Category: Faculty Research

Faculty Research Science, technology & society

Schweik Co-Authors Report on Open-Access Educational Resources

Post author By policy
Post date April 24, 2013

Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy) has co-authored a paper touting a fledgling UMass Amherst effort to reduce student textbook costs; it will appear in the upcoming issue of Research Library Issues.

The article, titled “Open Educational Resources as Learning Materials: Prospects and Strategies for University Libraries,” highlights the Open Education Initiative, a collaboration between University Libraries and the Office of the Provost that started in 2011. To date this project has awarded a handful UMass faculty members modest grants to find alternatives to costly traditional textbooks for one of their courses.

In its first two semesters, the Open Education Initiative awarded $27,000 in grants to 21 instructors, who then sourced free or low-cost open-source materials comparable to those they would have assigned anyway. In the process, professors saved their students $205,000 in textbook costs during those two semesters. University officials estimate that the Open Education Initiative saved each student in each of the affected courses $128.

That figure may seem small when compared with the $6,615 students pay per semester for in-state tuition and fees. But it represents a full 10 percent savings for UMass Amherst students, who, on average, spend $1,168 annually on textbooks and other course materials, according to the Research Library Issues article.

As this UMass project continues, coordinators are straightening out some kinks in the system so that the Open Education Initiative can be a truly helpful tool for all. Specifically, organizers are working to make sure the selected course materials can be accessed by multiple students concurrently and are compatible with mobile devices and traditional computers alike. Those involved with the initiative are also determining how to make open-access course resources available to everyone enrolled in a class, including blind students and others who may not be able to access standard online materials.

In addition to his teaching role, Schweik is associate director of the National Center for Digital Government. The Center for Digital Education last year named him one of the 50 top innovators in education for his use of open-source software in the classroom and as a research focus. Schweik co-authored the Research Library Issues article with Marilyn Billings; Sarah Hutton; Jay Schafer; and Matt Sheridan.

Faculty Research Policy Viewpoints

Ash Co-Authors Study Questioning Rogoff/Reinhart Findings

Post author By policy
Post date April 17, 2013

CPPA faculty member Michael Ash is co-author of a new report that highlights serious flaws in a 2010 study that’s being used to justify various austerity policies in this country and abroad.

The 2010 study, by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University, presented evidence showing a negative relationship between debt and growth rates for countries carrying high debt loads–that is, the authors argued that countries with debt-to-G.D.P. ratios of more than 90% on average experience falling growth rates.

The Reinhart and Rogoff study has been used by many policymakers, including in the U.S., to call for major budget cuts as a strategy for reducing national debt and getting economies back on track following the most recent recession.

But in trying to replicate the Reinhart-Rogoff results, Ash and his UMass Amherst colleagues Thomas Herndon and Bob Pollin found math errors and data omissions that challenge the conclusions of the 2010 study. Indeed, according to Herndon, Ash and Pollin, their analysis shows that “the average real G.D.P. growth rate for countries carrying a public debt-to-G.D.P. ratio of over 90 percent is actually 2.2 percent, not -.1 percent,” as reported by Reinhart and Rogoff.

This new analysis challenges international austerity measures that may, in fact, have contributed to the slow economic recovery and kept many people in the ranks of the unemployed.

The Herndon, Ash and Pollin study has received national and international attention in the media, including the Washington Post, Reuters, the Guardian, and Salon.

The new study is available through the UMass Political Economy Research Institute.

Events Faculty Research

April 17 Party to Recognize New Book Exploring Innovative Participatory Research Methods

Post author By policy
Post date March 25, 2013

The Center for Public Policy and Administration is pleased to host a book launch party to celebrate the publication of Participatory Visual and Digital Methods, by Associate Professor Krista Harper (anthropology and public policy) and Assistant Professor Aline Gubrium (public health). The event will take place on Wednesday, April 17 at 5 p.m. in the Gordon Hall Atrium.

Participatory Visual and Digital Methods is Harper’s second book. In it, she and Gubrium describe how to conduct an ethnographic study that engages subjects by using visual and digital methodologies. This new volume shows how technologies such as PhotoVoice, digital storytelling, geographic information systems, digital archives, and film and video can dramatically change the traditional relationship between academic researchers and the community. Harper and Gubrium argue that by using participatory technology and methods, the research process can be more democratic, inclusive and visually appealing.

