The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Category: Student news

Categories
Faculty Research Science, technology & society Student news

CPPA Faculty and Students Study Information-Sharing Technologies and Trends

A growing number of UMass faculty, staff and students — including many affiliated with CPPA — are working in partnership with academics from around the globe to establish what they’re calling the Workshop in the Study of Knowledge Commons. The group meets informally to talk about ways to influence the common good through open-access information and media; open-education initiatives; open-source software systems; and open-source hardware.

CPPA participants include Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy); Assistant Professor Martha Fuentes-Bautista (communication and public policy); Dwi Elfrida (MPPA ’13); Kevin Moforte (MPPA ’13); and Diego Canabarro (visiting fellow with the National Center for Digital Government). Other campus participants come from the Du Bois Library and the departments of anthropology, communication and physics. The workshop structure, which emphasizes students and faculty co-producing with no real hierarchy, is in tribute to Schweik’s doctoral advisor, Lin Ostrom, who co-founded the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University.

If you would like to participate in the UMass Workshop on the Study of Knowledge Commons, please email Schweik.

Categories
Environmental policy Grants Science, technology & society Student news

CPPA Team Helps Organize U.N. Environmental Project

A team from the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) helped organize a successful and robust Massachusetts component of a recent international day of dialogue about environmental regulations and policies.

CPPA lecturer Gretchen Gano and students Maria Delfin Auza (MPPA ’13) and Lindie Martin (MPP ’14) spent the summer recruiting nearly 200 applicants from across Massachusetts to fill 100 spots for a guided discussion last month about biodiversity in our region and policies that affect our natural environment. The Massachusetts conversation, held at the Museum of Science in Boston, was one of 34 that took place that day in 25 countries as part of the World Wide Views on Biodiversity project. CPPA is involved thanks to a university Public Service Endowment grant to the Science, Technology and Society Initiative (STS), a CPPA-affiliated endeavor that conducts multidisciplinary research on the intersection of science and technology with today’s social, political and economic issues.

“We are incredibly honored to participate in such a creative project,” said STS Director Jane Fountain. “What’s so innovative about the World Wide Views in Biodiversity project is that it gives everyday people, who are not scientists or environmental experts, a voice in international environmental policymaking discussions.”

Results from all of the sessions around the world have been compiled into a report, which is being released this week at the meeting in Hyderabad, India, of the U.N. Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity. When looked at altogether, the results indicate significant similarities of opinion between countries, across continents and among different age groups.

Participants in Boston and the other three U.S. locations — Denver, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., — agreed with their counterparts around the world: Political action should be taken in order to stop the global decline in biodiversity. Many also thought education at all levels is one of the most important steps to help protect the Earth’s biological diversity.

Despite the general consistency between views in developed and developing countries, a significant difference emerged regarding who should pay for preserving biodiversity. The majority of participants in all of the sessions thought developed countries should pay the main part of costs for preserving biodiversity. But people in developing countries were more likely than those in developed countries to say that developing countries should pay the main part of the cost for preserving biodiversity.

Martin, a senior majoring in environmental conservation and a member of CPPA’s accelerated Master of Public Policy program, said this project has helped strengthen her social science research skills and has given her a sense of personal satisfaction. “I am passionate about helping people and giving our community a voice that can be heard on an international level,” Martin said. “This project tested a fundamental model that has the potential to change the direction of our planet’s future.”

Categories
Environmental policy Science, technology & society Student news

MPP Student Awarded Funding to Participate in Global Biodiversity Research Project

Lindie Martin is acting locally but thinking globally. She has been awarded funds from the university to work this summer as a researcher on the World Wide Views on Biodiversity project, a program affiliated with the United Nations with which the UMass Science, Technology and Society Initiative is involved. Martin is one of only eight rising seniors to receive a stipend through a UMass Public Service Endowment grant to participate this summer in the Commonwealth Honors College’s Community Research Engagement program, which is made possible through the office of the vice chancellor for research and engagement.

The team that Martin will work with this summer is coordinating a day-long discussion to be held in September at the Museum of Science in Boston, where people from across Massachusetts will discuss regional biodiversity issues and related public policy topics. Massachusetts is home to one of 45 sites across the globe participating in the World Wide Views project by convening a day of citizen dialogue on September 15. Results of the conversations in Boston and the other 44 sessions taking place that day will be presented to U.N. delegates who work on biodiversity issues, thereby helping to shape the agenda and deliberations of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity in India this October.

