Master of Public Policy

UPCOMING EVENTS

MPP Essay Defense, Ryan Young, "Income Inequality and Public Expenditure on Non-Compulsory Education in 18 European Countries," May 22 (Tuesday), 304 Fairbanks Hall, 12:00-2:00.

MPP Essay Defense, Carlos Algara, "Irrational Fear or Cause for Concern? The Effects of Hispanic Immigration on Crime Rates in Tucson, Arizona," May 22 (Tuesday), MU 208 (LaRaza Room), 2:00 to 4:00.

MPP Essay Defense, Becky Rubenstrunk, "Assessing Contention: Nuclear Waste Management Activism in the U.S. and Canada," May 23 (Wednesday), 1420 Valley Library, 10:00 to 12:00.

MPP Essay Defense, Kelly Dickinson, "Procurring and Maketing Local Foods in Retail Stores in Oregon and Ontario," May 23 (Wednesday), MU 208 (LaRaza Room), 12:00 to 2:00.

MPP Essay Defense, Zachary Reeves, "Factors Influencing Support for Salmon Recovery Policies in Oregon," May 24 (Thursday), Gilkey 305, 10:00 to 12:00.

MPP Essay Defense, Chrysanthemum Mattison, "Voluntary Contributions to California Public Schools: Growth, Distribution and Equity," May 24 (Thursday), Furman 303, 12:30 to 2:30.

Seminar and Book Signing Reception, Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr., "Endless Crisis: North Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, palestine and Nuclear Proliferation," May 24 (Thursday), LaSells Stewart Conference Center, LSC Contsruction and Engineering Hall, 4:00 to 5:00.

MPP Essay Defense, Heather Boyd, "Examining an Empowerment Framework: A Look at Female Artisans Within a Ghanaian NGO," May 25 (Friday), 304 Fairbanks Hall, 1:00 to 3:00.

MPP Essay Defense, Emily Wornell, "Networks and Relationships: Differences in State-Level Child Abuse and Neglect Policy Implementation in Multnomah and Klamath Counties, Oregon," June 4 (Monday), Willamette West Room, Valley Library, 10:30 to 12:30.

MPP Essay Defense, Breannon Babbel, "Evaluating the Proivision of Primary Health Care in Tanzania," June 6 (Wednesday), Valley Library 1420, 10:00 to 12:00.

Public Policy Graduation Party, June 15 (Friday), Ag Science Room, LaSells Stewart Center, 5:00 to 7:00 pm. 

The Public Policy Research Colloquium meets throughout each quarter where public policy faculty and students present their research: Schedule.

MPP STUDENT NEWS

2011 MPP graduate Bridget Burns was selected for the 2012 "40 under 40 Award" by the Portland Business Journal. Bridget is currently the Chief of Staff for the Oregon University System where she works with the Chancellor as a key policy advisor.

2008 MPP graduate Emily Kearney was just appointed Program Officer for the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues, U.S. Department of State.

Current MPP students Charles Lanfear and Sarah Cline are recent recipients of the 2012-13 Lottery Graduate Scholarship.

		MPP student Suman Pant returned to her home country of Nepal during the Summer of 2011 to conduct research on the impact of ecotourism on community sustainability in the Annapurna Sanctuary.  Suman conducted field research in the communities of Ghalegaon, Ghanpokhara, Saitku and Bhujung.
Oregon State University Day at the Capital, Salem, Oregon 2011  (Misty Freeman, Corey Crowley-Hall, Evan Sorce, Carlos Algara, Hua Wang and Kelly Dickinson)		Misty Freeman and Ruby Moon, 2011 ICRPS Field School, Norway (Sogn og Fjordane County)

