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Internationally Focused Projects for MPA Students, 2018

While MAIR students participate in off-campus internships and global programs, the Maxwell School’s MPA Workshop gives MPA students the chance to work as consultants for a real world client on a team of their peers. Many of these projects work with international entities or focus on serving international communities.

While the number of international projects varies from year to year, MPA students always have a chance to further hone their professional skills with a project to add to their portfolio. In 2018, MPA and joint MPA students worked with the following clients with a global perspective.

Client Project
Global FoodBanking Network Emerging Markets – Food Systems Analysis
Hopeprint Empowering Resettled Refugees to Thrive
InterFaith Works of Central New York Qualitative and Quantitative research report concerning economic and workforce issues facing low-income immigrants (including refugees, migrants and immigrants)
RAND Corporation, National Security Research Division North Korea Strategy for Security on the Future of the Korean Peninsula
RAND Corporation, National Security Research Division Middle Eastern Rivalries and the Future of the Region
Refugee & Immigrant Self-Empowerment Assessment of RISE monitoring and evaluation procedures
U.S. Department of Justice, International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program A Pilot Community Policing/Community Prosecution Project for Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism in Kenya
United Nations Office for Project Services, UNOPS Ghana Suppliers Sustainability Initiative

For the 2018 MPA Workshop, students used ranked preference voting to narrow a larger list of projects down to 18. Then, students ranked their top four projects from the final list. These rankings were used to assign students to teams according to their project rankings. This method saw 97% of students receive their first or second choice project. MPA students were able to add a global perspective to their degree with these projects, further enhanced by taking a variety of international relations courses at Maxwell.

RAND and IDA project teams traveling to Washington, DC to deliver presentations on their projects.
Project teams arrive at RAND to give presentations.
RAND and IDA Team Members, 2018. Left to Right: Andrew Sander, Max Tucker, Matt Heggy, Sam Friedman, Tim Schmidt, Ryan Pensyl, Ryan Gross, Phil Porter, Taylor Hart-McGonigle, Chih Yun Huang, Minyang Wang, James Heller

Featured image of the Globe by Andrew Smith from Flickr. Creative Commons.

Internationally Focused Projects for MPA Students, 2017

Internationally Focused Projects for MPA Students, 2016 & 2015

Khem Sedhai Networks and Attends Events in DC & NYC

I had a wonderful experience in DC during Summer 2018. I completed a course “Who Will Rule the 21st Century” as a part of the Washington Summer Practicum. The course advanced my knowledge and skills in the areas of economic success, military strength, the rise and fall of great powers within the international system, and global threats to human beings such as global warming and nuclear proliferation. Since the classes were in the evenings, I had ample time to participate in different conferences and workshops organized by the World Bank, United Nations, different developmental organizations, diplomatic offices, and policy institutions.

Khem Sedhai at ABCDE Conference

The two conferences at the World Bank – Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), and the Nepal Day workshop – were imperative for me. The ABCDE conference helped me to expand my understanding of political economy. The Nepal Day workshop was focused on economic and developmental agendas on Nepal in the context of the changing political situation and the recently formed government. The Honorable Minister of Finance and other senior government officials from Nepal, other countries, regional representatives of the World Bank, and senior officials from various development partners and donors’ organizations participated. It offered me an opportunity to analyze closely how the world bank works with developing countries.

Khem Sedhai at Nepal Day at the World Bank
Khem Sedhair with Nepal’s Honorable Finance Minister at Nepal Day

During the summer, I also participated in a three-day International Human Rights Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC,  which was organized by Youth for Human Rights International. Interacting with participants from different parts of the world was an awesome opportunity for me to be updated with the current human rights scenario and challenges worldwide. Similarly, at the NAFSA Education Abroad Regulatory Summit, I had a chance to be familiar with the US government’s policies and regulations related to study abroad.

Khem Sedhair at UN in NYC
Khem Sedhai at NAFSA Youth for Human Rights Summit

Interaction program with Magsaysay Awardee, Mr. Mahabir Pun on Sustainable Economic Development through Technological Innovation in the Developing Countries was an incredible workshop I participated in this Summer. Others include the various events organized by Center for Global Development (CGD), the Brookings Institution, Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Third Way, International Development Institute, Young Professionals in International Education (yPIE), Together for Human Rights Campaign, and special workshops organized by Maxwell-in-Washington, Maxwell Alumni.

