet technology are but a small number of ways UBC has an impacted Kelowna industry. Other programs are surely on the horizon. The new Data Science program will debut this fall, and likely serve to further Kelowna’s bustling tech sector.

The idea that the University will respond to the needs of local industry is an important step for ensuring the sustainability and growth of these industries as Kelowna continues to establish itself as an entrepreneurial city.

2) Numbers Matters for UBCO

It has been roughly 14 years since UBC Okanagan established itself in Kelowna, and with 14,236 degrees conferred, the University is making a name for itself. But is it making a name for Kelowna? If so, are those impacts measurable?

While no extensive measurement of the economic impact has been commissioned, many of the available numbers suggest that the presence of the school has a considerable impact on the community.

According to UBC, the annual economic impact of UBC on the Okanagan is roughly $1.5 billon.

This has come a long way since 2005, when the school shifted from Okanagan University College to UBCO and opened its doors for operations. Since 2005 the campus, situated across from Kelowna’s airport, has gone from 12 to 35 buildings, representing a 92% increase in infrastructure. They have purchased more and more land, growing from 105 to 209 hectares, a 99% increase.

Beyond land and buildings, the University has strived to establish a competitive athletics program at the University that brings an impact of its own. The UBC Okanagan HEAT operated on a $139 million in 2017/18, “up from $39 million in 2005/6.” This budget helps fund the now 12 varsity teams that wear UBCO’s blue and gold colours with pride.

Source: UBC Okanagan Heat

The measurements that do exist came a few years back; a decade is a good time to reflect on the growth of an institution as big as UBCO, and the Regional District of the Central Okanagan and UBC did just that with their collaborative report on the economic impact of the school.

At the ten year mark, in January, 2014, UBCO’s annual economic impact had risen to $1.45 billion (near today’s mark), they paid out $79 million is salaries, $356 million in direct spending in order to operate all educational and additional programs, and another $53 million was spent on student initiatives and programs.

Another notable feat is that, by 2014, on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campus, the universities employed 1% of the workforce in Vancouver and the Central Okanagan.

Additional spending goes to the hundreds of research projects that have had long-term impacts on the region and the country as a whole.

In 2016/17 alone, $19.9 million in research funding went to fund 1,247-research projects; of them, 115 were collaborations with industry partners, government, and non-profit organizations.

Source: UBC Okanagan Campus Plan September 2015

These numbers have slowly risen since inception in 2005, and are expected to rise in the years to come. The ambitious Campus Plan drafted in 2015 is evidence of the growth on the horizon, with notable features including a brand new residence, a “Main Street” along University Way that will turn a road into a strip designated to foot traffic alone, and a ‘Housing Commons Project’ that would function as both a residence, a dining hall, and a common space for study and relaxation.

These projects, and all future infrastructure projects, require investment and collaboration with the community.

3) Students: “We Need Somewhere To Live”

Take one drive up Academy Way behind UBC Okanagan and - if you haven’t in the last year or two – and you will be shocked to see the number of newly erected housing complexes.

A number of developers have responded to a shortage of housing for students who come to the Okanagan to study at UBCO, and as such they have taken advantage of a prime investment opportunity. The complexes are located right up the hill from their classrooms. Mission Group and Veda Living are two of the most prominent developers to have capitalized on the student housing need.

‘U-Seven’ , Source: Mission Group

Mission Group, the developer behind the bulk of the rental units on Academy Way, has just completed ‘U-Seven’, the sixth building (there is no U4 as 4 is an unlucky number in China and would serve to potentially deter Chinese and Chinese-Canadian buyers) in the massive student-targeted housing project now titled ‘U-District’.

Across the street from U-District, competition has responded with a unique off-campus student housing project. VEDA student living is a housing project that compromises 4 buildings, entirely composed of one-bedroom studios that are designed to meet student’s needs, and accompanied by a number of social spaces throughout the buildings.

VEDA studio room, Source: VEDA Living

Space on the hill behind the campus is quickly disappearing with all of these developments underway, but that has not stopped other developers from finding alternative locations across town. The Artium Student Residences advertises themselves as “Kelowna’s Premier All-Inclusive Off-Campus Housing for Student”. Despite being located away from the campus, the Artium buildings have the benefit of situating themselves among a number of amenities near their Highway 33/Dundas location.

Artium rendering, Source: Artium Student Residence

Speaking with a number of students on campus, one can easily infer that a lack of student housing options – particularly those that students would deem affordable – remains to be an issue. Whether the local economy can put on its boots and solve the problem is another issue.

What can be seen thus far is that the growth of the campus, the influx of international students (and buyers) – international students now represent 16% of the campus population while 20% come from outside B.C. and 37% from outside the Okanagan, all of whom need a place to live – has created demand that is hard to satisfy in the short term.

Needless to say, the construction will continue.

4) UBC Okanagan ‘Aspires’ to Integrate with the Community

Despite all of the benefits that UBC Okanagan may bring to Kelowna, it is hard to argue that the removal of the campus from the city itself deters chances for a natural integration of the campus into the community.

The 1,640 students who live on campus have complained about the difficulty of accessing the downtown, getting groceries, and spending a Friday or Saturday night out without the need to take a cab back with a hefty price-tag attached.

A student residence advisor commented that, “students often resort to ordering food online or, if they can afford it, cabbing somewhere… which is fine, but it would great to see more first years have a chance to check out the downtown and see all that there is to offer” in referring to the lack of accessibility to food and entertainment for students living on campus. According to the student, cabs back to the University from downtown cost anywhere from $40 to $50 dollars.

The lack of University-community partnerships and integration was one of many foundations and motivations behind UBC’s plan ‘Aspire’. The report, which represents a vision for the University for the years to come, ran a number of consultations across the community where they noticed “community members had high expectations for the University to have a positive impact on the region.” In fact, the report concluded that the University should narrow in on three fundamental themes moving forward: Research Excellence, Transformative Learning, and Community Engagement; whether the last

Source: UBC Okanagan Plan Aspire

Reportedly, “there were suggestions for program development, research collaboration, economic development initiatives, and a view that the campus could be a catalyst for cultural, economic and social development. There was an eagerness to see the University expand beyond its boundaries with virtual and place-based activities, as well as a desire for more welcoming spaces on campus to foster community involvement and partnerships.”

It cites institutions like the City itself, Interior Health, and the Regional District as key partners with whom a future vision ought to be aligned. It also focuses on things like “Student Employability”, supporting the “Bike Path” initiative, and building an on-campus “social space where community engagement can occur.”

When the same student/residence advisor was questioned about whether Aspire might solve some of the demands of those who reside on campus, he commented that “it has included students in consultations which is good but it still doesn’t solve some of the difficulties we have when it comes to really engaging with the community at a less professional level.”

Some of these professional collaborations have already taken place. The UBC Faculty of Management currently operates a co-working space at the Accelerate Okanagan office in downtown Kelowna, and an “Innovation Library” at the Okanagan Regional Library” downtown Kelowna location, among a number of other partnerships.

Source: UBC Okanagan Library

Despite the obvious barrier that is the distance between the university and the downtown, it will interesting to observe whether or not the community and the university can continue to strengthen their relationship in the years to come, and whether Plan Aspire comes to fruition on the community engagement front.