No Office Hours Until Jan.

Just a note: We will not be having office hours until next semester.

Election Results!

Thanks to everyone who came out last night! We elected a great group of people last night and I'm really excited to see what they do with PPMU next year. The results:

President: Angela Lee
Vice President: Casey Spiro
Secretary: Cara Wittekind
Undergraduate Rep: Amanda Gutierrez
Treasurer: Shamelle Ingram

Elections This Tuesday!

PPMU is having elections this Tuesday, December 4th.
Location: Murphy 118
Time: 7:00 PM

Remember, all declared policy majors are eligible to vote, and all rising juniors and seniors are eligible for officer positions. However, exceptions can be made (with regard to class) and the most important thing is a passion for policy and a commitment to serving your fellow majors!

Email Herbert, Christina, or Angela if you have any questions.

PPMU Elections 2007

PPMU is having elections on December 4, 2007. We are electing for the following positions:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Undergraduate Representative (2)
  

We are having an info session this Tuesday, November 27, at 7pm in Abernathy.

All policy majors are eligible to run for officer positions and all policy majors can vote.

Anyone who can't make it to the meeting but is still interested should email our President Herbert McClary at hhmcclar@email.unc.edu or leave a comment on this post with their contact information.

Information from the meeting will also be posted at this blog. Good luck everyone!

Faculty Meeting 11-07-07

Hey Public Policy majors! Here's a quick recap of what was discussed at last Wednesday's faculty meeting.

1) Progress is being made towards a potential joint Ph.D. program with the School of Government. Faculty from both the SOG and the Public Policy dept will be getting together Dec. 3rd to get to know each other better.

2) Course scheduling for Fall '08 is underway. Some things the dept has been discussing are:

• Including more topical courses (ex. American Environmental Policy taught by Dr. Andrews). Prof. Lauen's course on education policy will probably be offered on a continuing basis, and additional courses may be added.
  
• Trying to have core faculty teach core policy courses such as 201, 220, 460 etc.
  
• Possible revamping of the graduate pubpol curriculum

3) Mr. Hodding Carter III has been announced as the commencement speaker for December '07 graduates. Here's a link to his bio: click.

4) The department is still looking for suggestions for the next Lambeth lecture (Fall '08) and a commencement speaker for the Spring '08 graduation.

5) Additional Adjunct faculty have been appointed.

Roosevelt Op-Ed workshop tips

In addition to PPMU, the Roosevelt Institute is the other student-run public policy organization at UNC. On November 6, I went to an Op-Ed workshop that they held. The workshop was led by Paul O'Connor--a writer for The News and Observer and a professor at UNC.

He gave us some good tips that might be of use to any policy students that want to get their opinions published.

First, he recommended either writing a letter or submitting an op-ed piece. The other parts of the Op-ed page, the cartoon and views of the editorial board, aren't paths that are open to student input.

Second, students are best off submitting their work to a local paper (ex. DTH, the local papers in Chapel Hill, the local papers in their hometown). Papers are more likely to publish pieces from people in their jurisdiction.

Third, try to write about local issues. Or, if you want to write about a national issue such as the No Child Left Behind legislation, find a way to connect it to something local by writing about how NCLB affects the local elementary schools in Orange County.

If you're writing a letter:

1. Make only one point. Be specific. Have a narrow focus. Don't tackle too much at once.
   
2. Make sure whatever you're writing about is very current, and is related to something that was recently in the news. Ex. Writing about Global Warming isn't current unless you submit your letter after an event like Al Gore winning the Nobel prize.
   
3. Most papers have a word limit of 200-250 words.
4. Use public words, this is not the place to show off your SAT vocabulary.
5. The theme of your letter should be blatantly obvious by the first paragraph.
   

If you're writing an op-ed piece:

1. Relate it to something that was recently in the news.
2. Having a hook is very important. The timing of your submission is also very important.
   
3. Make sure that you're providing a perspective that neither the staff nor a syndicated columnist can provide.
   

Finally, he went through a list of 8 values that you can use to determine whether or not your issue is "newsworthy"

1. Timeliness
2. Proximity
3. Impact
4. Emotional impact
5. Magnitude
6. Conflict
7. Celebrity
8. Oddity
   

Memo Seminar Follow-up

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Memo Seminar taught by Ms. Murphy. Those in the audience had good questions.

Here are a few more tips from Ms. Murphy for improving your memo writing skills.

1) Make an appointment with the Writing Center. They are a good resource to use.

2) Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (Revised Edition) by Deborah Stone is one of the books recommended by Ms. Murphy. I also personally recommend this book. I kept this book after using it in my PLCY 220 class because it was so helpful. Stone does a good job breaking down policy analysis into theoretical ideas. Stone covers the goals of policy (equity, efficiency, security, and liberty), how policy problems are defined and understood (symbols, numbers, causes, interests, and decisions), and the components of policy solutions (inducements, rules, facts, rights, and powers). She also has nifty tables that summarize the main points of each chapter that are great for refreshing your memory.


3) Writing Public Policy: A Practical Guide to Communicating In The Policy-Making Process by Catherine F. Smith is another book that Ms. Murphy highly recommends. While Stone focused more on theory, Smith is much more practical and covers all the different types of communication required of policy analysts. Some of the things she covers includes: writing legislative histories, writing argument papers, writing effective petitions, giving effective witness testimony, writing briefing memos, and soliciting public comment. Smith also includes handy checklists at the end of each chapter, and much of the information is presented in bullets or lists.