MPP students Chrysanthemum Mattison and Hillary Fishler (third and fourth from left in the picture) attended the 9th Transatlantic Students Symposium held March 4-13 in Madrid and Berlin. The Transatlantic Student Symposium was notably full of firsts in terms of professional, academic, and cultural experiences. Through discussions, academic lectures, visits to historical, cultural, and political sites, and our individual research presentations graduate students from Humboldt University, Georgetown University, and Oregon State University collaborated on the many facets of the global financial crisis. Student involvement was the heart of the symposium. Chrysanthemum said "While we each brought a different perspective and area of interest to the symposium, our time together resulted in revelations about the interconnectedness of our disciplines and the implications of social, political, and economic decisions around the world. I have a new level of understanding about the work I do in the MPP program. Seeing first hand the value and importance of strong working relationships between countries and peers leave me feeling reinvigorated and excited to keep studying policy and apply what I learn to the transatlantic community."

Heather Boyd (pictured above) is interning and conducting research with Women in Progress (WIP), a fair trade and non-profit organization in the Cape Coast of Ghana. WIP works to reduce the economic inequality of women by helping women grow their businesses. Heather is focusing on micro-finance, development, and how these relate to the concept of women's empowerment in an international context.

Zack Reeves has been awarded the 2011 Oregon Sea Grant Legislative Fellowship.

Khan Le (pictured on right) was awarded the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Fellowship for 2010-2011. He will be working with Congressman Honda and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Kirsten Winters has won a 2010-11 Oregon Lottery Scholarship.

Yao Yin was selected to participate in the 2010 Sante Fe Institute's Summer School on Global Sustainability.
 

Yao Yin's (pictured on left) paper "Maximizing Local Sustainability: The Way to Sustain Global Companies Facing the Revival of Political and Economic Boundaries" was selected by the St. Gallen Symposium as one of the best student research papers in a worldwide competition. She was invited to present her paper at the Symposium inSwitzerland, 2009. Yao has also been selected as a student assistant for the 2009 ESRI User Conference in San Diego, California.

Alejandra Juarez was awarded a 2009-2010 Oregon University System SYLFF Graduate Fellowship for International Research.

Skye Root is the recipient of the 2009 Oregon Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship.

Kristin Chatfield has received a $2,500 grant from the OSU Rural Studies Program to support her work with Oregon Housing and Community Services as part of the Rural Continuum of Care Program.

Pami Monnette has received a $2,500 grant from the OSU Rural Studies Program to help an organization in Coos Bay assess their low income residents' housing and hunger needs.

Professor Scott Akins and recent graduate Richard Stansfield have an article accepted for publication in Homicide Studies Journal ("Immigration, Economic Disadvantage and Homicide: A Community-level analysis of Austin, Texas). 

Lauren Goschke, Elizabeth O'Neill and Yao Yin were selected and received scholarships to participate in the National Education for Women's Leadership Conference that is being held at Portland State University, June 19 to 24, 2008.

Stephanie Ogden has won the 2008 University Club of Portland Scholarship and a 2008 Oregon Lottery Scholarship.

Vince Adams was awarded a 2008 Oregon Lottery Scholarship.

Sarah Kopper (picture on the right) is working in Senegal, Africa for the African development NGO Tostan. "Tostan's mission is to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights." 

Catherine Clark and Yao Yin delivered a whitepaper ("The Sustainability of Biomass Energy in the Pacific Northwest') at the Biomass Feedstock Partnership Workshop sponsored by OSU Sun Grant in Portland, Oregon, August 27-29, 2007 (the whitepaper is available below).

Elizabeth O’Neill published a report on "Paid Maternity Leave for the Institute for Women’s Policy." She presented the findings of the report at a U.S. Congressional subcommittee during August, 2007. Elizabeth has also been appointed as a research assistant for the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State. 

Bridget Burns is the Chair of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, having been appointed by Governor Kulongoski in January of 2006. She previously served on the State Board of Higher Education from 2003 to 2006 and currently works as a consultant for the Oregon University System. Bridget also served on the Oregon Citizens Commission on the Legislature, a 30-person commission evaluating Oregon governmental practices.

