Beyond Auburn Magazine

Auburn University and its alumni make a $5.6 billion economic contribution to the state of Alabama, including creating nearly 27,000 jobs in addition to university employment, according to a new study.

“Auburn is a critical economic engine that benefits all Alabamians,” Interim President Jay Gogue said. “We are establishing partnerships that provide students with learning experiences, while companies, organizations and communities benefit from Auburn’s renowned research and outreach.”

The study notes Auburn’s longtime support for established and emerging industries, its extension presence across the state, research enterprise, outreach and faculty engagement as major assets for Alabama communities.

Researchers based the study on 2018-2019 statistical and financial data from Auburn’s main campus, Auburn University at Montgomery, the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, which has offices in all 67 counties. Economic Research Services Inc. in Montgomery and Auburn’s Division of University Outreach conducted the study.

The major components of Auburn’s $5.6 billion impact are:

• An earning capacity of more than $3.4 billion by Auburn graduates in Alabama.
• A direct economic impact of $2.2 billion, representing Auburn’s in-state expenditures, such as payroll and purchases, student spending on local housing and food, construction and spending by visitors to university events. Auburn’s direct impact returned to the state’s economy more than eight times its state appropriation, or an $8.5 return for each dollar appropriated.
• Auburn provides the primary academic support for a number of major state industries, businesses, and occupations through its wide range of degree programs, professional education and training.
• Auburn supports development of innovative research and technologies, industry collaboration and entrepreneurship that promote the economy of the state as well as the economic and security interests of the nation as a whole.
• Auburn’s impact is responsible for creating 26,623 jobs in Alabama in addition to university employment.

The $5.6 billion economic contribution marks a 4 percent increase from a 2017 study conducted by University Outreach, which has led the studies since 1996.

“This study confirms again what Alabamians already know about Auburn, that the university greatly contributes to the quality of life in Alabama,” said Royrickers Cook, vice president for University Outreach. “The university supports both emerging and traditional industries and provides services for the well-being of our citizens.”

In building a robust record of innovative teaching, meaningful scholarship and impactful service, this Auburn professor is also building community, lives and hopeful aspirations. Scott Kramer, the Atlanta Alumni Professor, McWhorter School of Building Science, College of Architecture, Design and Construction, is the 2019 recipient of the Auburn University Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach.

One of Auburn’s highest university recognitions, the Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach honors the engagement of exemplary faculty members and demonstrates the tremendous impact Auburn’s outreach has on our community, state, nation and beyond. Kramer is recognized for his international design-build service learning projects in Ecuador, Haiti and Panama. These projects provide hands-on, immersive learning experiences for students while serving economically under resourced communities in building housing, community centers, churches, medical centers and schools, all built with local materials and construction techniques.

“Scott Kramer has an exemplary record of engagement promoting student learning, research scholarship and community outreach on an international level,” said Royrickers Cook, vice president for University Outreach at Auburn. “He is highly respected by his fellow faculty and students, and his work has been honored across the academy. Most importantly, his engagement is making a real and sustained impact in the challenged communities touched by these extraordinary projects.”

While the College of Architecture, Design and Construction’s nationally-recognized building science program has long focused on hands-on and immersive learning, Dean Vini Nathan credits the “full expression” of service-learning in the curricula to Kramer’s “focused leadership, dedicated participation and enlightened mentorship.” Nathan also said, “Dr. Kramer has the breadth and depth of substantive knowledge, pedagogical experience and professional expertise to undertake these exacting projects, to hold his students to high standards and to produce remarkable learning outcomes.”

Kramer earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Auburn in 1982 and 1983. He received his doctorate in learning design and technology from Purdue University in 2003. After almost a decade as an engineer and project manager in private construction firms, Kramer began his teaching career as a visiting assistant professor at Ferris State University in Michigan before coming to Auburn as an assistant professor in 1993.

During his tenure at Auburn, Kramer’s innovative engagement has been recognized for his powerful integration of teaching, research and outreach. His honors include the International Innovation Award from the Decision Sciences Institute, the Associated Schools of Construction National Teaching Award, the McWhorter School of Building Science Faculty Excellence Service Learning Award and more. In 2015, Kramer received the Atlanta Building Science Alumni Endowed Professorship, recognizing his strong commitment to students and the provision of high quality instruction, research and service.