Martin is majoring in environmental science and minoring in natural resource economics, with a concentration in environmental policy. She has been accepted into the new accelerated Master of Public Policy (MPP) program at the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA), which gives her the opportunity to double-count some coursework and earn her graduate degree one year after finishing her bachelor’s. But CPPA is already a home of sorts to Martin; she was a work-study student here during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Her job this summer will be to determine how to recruit and select participants for the September day of dialogue so that the 100 Massachusetts residents chosen will proportionally represent the commonwealth racially, socioeconomically, politically and geographically. Gretchen Gano, the project’s co-director, will mentor Martin. Among the skills she will learn are designing an effective research model and social science data collection. Gano is a lecturer at CPPA and a doctoral candidate in Arizona State University’s Human Dimensions of Science and Technology program.

Martin already has substantial experience in the realms of biodiversity, environmental policy and community engagement. She has worked on a native species restoration project with a land trust in western Massachusetts; served as a mentor for elementary school girls exploring science beyond the classroom; and worked at the Fund for the Public Interest, canvassing communities in support of proposed Massachusetts recycling legislation.

“The chance to work on the World Wide Views project has inspired me to go more in-depth with this kind of citizen engagement in science-related policymaking,” Martin said.

She will meet periodically with other participants in the Community Research Engagement program for seminars and training in community-based research. Martin will also present her research study proposal aims and hypotheses to the group, and will present her study findings to students and faculty at summer’s end.

In addition to Gano and Martin, the team planning for the September day of discussions includes David Sittenfeld, the other project co-director, who manages the Forum Program at the Museum of Science in Boston, and Maria Delfin Auza, a master’s candidate at CPPA.

The Science, Technology and Society Initiative is a CPPA-affiliated endeavor that conducts multidisciplinary research on the intersection of science and technology with today’s social, political and economic issues.

Categories
Events PAGC

PAGC Hosts Screening of Labor Documentary and Q&A with Filmmaker

On April 27, the Policy and Administration Graduate Council (PAGC) will host a screening of “Stitched Together: Workers, Students, and the Movement for Alta Gracia.” Filmmaker Will Delphia, a Hampshire College student, will lead a Q&A session immediately afterward. PAGC will provide free pizza.

Alta Gracia is a unique factory in the Dominican Republic where workers participate in a strong and independent union, receive a living wage of more than three times the local minimum wage, and are afforded dignity and respect on the job. These workers cut and sew fabric into T-shirts, hoodies and other apparel destined for universities and colleges. Alta Gracia is the exception to the norm of unsafe working conditions, poverty wages and repressive work environments at many other garment factories.

The story of Alta Gracia is that of a hard-won victory. The brick-and-mortar factory and many of the workers at Alta Gracia were once a part of another firm called BJ&B, which produced clothing for Nike and other brands. After a long battle, workers won a collective bargaining agreement with the factory owners at BJ&B, only to face mass layoffs and eventually a factory closure. “Stitched Together” explains how workers, conscientious investors and student activists collaborated to bring life to this new and important project.

Delphia, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, is a senior at Hampshire College. This film was independently produced as his senior thesis.

April 27, Gordon Hall 304, noon.

Download a poster for this event.

Categories
Student news

CPPA Students Win Alumni Association Awards

CPPA students Kevin Moforte (MPPA ’13) and Laura Molyneaux (MPP ’13) have both received awards from the UMass Alumni Association recognizing their strong leadership skills and commitment to public service.

Moforte won the CPPA Alumni Association Public Service Award, which provides fellowships to students in the Master of Public Policy and Administration program who have demonstrated a past commitment and future potential for excellence and leadership in public service.

 

Molyneaux, a senior in the UMass Economics Department and a member of the inaugural class of the accelerated Master of Public Policy program, won a Senior Leadership Award. That award recognizes graduating seniors who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the UMass Amherst community. Award recipients have distinguished themselves through important contributions to student organizations and campus jobs, through academic excellence, and through public and community service.

Categories
Environmental policy Student news

CPPA Student Researches Agricultural Potential for Biochar in Western Massachusetts

As the effects of climate change become more severe and the science behind global warming becomes undeniable, academics across many disciplines and professionals from diverse fields are all examining ways to mitigate the negative impacts to Earth and to mankind. Graduate student Nataliya Kulyk is among those, and she’s helping to bridge the gap between academic research, hands-on practice and government regulation.

Kulyk is a second-year student in the Master of Public Policy and Administration (MPPA) program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA). She has been working with professors in the anthropology, public policy, chemistry and economics departments, as well as with staff at the New England Small Farm Institute and members of the Pioneer Valley Biochar Initiative, to explore the potential applications of biochar and its policy implications.