Harper is an ethnographer, exploring issues related to the cultural politics of the environment, cities and food systems. She has led projects using participatory digital research methods to study environmental issues in a Hungarian Roma neighborhood, school food programs with youth in western Massachusetts, and civic organizations working on urban gardens and heritage preservation both nationally and globally. Harper is currently co-directing a project funded by the National Science Foundation titled Cultural Heritage in European Societies and Spaces. Her previous book, Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activists and Post-socialist Political Ecology in Hungary, explores environmental issues in 21^st century Europe.

Gubrium uses participatory, digital visual and narrative research methods to study the sexual and reproductive health knowledge and decision-making of marginalized women and youth. She uses digital storytelling to engage research participants — including African-American women living in a southern rural community and Latino/a youth from Holyoke — in reflecting on sexuality, reproductive health and related aspects of lived experience.

CPPA is the hub for interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Its program is the 2011 recipient of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration’s Social Equity Award, created to honor a public administration, affairs or policy program with a comprehensive approach to integrating social equity into its academic and practical work.

Faculty Research

Mednicoff Speaks on Al Jazeera

Post author By policy
Post date March 21, 2013

Assistant Professor David Mednicoff was one of the guests during yesterday’s edition of Inside Scoop, a program on Al Jazeera International. Mednicoff, who is also director of the Middle Eastern Studies program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, spoke about the current timbre of U.S.-Israeli relations and the significance of President Obama’s trip to Israel this week.

Watch the whole program here.

Faculty Research

Harper’s New Book Looks at Participatory Technology Usage in Cultural Studies

Post author By policy
Post date March 18, 2013

Associate Professor Krista Harper (anthropology and public policy) has co-authored a new book that will be published at the end of this month.

Participatory Visual and Digital Methods (Left Coast Press) is Harper’s second book. In it, she and co-author Aline Gubrium, assistant professor of public health, describe how to conduct an ethnographic study that engages subjects by using visual and digital methodologies. This new volume shows how technologies such as PhotoVoice, digital storytelling, geographic information systems, digital archives, and film and video can dramatically change the traditional relationship between academic researchers and the community. Harper and Gubrium argue that by using participatory technology and methods, the research process can be more democratic, inclusive and visually appealing.

Faculty Research Governance

Fountain Identifies Ingredients of Successful Cross-Agency Government Partnerships

Post author By policy
Post date February 12, 2013

Professor Jane Fountain (political science and public policy) has published a new report that spells out the recipe for successful working relationships across government agencies. The report, titled Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration: A Guide for Federal Managers and released by the IBM Center for The Business of Government, indicates that the success of these important partnerships depends on two main ingredients: effective people skills and strong management systems.

According to Fountain’s report, managers of successful cross-agency collaborations “must use interpersonal and team-level skills, while simultaneously working with others to develop rigorous management processes and systems robust enough to be sustained across formal bureaucratic boundaries.” In other words, it’s not enough for managers to work well with people in general; they must also be strategic and intentional about establishing smart processes that can be translated across and applied to many different agencies.

Fountain identifies seven key organizational processes that foster cross-agency collaboration:

Setting significant goals
Specifying roles and responsibilities
Formalizing agreements
Developing shared operations
Obtaining adequate resources
Creating effective communication channels
Adapting through shared learning

This report was done in part as a response to the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010, which mandates increased cross-agency collaboration. Fountain concludes the paper with recommendations to the Office of Budget Management, to improve partnerships between government agencies during President Obama’s second term.

In addition to her role as professor, Fountain directs the National Center for Digital Government (NCDG), housed at the Center for Public Policy and Administration at UMass Amherst. NCDG was created with support from the National Science Foundation to develop research and infrastructure for the emerging field of information technology and governance. CPPA is the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Listen to Fountain talk about her new report on Federal News Radio.

Events Faculty Research Springfield Initiative

Panel Explores Research in and Partnership with City of Springfield

Post author By policy
Post date February 11, 2013

About 60 members of the UMass faculty and staff and the wider Pioneer Valley community attended a panel discussion last week that addressed ways that social scientists from the university are conducting research in and partnering with the city of Springfield, Mass. Two members of the Center for Public Policy and Administration faculty sat on the panel.