Khem Sedhai with Mahabir Pun in Washington, DC

I would like to express my gratefulness to the team of the Maxwell School and the Maxwell-in-Washington program, professors, Maxwell alumni and funders for their generous support. For me, it was more about networking plus events this summer.

Khem Sedhai at the Maxwell School in Syracuse, NY
Khem Sedhai at the U.S. Capital

Khem Sedhai is a MAIR student currently interning at InterAction in Washington, DC.

MAIR Program at the Maxwell School

Maxwell-in-Washington Program

All Global Programs

Khem Sedhai’s Remarkable Semester of Courses, Interning, & Events

Kevin Oswald Explores European Energy Diversity at Student Conference

Kevin Oswald is a recent alumni of the Atlantis Transatlantic Dual Degree program, completing an MAIR degree from the Maxwell School and an MPP from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. He also completed internships at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington D.C. and Agora Energiewende in Berlin during his studies.

Kevin Oswald at ESC 2018

From March 29 to 31, 2018 I had the opportunity to participate in the European Student Conference (ESC) 2018 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ESC is a conference organized by European Horizons that brought together 100 undergraduate and graduate students from universities across the United States, Europe and Asia with distinguished academics and seasoned policy-makers in order to address some of the challenges confronting the European Union.Prior to the conference, students from different parts of the world and with different academic backgrounds, had been divided into groups, according to their knowledge and interests, in order to deal with the following challenges in six workshops related to: Energy, Technology, EU-China, Democracy, National Sovereignty and Security. Each group then made an effort to develop policy recommendations with regard to their topic and during the conference those proposals by the students were discussed with decision-makers and renowned academics. This year, ESC hosted representatives from business, politics and diplomacy, such as the former President of the European Parliament, Enrique Barón Crespo, as well as several academics from US universities.

Enrique Barón Crespo at ESC 2018 speaking during the opening session in the auditorium of Yale University

As a student enrolled in the transatlantic ATLANTIS dual-degree Master program in International Relations and Public Policy offered by the Maxwell School and the Hertie School of Governance, I am particularly interested in foreign and security policy as well as in energy and climate policy. Therefore, I took part in the energy workshop and together with fellow students worked on the issue of the EU’s dependency on energy imports, particularly natural gas, in order to meet its demand. Given the fact that a high proportion of imports is concentrated among relatively few partners, the security of the EU’s natural gas supplies may be threatened. Our team provided a solid analysis of the status quo and presented several policy recommendations with the primary goals to diversify supply sources (new pipelines, interconnectors, LNG etc.) and to utilize soft tools, which, for instance, might require setting up an EU Energy Diplomacy Task Force to deal with delicate pipeline projects such as Nord Stream 2.

I was impressed with the expertise and dedication of our group and look forward to seeing our recommendations being published in the Review of European and Transatlantic Affairs, a journal that will be distributed to university libraries across Europe and the U.S., as well as to European decision-makers.

In sum, ESC 2018 has been a wonderful experience and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with fellow students that all have a passion for the EU. In addition, I hope to become part of the international ESC network that links thinkers and leaders from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.

Energy Working Group at ESC 2018

Kevin Oswald Interns at the German Embassy in Washington, DC

Atlantis Transatlantic Dual Degree Program

The Maxwell School

The Hertie School of Governance

Carol Tojeiro Featured in Cornell Policy Review

Today we would like to showcase the work of Maxwell student Carol Marina Tojeiro. Carol wrote a piece on gender inequality in the labor force in Argentina that was recently published in the Cornell Policy Review. The article discusses the significance of this issue in terms of Argentina’s economic growth and offers policy recommendations. Carol is a dual MA in Economics and International Relations candidate who will graduate this spring. Her experience at IOM in Ghana was previously featured on this blog.