While providing learning experiences for his students, Kramer’s projects serve economically under-resourced communities by building housing, community centers, churches, medical centers and schools, using local materials and construction techniques.

“The diverse projects that are designed and built through Dr. Kramer’s service learning projects span different aspects of the building construction discipline,” said Nathan. “[This demands] a keen understanding of local materials, labor practices, cultural norms, etc.” These projects help develop students’ critical thinking skills, ability to relate to local contexts and ability to connect theory to practice in a variety of environments.

In addition to his own students, Kramer has recruited Auburn colleagues from other disciplines on campus, thus expanding the scope of the engagement’s impact. For example, projects in Haiti included graphic design faculty and students who designed public health posters for a medical clinic and a team from industrial design who designed and fabricated a sun shade for the clinic’s outdoor waiting area.

Since 2010, Kramer and SIFAT, or Servants in Faith and Technology, a non-profit focused on utilizing “appropriate technology” in helping poor communities worldwide, have partnered in 13 classes and four different construction projects in Quito, Ecuador. These projects have engaged more than 150 building science students. Tom Corson, SIFAT executive director, knows the impact of Kramer’s work.

“I have seen firsthand over the years how the building science students serve the communities in Quito by helping the Ecuadorians address their own needs in the areas of building design and the construction of daycare centers,” explains Corson. “The students are not only able to participate in hands-on construction trades (concrete, rebar, brick, etc.) with the Ecuadorians, but the experience also helps broaden their horizons to become global citizens and become aware of other cultures,” said Corson. “[Kramer]has been a role model to colleagues and students.”

Kramer’s work with SIFAT produces a real human impact on a significant scale.

“There is not room...to list all of the Quito lives that have been impacted by the building science students and Dr. Kramer over the past nine years,” said Corson. “At a minimum, 200-350 children at each of the four after-school programs are certainly better in countless ways.” For Corson, himself well experienced in international engagement, Kramer’s programs have “exceeded all aspects of the definition of an international service learning class.”

Kramer’s engagement and scholarly reach extends to other nations, ranging from Panama to Pakistan. His innovative techniques helped the Gnobe people of Panama adapt a tube-steel substitute for traditional bamboo to build houses with other locally sustainable materials. As a result of his vast experience in design and construction in developing countries, Kramer was invited to be a keynote speaker at an international conference in Lahore, Pakistan.

Stan Buckley, executive director of But God Ministries, another frequent Kramer partner, said, “Dr. Kramer has played a huge role in much of our work.” With But God Ministries, Kramer led the design and construction of a new medical complex in the mountainous village of Thoman, Haiti. The project consists of living quarters for visiting volunteers, medical and dental clinics and a pharmacy. “Dr. Kramer’s work with our organization was a perfect example of blending teaching, research and outreach in a creative project that resulted in the actual construction of buildings in Haiti.”

The impact of Kramer’s integrative engagement is particularly meaningful to his students.

“Dr. Kramer is a role model to not only me, but also other students and colleagues,” says former student Kelley O’Reilly, a project manager with Layton Construction in Mobile, Alabama. Kramer mentored O’Reilly in a rigorous international undergraduate research thesis project, which earned the 2015 Building Science Outstanding Senior award for the student.

“Dr. Kramer has opened up opportunities to countless students through his innovative teaching methods in service learning and study abroad classes,” said O’Reilly. “I hope other students will benefit from his love of teaching, research and outreach.”

Despite the steady stream of accolades, awards and honors that he has received for his teaching, research, scholarship and service, Kramer is not distracted from his mission of engagement, said Dean Nathan. “Each recognition drives him to delve deeper into his core mission as a transformative change agent in his numerous classrooms in Auburn and communities in different parts of the world.”

Truly, “transformative change agent” is a fitting description for Kramer, whose dedicated and passionate engagement with students, colleagues and community alike is indeed a model of excellence in faculty outreach.