SF State's ties to the community

Regardless of who wins today's elections for mayor -- or, if necessary, the Dec. 12th run-off -- it is likely that SF State's considerable ties to the city will continue to grow.

According to Brian Murphy, the executive director of SF State's Urban Institute, those ties go far beyond the fact that a "prodigious percentage" of the college graduates who work, live and make their families in the city are SF State graduates.

"At an institutional level -- not just at the level of individual students who come here -- there are over a hundred programs that the university runs that are based, in effect, in the community," Murphy said.

One example is the Mission Health Center, in which SF State, in conjunction with the San Francisco Unified School district, is helping to coordinate and locate funds for preventive health care for 1,400 high school students and their families. Another example is the Mission Science Workshop, where K-8 students can experience science in a multilingual, hands-on setting -- perhaps sparking a life-long interest leading to a high-tech career.

The Urban Institute helps find federal, state and private money for these projects, generating close to $8.5 million for projects over the past three years, said Murphy.

In addition to soliciting funds, the Urban Institute helps keep SF State in touch with the needs of the city.

"We were founded as an institute out of conversations that happened between (SF State President Robert A. Corrigan), myself and members of the San Francisco community who said, 'We are requesting of the university that you make available the resources of the university to deal with the social and economic problems of the city.'"

There are also advisory boards at many levels receiving input from the city -- such as President Corrigan's advisory board, boards at the school of business and the SFSU Foundation and boards attached to individual programs.

"So, at multiple levels, all over the campus, what you have is ways people are talking to people in the city," said Murphy. The boards attempt to assess the city's needs and determine what programs would help.

"That spans political administrations. In other words, when Art Agnos was mayor, we were involved in very direct conversations," he said, including "how the university could get involved in the multi-service homelessness centers, which were a hallmark of his administration."

In that case, SF State got involved with the planning of the programs and set up internship programs to get students involved.

"With Mr. Jordan as mayor, we've worked extremely closely with the Mayor's office of Children, Youth and their Families, and the Mayor's office of Community Development," he said. "We've asked, 'Where can university services be helpful in program assessment, or in the delivery of new services to underserved communities?'" said Murphy.

In addition to developing and finding funding for urban programs, the institute recently formed San Francisco Together. Its objective, according to a Sept. 27th San Francisco Chronicle editorial by director Hadley Roff, is to "provide a neutral setting, removed from the thunder and heat of politics, in which business, labor, nonprofits, neighborhood groups and others can come together for candid discussions."

In the editorial, Roff asked: "How will the city deal with huge federal cuts? How will its economy grow? What are its responsibilities to the helpless and the have-nots? These are but some of the challenges."

Those challenges should be familiar to Roff, who served as chief of staff for mayors Dianne Feinstein and Jordan, was a deputy mayor under Agnos and was Mayor Joseph Alioto's press secretary.

But even though the university is working with the city, that doesn't mean it's getting involved in politics, said Murphy.

"To engage the Mayor's office is, strangely enough, apolitical. In other words, when you're dealing with Mr. Agnos' initiatives for the homeless, that lives beyond Mr. Agnos' administration. Similarly, many of the men and women who work in the Health Department, in Public Housing, in Community Development, in Children, Youth and their Families ... these are public servants who are not partisan players."

"We've developed over the years relationships with the men and women ... who do the work of public government in the city regardless of who's mayor. Basically, the university has always had good relations with the Mayor's office. We certainly did with Mr. Agnos, we have with Mr. Jordan, and my anticipation would be whomever of the three main candidates wins, we'll have very fine relations with them," Murphy said.

Whoever gets the job, they'll probably be looking for help wherever they can get it. According to estimates by City Controller Ed Harrington, quoted by Roff in a San Francisco Examiner editorial Oct. 15th., state and federal cuts could cost the city $600 million over the next seven years.

According to Roff's editorial, "$58 million in Aid to Dependent Children grants, $243 million in Medicaid and Medi-Cal for the needy, $46 million in Medicare for seniors and $48 million in funds to treat substance abuse and mental illness" is in jeopardy.

"The Housing Authority could lose $20 million; homeless funding is likely to be cut in half from $9 million to $4.5 million, and funding for 2,700 summer jobs next year already has been eliminated," Roff said.

[ Golden Gater Online November 7, 1995 ]

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