Melissa Braybrooks International Activities

Pursuing an international track in the Masters in Public Policy, Melissa Braybrooks has taken advantage of opportunities, exploring a diverse range of internationally related policy sectors and topics while in the program. Melissa participated in the 2007 International Comparative Rural Policy Seminar (ICRPS), held in Solsona, Spain. The annual Rural Policy Consortium gathers Masters and PhD students, faculty, professionals and varying levels of government officials from Canada, Europe, the USA, and South America in an effort to strengthen communication among stakeholders of rural development; instigate dialogue between regions and countries with varying policy methods and implementation strategies; and introduce techniques, methodology, and tools that can support such comparative processes.

In the summer of 2007 Melissa took an internship with the Bulgarian NGO Bluelink in Sophia Bulgaria (http://www.bluelink.net/en/). The position required a range of multidisciplinary duties that were aimed at supporting the organizations objectives of offering a free virtual network to heighten communication, and participation among public, third sector, and governmental entities involved in issues of environment, sustainable development, democracy and civil society within Bulgaria.

In January 2008 Melissa will begin a fellowship with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva Switzerland, working within the Economic Integration and Cooperation Division to assist in works on several policy projects in biomass in Russia, Indonesia & Malaysia.

In addition, Melissa has been offered a position with the Rome based Vision and Value Management Consulting organization, and its sister company Vision Think Tank, which offer a synergy of resources related to policy integration issues, such as risk assessment, territorial marketing and regional economic policies. Melissa’s particular project relates directly with her research in accession policy, specifically economic and entrepreneurial policy in the regions of South Eastern Europe.

International Comparative Rural Policy Studies Consortium

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway, June-July 2011

June 26-July 11, Breannon Babbel, Sarah Cline, Misty Freeman, Terence Merritt, Ruby Moon, and Emily Wornell , students from the MPP program, attended the 8^th Annual International Comparative Rural Policy Studies (ICRPS) summer institute hosted by The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) and the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (NILF).  The institute, held in the towns of Ås and Sogndal, Norway, was an intensive two weeks, in which students learned about Norway’s approach to a number of issues around rural policy and compared them to the policies of the United States and Oregon, as well as the thirteen other countries represented by the attendees. 

In addition to learning through presentations by professors, public servants, and delegates from a number of Norwegian organizations, students took part in field visits to several sites in Oslo and in rural Norway, and finished the institute by completing a group project.  Students worked in research groups to address issues identified by Sogn og Fjordane County, completing a comparative analysis report with suggestions for the county, which was presented to representatives from Sogn og Fjordane and local politicians.

Emily Wornell said, “We had the opportunity to work with people from around the world who are facing the same policy issues in their own countries.  Learning about the innovative solutions to similar problems enabled us to think about our country in new ways, and the professional relationships we were able to develop will be a great resource throughout our careers in public policy.” 

Oregon State University and Portland State University, June-July 2010

With support from the USAID and an USDA Higher Education Mobility Grant, Narbada Ghimire, Kristin Chatfield, Stuty Maskey, Carla Mooney, Benjamin Juarez, Rebecca Rubenstrunk, Yao Yin, and Gunjan Dhakal participated in the 2010 International Comparative Rural Policy Studies Field School in Oregon. Students and faculty members came from all over the world including Nepal, Spain, Norway, Poland, Mexico, Bolivia, Italy, Canada, uzbekistan, Iran, Czech, China, Thailand, UK and Tanzania. The picture above was taken outside the OSU wave lab when students were learning about wave energy. 

University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, June-July 2009

MPP students Bridget Kelleher, Amy Ewing, Kristin Chatfield, Alejandra Juarez and Yao Yin (pictured on the left) attended the 2009 International Comparative Rural Policy Studies Field School in Scotland with support from the OSU Rural Studies Program and the MPP Program.  The international faculty and students participating came from across the world including Peru, Ecuador, Spain, Norway, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Scotland and the U.S.With the help of "Flat Benny," MPP students and faculty spot Nessie (Loch Ness Monster) during a cruise on Loch Ness, Scotland.