The Key to Unlocking Argentina’s Economic Potential? Women’s Inclusion in the Labor Force

Excerpt:

Female participation in the Argentinian workforce is limited, as men comprise 75% of labor force participation, compared to just 41% of women, according to a 2016 study. While women represent a majority of Argentina’s highly educated population, various influences such as religion and traditional expectations of women and men, as well as limited options for childcare have pushed women out of the workforce to the detriment of the Argentine economy. To improve women’s access to employment and increase workforce productivity, the Argentine government must design and adopt inclusive gender-sensitive public policies, address social unrest, and measure the impact of such policies in addressing gender equality.

Carol Tojeiro.

Carol Tojeiro at the UN Migration Agency in Ghana

Internationally Focused Projects for MPA Students, 2016 & 2015

While we mostly cover the exploits of MAIR students on this blog, many MPA students do international projects and go on to work in the global sphere. The MPA Workshop is the culminating course for MPA candidates, where students work on a team of their classmates as consultants for real world clients.

Every year a number of international projects are offered. This year MPA project teams are currently working with the following clients on projects affecting the international community.

Client Project
U.S. Department of Justice, The International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICIPTAP) Developing Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks for DOJ/ICITAP
Refugee & Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE) RISE Strategic Plan
Global FoodBanking Network Critical analysis of current annual data sets collected from non-US partners
AtrocityWatch Creating version 2.0 of the AtrocityWatch Digital Strategy and Planning Roadmap

Last year, students worked with a number of organizations in Latin America in particular and with other organizations focusing on a diverse set of global issues.

Client Project
Ministry of Education of Peru (Ministerio de Educación del Perú), Public-Private Partnership Unit Proposed scheme for Public Private Partnerships in schools in Peru
World Vision Comparative Analysis of Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs Evaluation Policies
The Anticorruption Party of Honduras (Partido Anticorrupción de Honduras) (PAC) Support of the historic Honduras – Transparency International Agreement signed Oct. 6, 2014
Sense & Sustainability (S&S): Fresh Perspectives on Sustainable Development Developing a Fund Development and Nonprofit Management Strategy
U.S. Department of Justice, The International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICIPTAP) ICITAP’s Analytical Approach to Establishing the Conditions Necessary to Promote Sustainable Institutional Development
Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) Performance Monitoring of Research and Ecotourism Lodges in the Context of Conservation NGO Goals: the case of the Amazon Conservation Association
Somali Bantu Community Association of Onondaga County (Now known as Refugee & Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE)) SBCA Management Project

While there is no guarantee students will be placed on the exact project team that they would like, over 85% of students received their first or second project choices in the last two years. There are always a number of projects with an international focus for MPA students who want to use their public administration skills to address issues crossing borders.

Projects in Peru make an impact

The Amazon Conservation Association’s own Valerie Peterson said, “The students were extraordinary, and their work will have lasting impacts for years to come. We would look forward to working with your students again next year.” The project team delivered a final report to ACA outlining mechanisms to measure the performance of its ecotourism lodges in Peru. The project team consisted of Elena Borzenkova, Vivian Carandang-Smith, Anna Nicol, and Emily Simonson.

Utilizing remote conferencing, now MPA alumni Maria Laura Veramendi Garcia, Gonzalo Talavera Forlin, James Jarvis, and Gustavo Zanabria collaborated with the Public‑Private Partnership Unit of Peru’s Ministry of Education to create a report concerning recommendations to reduce the infrastructure gap in primary and secondary schools throughout the country.  The final report first analyzes educational PPPs in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the UK, then makes 13 key recommendations catered specifically to the Peruvian situation. According to faculty advisor Dr. David Van Slyke, “The quality of the work is very high. The sponsor is very happy. What’s especially exciting is that Syracuse as a location is not a barrier. We were skyped in with all the ministerial officials in Lima. The capstone’s group is going to have impact. And, the sponsor got this project for free”.

Photo provided by Jenn Calder from Flickr. Creative Commons license. View the photo on Flickr.

Internationally Focused Projects for MPA Students, 2017

MAIR/MPA Student Assists Undergrad Model UN Team

Kyra Murphy was mentioned in a Syracuse University News article as a contributor to the Maxwell undergrad Model UN team’s success. Read more about Kyra in her blog post: Kyra Murphy, Learning from Her Supervisor at National Security Network.