This carbon-rich product is created by slowly heating organic matter such as wood, leaves or manure, with little oxygen. Biochar’s primary function is as a soil additive. The porous charcoal-like substance helps water and nutrients stay in the soil. In addition, biochar sequesters carbon in the earth, which ultimately plays a role in minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

“You’re taking carbon from the atmosphere and putting it into the ground. It’s like coal mining in reverse,” says Richard Stein, an emeritus professor of chemistry at UMass who has been working closely with Kulyk, the Pioneer Valley Biochar Initiative and the New England Small Farm Institute.

Farming cultures have used biochar for centuries, and modern scientists have studied it for decades. Only recently, however, has biochar started receiving widespread attention in the United States and other developed countries as a soil fertility method and as a potentially significant part of mitigating global warming.

Stein admits that the scientific research on biochar is far ahead of the market studies and economic models. Enter Kulyk. For several months now she has been studying local farmers’ awareness of and attitudes toward biochar, in addition to exploring the policy implications of a robust biochar industry. Stein says he hopes that Kulyk and others will be able to provide substantial background research on the economics of producing biochar, as well as the demand from area farmers for the substance. With strong quantifiable data, Stein says, others can start marketing and selling biochar successfully — and producing it sustainably.

Given the eventual potential for large-scale sales, Kulyk warns that a mature biochar industry would need to be closely monitored. “It is crucial for the policy community to take a proactive stance on biochar and provide practitioners with a solid biochar regulatory framework,” says Kulyk.

Her research this semester and beyond could help lay some important foundation stones for this emerging industry.

Categories
CPPA & university administration Student news

Five College Students Invited to Apply for New Accelerated Master of Public Policy Program

The Center for Public for Public Policy and Administration is now accepting applications for its new accelerated Master of Public Policy program. Current Five College seniors are invited to apply for the MPP class of 2013; current juniors may apply for the MPP class of 2014. All admitted senior applicants will be expected to enroll in a new graduate-level seminar, “Public Policy and Law a Decade after 9/11/01: The U.S., Europe and the Middle East,” taught in spring 2012.

The accelerated Master of Public Policy (MPP) for Five College students is an interdisciplinary professional degree that draws on such fields as political science, economics, anthropology, sociology and statistics. Students will learn the policymaking process; identify policy problems and assess potential solutions; and develop appropriate research methods, including quantitative tools. Graduates will be well-positioned for careers in government agencies, advocacy and nongovernmental organizations, as well as other organizations that work on issues such as social justice, the environment, family policy, communications policy, science and technology policy.

This 36-credit program integrates theoretical learning with opportunities for practical applications, giving students a “master’s in relevance.” It is the only accelerated master’s program of its kind in the region and gives students the ability to earn a graduate degree just one year after completing their undergraduate studies. As such, this program is a less expensive option than earning undergraduate and graduate degrees separately.

For more information, including admission requirements, visit www.masspolicy.org/acad_mpp.html or email Satu Zoller, CPPA’s associate director, szoller@pubpol.umass.edu.

The deadline for current Five College seniors to apply for the MPP class of 2013 is January 13, 2012.

The deadline for current Five College juniors to apply for the MPP class of 2014 is March 1, 2012.

Categories
Events Student news

Annual CPPA Capstone Conference To Be Held May 4-5

Seventeen students will present the findings from their capstone research on May 4-5 in Gordon Hall 302-304.  The full conference schedule is available below.

All faculty, students, and local alumni are welcome to attend.

Katie McDermott, associate professor of education and public policy, and Joya Misra, professor of sociology and public policy, led this year’s capstone course.