 
University of Missouri - Columbia, July 2008, by Steph Ogden

With help from the MPP program, first year students Yao Yin and Steph Ogden attended the 2008 ICRPS Field School at the University of Missouri, Columbia.  Participants in the two-week conference hailed from 12 countries on 4 continents: England, Scotland, Norway, Spain, China, Mongolia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, the U.S. and Canada.  The rich diversity of participants and perspectives helped us to understand the challenges faced by rural communities in the U.S. in a more global context.

Lectures from international experts broached topics such as biofuel production, the effects of consumer trends toward organic and local agriculture, and the importance of differing definitions of “rural” across cultures and policy spheres.  Field activities included discussions with local stakeholders, regarding their respective livelihoods and took students to a family farm, a local vineyard, and the county fair.  As a final project, teams of ICRPS students conducted consulting projects for one of 5 rural communities in the Columbia vicinity, helping community members to brainstorm solutions to impending challenges such as shrinking economic livelihoods, outmigration, and educational deficit.

Participating in the ICRPS conference has helped me to better understand the complexity of the challenges addressed by rural policies in different nations.  While many of the challenges to rural communities across the globe are similar in nature, the policy objectives differ widely across regions.  While some intend to diversify rural areas or transition them to more urban ones, others are vehemently trying to protect rural values and way of life, even if doing so implies an economic cost.  Seeing this complexity first hand has helped to remind me of how many perspectives must be incorporated in order to make any policy a successful one.


University of Barcelona, July 2007

With support from OSU’s Master in Public Policy (MPP) program, Melissa Braybrooks and Emily Kearney (pictured on the right) attended the 2007 ICRPS summer course in Solsona, Spain. During the two-week course, Braybrooks and Kearney attended daily lectures from a variety of policy professionals, participated in on-site visits with local stakeholders engaged in different spheres of rural policy, and worked in internationally diverse groups to conduct a holistic development plan for a particular rural region. Each summer course is attended by new and returning students. Braybrooks, a first-year student, said that seeing presentations from second-year students was extremely beneficial. “Not only did it provide ideas of how to present and formulate my areas of interest, but the feedback session really enabled me to envision where my current framework had holes or was missing major conceptualizations of the larger picture.”

The 2008 field school is hosted by the University of Missouri-Columbia. Students examined various approaches to rural policy including subsidiarity, federalism and the role of local government, agricultural policy, environmental and conservation policy, economic development policy, tourism policy, energy policy, and multifunctionality. MPP students Yao Yin and Stephanie Ogden (pictured to the left) both attended the Missouri-based field school.

 
Graduate Updates and Student Success

Graduates of the MPP program have found jobs as Research Analysts, Data and Policy Analysts, Program Managers, Public Economists, Environmental Consultants, Community Outreach Specialists, Development Specialists, Policy Advisors, Environmental Educators, and Program Analysts in such organizations as the Oregon Progress Board, U.S. Census Bureau, Oregon Employment Department, Oregon Administrative Services Department, Oregon Department of Business Services, Oregon Legislative Revenue Office, Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Mercy Corps, Rural Development Initiative, Oregon Poison Center, Multnomah County (OR), and Wirthy Environmental Consulting. Graduates have also went on to other graduate programs including law school (e.g., Columbia School of Law) and Ph.D. programs (e.g., University of Oregon's Sociology Ph.D. program and OSU's Environmental Science Ph.D. program).

2006 MPP graduate Alex Johnson (picture on the left) has been appointed to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. Alex is formerly a recipient of a Congressional BlackCaucus Fellowship and currently is a policy advisor for U.S. Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL).

2007 MPP graduate Sara Curiel (picture on the right with Governor Kulongoski), now the Community Development Coordinator for Rural Development Initiatives (a rural development nonprofit), recently received a $400,000 grant from the Northwest Area Foundation to continue her work on Latino Outreach in Rural Communities. Sara’s Latino Outreach program was initially developed with OSU Extension and the OSU Sustainable Rural Communities Initiative.