Maxwell Model UN Team Awarded Top Honors at NYC Conference

Excerpt:

For the third year in a row, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs received top honors for “Outstanding Delegation” at the annual Model UN Conference in New York City. The team, composed of 20 undergraduate students, won the top prize for its research and portrayal of the island nation of New Zealand, the country assigned by conference officials[. . .]

[. . .]Kyra Murphy, a graduate student in public administration and international affairs and graduate assistant for the delegation, credits Model UN with rounding out her degrees. “Today, as I get ready to graduate from Maxwell, I can confidently attribute my oral presentation and public speaking skills, my knowledge in diplomacy and international etiquette, and my comfort in new situations to the time that I have spent with Model UN.”

Read the entire article>>

ModelUN11

 

Networking with Alumni in D.C. and New York

Over the course of Spring break, Maxwell students had the great opportunity to visit various sites and attend coffee chats with alumni. They connected with people who worked at various organizations in Washington, DC and New York and learned a lot about opportunities in different fields. There is no doubt that this unique opportunity helped Maxwell students to  consolidate their careers.

Networking with Alumni in D.C. and New York

Maxwell alumnus David Bauer ’49 and the students he hosted on Roosevelt Island
Maxwell alumnus David Bauer ’49 and the students he hosted on Roosevelt Island

Excerpt:

Over the course of our spring break, approximately 60 members of our cohort traveled to Washington, D.C. and New York City to network and connect with Maxwell alumni who work in various professions in the public, private, and nonprofit fields.

The busy week’s networking festivities kicked off at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an internationally-focused think tank in D.C. that the Maxwell School has a unique partnership with. Throughout the D.C. leg of the trip, current students had the opportunity to attend site visits and coffee chats with a variety of organizations that had a Maxwell connection. The Office of Personnel Management, the Brookings Institute, the Congressional Budget Office, the Department of Energy, the World Bank, and Booz Allen Hamilton are a just few names of the many site visits our cohort attended. A group of MPA students attended the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that considers the needs of low-income and disadvantaged individuals and families. The most valuable trip for me was visiting the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, given its relevance to my interests in higher education and labor. After this visit, I was able to connect with a 2010 alumnus about a graduate summer fellowship opportunity starting in July. He even offered to connect me with the Fellow Coordinator and offered a recommendation.[…]

This article is published on the PAIA Insider blog.

Read the full article on the class’ activities>>

Students at the D.C. Public Schools site visit
Students at the D.C. Public Schools site visit
IMG_4030-768x576
MAIR students outside the Brookings Institution (Claudine Lim, Phoung Ha and Vahid Khatami from left to right)
MPA/MAIR student Vahid Khatami connecting with Maxwell staff
MPA/MAIR student Vahid Khatami (right) connecting with Maxwell staff Isaac Olson (center) and Dr. Ryan Williams (left)

Learn more about the Maxwell-in-Washington program

Mark Temnycky “Let’s Call Ukraine By Its Proper Name.”

On Saturday January 30th, Mark Temnycky  wrote an article on the topic of “Ukraine” versus “the Ukraine,” and the implication of the three letter word in post-Euromaidan Ukraine. On Tuesday, February 2nd, Mark experienced an honorable moment. Forbes contacted him – they published his piece! 

Let’s Call Ukraine By Its Proper Name

Excerpt:

The Polish term Ukrajina, or “the borderland,” first emerged during the 16th century when the Ukrainian lands were incorporated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. By the 18th century, the French introduced l’Ukraine, and the article stuck. The usage of “the Ukraine” then became most popular when it was a territorial entity of both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. But why does the article matter?

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Ukrainian government declared in its constitution that it would hence forth be referred to as “Ukraine,” thus dropping the article. There were two justifications for this. First, in Russian and Ukrainian, the two most popularly spoken languages in Ukraine, articles do not exist, hence it seemed foolish to incorporate the article. Second, with the establishment of its independence, “the Ukraine” became a demeaning term, as it implied that Ukraine remained a territorial region of one of its former rulers.[…]

Read entire article >>

Mark Temnycky, MPA ,Maxwell School, Syracuse University
Mark Temnycky is a Ukrainian–American student, pursuing a joint MPA/MAIR degree at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.