Fisher and the Community
The story of Fisher's first 70 years is one of impact. Impact on our students, alumni, and the Rochester region we call home.
A Growing Impact
As one of the area’s anchor institutions, Fisher serves as a significant enterprise and active participant in efforts to strengthen the region’s economy and address community needs.
Impacting Rochester’s Economic Landscape
A major institution in its own right, a 2017 study showed the substantial impact the University has on the community, local businesses, and the New York state higher education footprint.
Fisher employs nearly 1,000 people, with salaries and wages totaling nearly $43.7 million. During the 10-year period between 2005 and 2015, employment at the College grew by 41 percent. And, despite its tax-exempt status, the College directly accounted for nearly $2.1 million in state and local government revenues.
During the 2016 fiscal year, indirect, direct, and multiplier effects of Fisher's spending—on payroll, purchasing, construction, and off-campus spending by students and visitors to the campus—accounted for $120.7 million in regional economic output.
Fisher is also a regular sponsor of construction through the renovation and building of campus facilities. In fact, the University has built one new building each year for the last nine years.
Increasing Rochester’s Human Capital
Seven out of every 100 Monroe County residents who hold a bachelor's or higher degree earned it from Fisher. Proof positive of Fisher’s impact of the knowledge, skill set, and experience of the region's workforce. As of summer 2016, nearly 80 percent of Fisher's alumni resided in New York State, 61 percent right in the greater Rochester area.
The University offers coursework in New York's leading and fastest-growing industries, including computer science, nursing, public health, finance, accounting, and more. In turn, Fisher alumni have emerged as leaders in virtually every sector, in every state, and around the world.
Two new projects are leveraging the University's resources, expertise, and established partnerships to meet the unique needs of the community. The Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing at the Wegmans School of Nursing transforms the quality of care and support for individuals with developmental disabilities regionally, nationally, and internationally by training nursing professionals in field-specific skills and knowledge. The Family Business Initiative capitalizes on the strength and reputation of Fisher's School of Business to serve as a resource for family businesses in Western New York and beyond.
Enriching the Community
Since its founding, St. John Fisher University has been committed to serving and strengthening Rochester-area communities and that commitment is embedded in everything we do.
Through scholarships based on service and student organizations dedicated to the community, Fisher students spend nearly 400,000 hours each academic year volunteering in schools, nonprofits, agencies, and organizations. Just one example: The University's most beloved tradition, the Teddi Dance for Love, a 24-hour dance marathon that attracts close to 500 dancers each year, has raised more than $1 million for Camp Good Days and Special Times.
In the classroom, dozens of Fisher courses are taught with a service-learning component, combining in-seat learning with hands-on experience in the community. Service-learning courses follow a reciprocal model, meaning the curriculum results in benefits for the students and community partners.
Fisher's Center for Community Engagement provides programs and services aimed at strengthening non-profit institutions and organizations in Rochester, with a particular focus on board leadership and management in small to medium-sized organizations.
News and Events
A $1 million gift from Jack ’73 and Donna DePeters will create an interactive space designed specifically for education majors in the newly modernized Lavery Library, expected to be complete in summer 2025.
During a ceremony held on Saturday, Oct. 19, members of the St. John Fisher University community gathered to celebrate 25 years of Dugan Yard, cut the ribbon on the newly opened Player Development Center, and recognize Kevin ’70 and Peggy Dugan, whose decades of philanthropy turned the area from a single baseball field in the early 2000s to the world-class complex it has become today.
A new endowed scholarship will support graduates of Rochester’s Catholic high schools as they pursue higher education at St. John Fisher University.
A newly endowed scholarship fund at St. John Fisher University will benefit undergraduate students in the School of Business, thanks to the generosity of alumnus and University Trustee Matt Rowe ’90.
With its repository of research journals, teeming stacks of books, and archival materials, Lavery Library has served the St. John Fisher University for nearly 50 years, helping countless students, faculty, and staff accomplish their scholarly pursuits. Now, the University has begun work on a multimillion-dollar modernization and renovation to the library, the largest capital project both in scope and investment in the institution’s history.
A $2.5 million gift to St. John Fisher University will ensure that its President’s Residence will continue to remain a gathering place for engagement with students, alumni, donors, and community members for many years to come.
The field of artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, with some of the early work dating back to the 1950s. Largely the stuff of sci-fi movies and TV shows throughout the late 20th century, AI now is embedded in our daily lives in things like Amazon and Netflix recommendations, face ID on cell phones, and banking alerts based on prior purchases, just to name a few examples.
Let’s Move Fisher Forward
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