May 4, 2011
?10:00 Welcome to Capstone Conference! (Advisors in parens)
10:05-10:25     Daryl Lafleur, 2010 United States Decennial Census: Muddling Through Nonresponse Followup Field Training (Jane Fountain, Political Science & CPPA)
10:25-10:45     Margaret Byrne, Bisphenol A in Consumer Products and Food Contact Applications: An Analysis of Laws Governing Exposure to a Low-dose Endocrine Disruptor (Jane Fountain, Political Science & CPPA)
10:45-11:05     Claire McGinnis, A Survey of Massachusetts Municipalities’ Participation in Resident to Government Online Transactions (Jane Fountain, Political Science & CPPA)
11:05-11:10 Break
11:10-11:30     Phoebe Walker, Mandatory Accreditation of Local Health Departments: What Massachusetts can Learn from North Carolina (Dan Gerber, Public Health & Katie McDermott, EPRA & CPPA)
11:30-11:50      Rachel Trafford, A Case Study of the J-PAL Policy Group: Improving the Translation from Research to Policy (Sylvia Brandt, Resource Economics & CPPA)
11:50-12:10      Sarah Keister, Primary Concern: An Analysis of Emergency Department Utilization after Health Insurance Reform in Massachusetts (Sylvia Brandt, Resource Economics & CPPA)
12:10-12:15 Break
12:15-12:35      Luke Johnson, Risky Perceptions and High-Stakes Drinking at UMass Amherst (Sylvia Brandt, Resource Economics & CPPA)
12:35-12:55       Hasansahib Pinjar, Self-reliance, Collective Action, and Cooperation: Perceptions of Farmers and Leaders of Karnataka State Farmers’ Association (KRRS) (Joya Misra, Sociology & CPPA)
12:55-1:15       Christa Drew, Toward Increased Access to Healthy Food for a Springfield Congregation (Lorraine Cordeiro (Nutrition) and Kalidas Shetty (Food Science))
May 5, 2011
9:00-9:20      Elissa Holmes, Return and Reintegration: Experiences of Nepali Women after Leaving Exploitative Labor Situations (Nina Siulic, Legal Studies & Political Science)
9:20-9:40      Bia Kim, Being Defeated by Public Distrust: Scandals in the Nonprofit Environment (Brenda Bushouse, Political Science & CPPA)
9:40-9:45 Break
9:45-10:05      Jordan Garner, Democratic Accountability in Public-Private Partnerships: A case study of the Boston Private Industry Council’s Healthcare Careers Consortium (Brenda Bushouse, Political Science & CPPA)
10:05-10:25      Matthew Friedson, The Implementation of Massachusetts School District Incentives: an Analysis on How to Improve the Nutritional Quality of School Lunches (Katie McDermott, Educational Policy, Research and Administration & CPPA)
10:25-10:30 Break
10:30-10:50     Edward Harvey, Value in Partnerships: A Case Study of the Morningstar Full-Service Community School (Katie McDermott, Educational Policy, Research and Administration & CPPA)
10:50-11:10      Anne Bordieri, Can Connecticut learn from New Jersey’s Growth Management Model of cross-acceptance? (Carol Heim, Economics)
11:10-11:15 Break
11:15-11:35      Shantel Palacio, An Analysis of Financial Aid Trends at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (Michael Ash, Economics & CPPA)
11:35-11:55      Jeffrey Hofer, English-only Education Policy and Latino English Language Learners in Massachusetts (Laura Valdiviezo, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies)
Categories
Environmental policy Events PAGC

Sierra Club’s Mark Kresowik to Discuss Coal Alternatives

Mark Kresowik, Northeast Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, will visit the UMass Amherst campus on Thursday, February 24, to discuss his organization’s efforts to promote alternatives to coal-fired power plants. The talk, which takes place at 1 p.m. in Gordon Hall 302-304, is sponsored by the Policy and Administration Graduate Council (PAGC) of the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA). Drew Grande, Beyond Coal coordinator for Massachusetts, will join Kresowik for the talk.

Kresowik and Grande will discuss the role of coal-fired plants in producing a range of problems nationally and locally. For example, air toxics such as mercury, arsenic, and lead are by-products of coal burning and known threats to public health, contributing to problems ranging from childhood asthma to cancer and birth defects. Coal-powered plants are also estimated to contribute up to 30% of the pollution leading to climate change. In Massachusetts, coal burning plants are the state’s largest air polluters.

An important premise of the Beyond Coal Campaign is that smarter energy solutions also make good economic sense. Kresowik and Grande will talk about these smarter energy solutions, as well as the recent policy successes of the Beyond Coal Campaign.

This talk is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Peter Vickery (pvickery@admin.umass.edu) or go to www.masspolicy.org.

Categories
Faculty Research Student news

Misra, Holmes Explore “Ivory Ceiling of Service Work”

Elissa Holmes, CPPA Master's Student
Joya Misra, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy

According to research published today by Joya Misra, Jennifer Hickes Lundquist, Elissa Holmes, and Stephanie Agiomavritis, female faculty members may hit a glass ceiling as they approach the top of the ivory tower.

The study, published in Academe, was based upon surveys and interviews with 350 faculty members at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It found that both male and female professors a worked similar number of hours, but males spent significantly more time on research than women, which ultimately translated into a shorter path to full professorship. In some cases, “men [spent] in excess of two hundred more hours on their research each year than women… [while women devoted] an hour more a week to teaching, two hours more a week to mentoring and five hours more on service.”  All this confirmed recent scholarship finding women’s academic advancement stalls at the associate professor level.

To create a more balanced pathway to full professorship across the genders, Misra et al. suggested several methods to change the culture of service. Read the full study here.