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy welcomed the audience, reminding the crowd that UMass has a long history of working with the neighboring towns and communities in mutual partnership. He stressed that the relationship can’t be one way, and that UMass has neither the funds nor the ability to fix widespread problems by itself. But the chancellor also said that he remains optimistic about the work that UMass can do in Springfield.

“As a land grant university, we can’t change everything, but we can be the catalyst,” Subbaswamy said.

That is the idea behind the UMass-Springfield partnership, which was formalized in 2010. At that time, university and city officials agreed to promote collaborations that would lead to the revitalization of Springfield’s economy. The goals of the partnership include positioning the city in the long term as a center for environmentally beneficial green industries; boosting the city’s arts and creative economy; and expanding relevant university teaching and outreach initiatives.

CPPA Researcher Fred Rose, one of last week’s panelists, is directly involved with efforts to revive Springfield’s economy. Rose co-directs the Wellspring Collaborative, an economic development project that aims to strengthen the area’s local economy by channeling the purchasing power of Springfield’s largest employers through new worker-owned businesses in city neighborhoods.

Another panel participant was Assistant Professor Frank Sleegers (landscape architecture and regional planning), who works with the Springfield-based UMass Design Center. The center is a collaborative effort between UMass Extension, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, the Art and Architecture program and the City of Springfield Planning Department. Together, they are working to revitalize the cultural and commercial heart of the city.

The final panelist was Associate Professor Sylvia Brandt (resource economics and public policy), who spoke about childhood asthma in Springfield. Through partnerships with Springfield-area health care facilities, Brandt has worked directly with many families in the city who have children with asthma. She cited that Springfield is the 12^th worst city in the U.S. to live in for asthma sufferers, because manufacturing and traffic-related pollution, among other factors, irritate their sensitive airways.

The panel was hosted by the UMass Institute for Social Science Research. By highlighting the work of three social scientists who are conducting research through public engagement projects in Springfield, the event aimed to address the needs and strengths of the city, and to assess the current state of the UMass-Springfield partnership.

Faculty Honors & Awards Faculty Research Science, technology & society

University Fellowship Allows Harper to Develop New Service-Learning Course

Post author By policy
Post date January 30, 2013

Associate Professor Krista Harper (anthropology and public policy) has been named a 2013 UMass Service-Learning Faculty Fellow. As such, she receives training and support from the university’s Community Engagement and Service-Learning program to develop a new course with a service-learning component.

Harper is creating the course in collaboration with Gretchen Gano, a lecturer with the Center for Public Policy and Administration. The course, called “Participatory Digital and Visual Research,” will be offered for the first time in fall 2013. While its theme will vary each semester, the graduate course will train students to use participatory digital and visual research methods. Students will learn these innovative skills while working on a community-based participatory research project in the local area.

Next fall Harper and Gano plan to have students work with community organizations in Holyoke and Springfield in order to engage everyday people in discussions about how science and technology could be used to improve their local communities. The efforts of this class will be part of a nationwide program wherein citizens of and stakeholders in six different U.S. cities will deliberate together the possible role of nanotechnology in future urban environments.

While Harper is excited about developing the new course, she is thrilled about the ways in which technology is democratizing research. “Digital and visual approaches to participatory research offer opportunities to open up the ethnographic research process and to share research with a diverse array of audiences beyond the academy,” she said. “These methodologies produce rich visual and narrative data guided by participant interests and priorities, putting the methods literally in the hands of the participants themselves.”

Care policy Events Faculty Research

Bushouse to Speak During “Mothers in Academia” Panel

Post author By policy
Post date January 30, 2013

Associate Professor Brenda Bushouse (political science and public policy) will speak on a panel called “Mothers in Academia” on Friday, Feb. 15, in Campus Center Room 803 from 2 to 4 p.m.

The panel is presented by the UMass Center for Teaching and Faculty Development’s Mutual Mentoring Initiative. It will feature contributors to the forthcoming book Mothers in Academia (Columbia University Press, May 2013) who will discuss their experiences with the conditions of working motherhood and academic life.

Panelists include:

Kirsten Isgro, SUNY Plattsburgh
Vanessa Adel, UMass Amherst
Wendy Wilde, UMass Amherst
Allia Matta, CUNY LaGuardia Community College
Brenda Bushouse, UMass Amherst
Mari Castañeda, UMass Amherst, moderator