The Policy Pulse | February 2023 Newsletter

February, 2023

The 10 Biggest Stories from 2022

The Policy School celebrates a year of diverse accomplishments! These 10 stories highlight the most notable and inspiring achievements from our faculty and students in 2022.

Policy School Alumna, Lauren Jones, takes office as Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development

Lauren Jones, 2017 graduate of the Policy School’s MPA program, joined Governor Healey’s cabinet on January 20th, assuming the office of Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. On January 11th, Governor Healey of Massachusetts stated, “Massachusetts is facing a serious workforce shortage, and it’s negatively impacting our workers, employers and economic competitiveness… Lauren Jones has a proven track record of collaborating with businesses and labor to expand workforce development opportunities, attract new businesses to our state, and give both workers and employers the support they need.”

Upcoming Events

MetroLab First Friday Policy Roundtables

March 3rd, at 1:00 PM ET

Virtual | Join via zoom here.

Affordable housing is an especially critical issue that cities and counties are grappling with. During this session, the roundtable will feature a conversation on affordable housing.

Coffee and Conversation

March 14th at 3:30PM-5:00PM EST

310 Renaissance Park or Join via zoom here.

Join the Policy School for a discussion on topics such as:

Diversity, Fairness and Inclusion
A Sense of Belonging in Higher Education
The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action
Mills College at Northeastern

Open Classroom

Achieving Sustainability and Environmental Resilience

Every Wednesday from 6:00-7:30pm

West Village F, Classroom 020

A longstanding tradition in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Open Classroom is a semester-long seminar series for the Northeastern community and the general public.

Learn more here.

The End of the Village: Planning the Urbanization of Rural China

March 21st, at 5:00 PM - 6:15PM

310 Renaissance Park

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, China has dramatically expanded its urbanization processes in an effort to reduce the inequalities between urban and rural areas. Drawing on more than a decade of research in China’s villages, Smith will discuss the contested implementation of this radical new approach to urbanization and its implications for China’s villagers.

Opportunities

Submit a proposal for the 9th annual CSSH Undergraduate Research Forum

Any undergraduate who has conducted original research in CSSH independently or in collaboration with a faculty member is eligible to submit a proposal to present at the Undergraduate Research Forum on March 22. Students may present results of research conducted in collaboration with faculty or independently. Presentations may emerge from class projects, research-based co-ops, thesis projects, honors in the major projects, capstone projects, etc. Projects may be conducted by individuals or groups. Works-in-progress—that is, the sharing of preliminary results—are welcome.

Submit an abstract for the Open Science Conference in Rwanda | Submit by March 14th

In October 2023, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) will convene the Open Science Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.

WCRP coordinates and guides global climate research to develop, share and apply climate knowledge that contributes to societal well-being. The Open Science Conference will focus on “Advancing Climate Science for a Sustainable Future” and will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, and online on 23-27 October 2023, with the overarching goal of bridging science and society.

Abstract submission is now open for 40 science sessions and over 40 poster clusters, bringing together a wide range of topics under three conference themes:

· Theme 1: Advances in Climate Research

· Theme 2: Human Interactions with Climate

· Theme 3: Co-produced Climate Services and Solutions

Seed Grant Competition | Apply by March 22^nd

We invite applications for research seed grants of up to $5,000 for projects that begin during summer 2023. The grants will support Northeastern faculty, post-doctoral students, or PhD students engaging in research-practice partnerships to conduct research with a city agency, state department, or community-based organization with the goal of using research evidence to change a policy or practice. The goal of the seed grant funding is to aid in the development of projects with the goal of providing proof of concept to seek additional support from either internal or external sources.

Scholars Strategy Network (SSN) Training | May 2nd

City to City has partnered with the Scholars Strategy Network to provide training for PhD students, post-docs, and faculty seeking to form research-practice partnerships with a city agency, state department, or community-based organization. The Training Researchers to Inform Policy (TRIP) workshop is a full-day training that provides PhD students, post-docs, and faculty with methods for policy engagement. This training is free to Northeastern PhD students, post-docs, and faculty alike. We encourage mentoring dyads of faculty and PhD students to attend together.

Awards

Cristina Stanica, assistant teaching professor, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Jeanne-Marie Col Section Leadership Award by the American Society for Public Administration, Section on International and Comparative Administration. This recognition was earned by her 2019 Gould scholarship, co-chairing the newsletter committee, and editing the section’s Occasional Paper Series in the past three years.