Memo Seminar

The Public Policy Majors Union invites you to join us for a Memo Writing Seminar

When: Tuesday, October 30th, 5:00-6:00PM
Where: Murphy 104


Ms. Murphy will be leading this seminar. She is the current instructor for PLCY 201: Introduction to Public Policy. Come by and learn how to improve your memo writing skills!

Hubert Humphrey Fellows Event!

I had a great time tonight at the Armchair Traveler Series with the Hubert Humphrey Fellows. I learned a lot, the Fellows are all really interesting and accomplished individuals, and the food was delicious. Tomorrow is the last night of this series and I encourage you all to come! Don't worry about the RSVP.

Faculty Meeting 10-03-07

Sorry this is a little late, but here are some notes from October's Faculty meeting:

• The Lambeth Lecture with Prof. Joel Fleishman was announced and plans for publicizing the event were discussed. Note: The lecture was on Oct 11, 2007. It went really well, and we had a full house!
  
• PPMU told the faculty about our upcoming Career Panel in January/February and asked for their advice on choosing panelists. The faculty are really excited about the Career Panel and they had a lot of suggestions for potential contacts.
  
• Dr. Andrews asked for suggestions for the Public Policy Dept. Commencement speaker (Spring 2008) and next year's Lambeth Lecturer (Fall 2008).
  
• For those of you that are double majors, it's really helpful if you list Public Policy as your first major. When the department is undergoing review or asking for more resources (funding, lecture positions, etc), statistics such as number of majors are looked at, and if Public Policy is listed as your second major, you won't be counted. If you're really serious about Public Policy, please help out your department by going to Academic Advising and changing Public Policy to your first major. The order does matter.
  

Washington DC Study Abroad Spring '08

The deadline for this program has been extended to October 31st, but if you're interested, you should apply ASAP!

The Burch Field Research Seminars in Domestic and Foreign policy are being offered this Spring 2008. This is the first time that both the Domestic and Foreign policy tracks are being offered at the same time. The program consists of three components: (1) a weekly class led by faculty instructors at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, (2) internships, and (3) off-site excursions. Students will receive 12 hours worth of Honors credits and live in historic Capital Hill neighborhoods. David Podoff will teach the Domestic policy seminar and Ambassador William H. Itoh will teach the foreign policy seminar.

For more information, feel free to visit the following sites:
*The Official Study Abroad Page
* About this Upcoming Semester
* Additional info, highlights from Spring 2006's Washington Policy Semester


If you have any questions, email Prof. Dan Gitterman at danielg@email.unc.edu

Lambeth Lecture Oct 11th

Click on the flyer for more details! Hope to see you all there!

Sir Mark Malloch Brown

Hey Policy Majors!

The next Student Policy Tea and Discussion is scheduled for Monday, October 1st, from 4:00-5:15pm in the Graham Memorial Lounge. Our guest, Sir Mark Malloch Brown, is a very influential global policy figure. The Roosevelt Institution is co-sponsoring this with PPMU.

He will also be speaking at 7:30pm in Memorial Hall the same evening, and he will present the 2007 Frank Porter Graham Lecture in Memorial Hall on the subject "Making Private Capital Work for the Poor."

Sir Mark Malloch Brown was until recently Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and previously Director General of the United Nations Development Programme. In both positions he was a leading advocate for the Millennium Development Goals, whose twelve point agenda seeks to radically reduce world poverty by 2015. In June 2007 he joined British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Minister for Africa, Asia, and the United Nations, where he will focus on the role of private capital in alleviating the suffering of those living in poverty around the globe. He also advises the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary on human rights and other global issues.

For additional information including background materials on Malloch Brown and his initiatives, see http://www.johnstoncenter.unc.edu/events/fpg_0708.htm .

Faculty Meeting 09-05-07

Both Shamelle and I attended the first faculty meeting this past Wednesday. As Undergrad Representatives, one of our responsibilities is to attend those meetings, relay any student concerns/ideas to the faculty, and then report back to you. If you have an issue you would like to address, please alert us before the next faculty meeting which is held on the first Wednesday of each month. Here's a brief synopsis of what was discussed:

• Dean Gil, the new Senior Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, attended the meeting to become more familiar with the public policy department. She is a liaison between the Dean's Office and the Social Science departments.
• A main concern of the department was growth. We currently have approximately 225 public policy undergraduates. The department sees the potential to grow significantly in the next few years. There is demand, as seen by the following trends--more students declaring public policy as a major earlier in their academic career, more double majors with public policy, and active policy students (ex. Roosevelt Institution & PPMU). However, a lack of departmental resources is hampering that growth, and they're hoping that the Dean's office will help with that.
• The Washington Policy Semester will be starting again this Spring 2008, and Dr. David Podoff will be leading the domestic policy track of the program. Ambassador William H. Itoh will lead the foreign policy track.
• The department is tentatively considering establishing three new degrees: (1) a joint Ph.D. program with the Government School, (2) a M.A. degree program, (3) and a B.A./M.A. degree combo.
• The department is in the process of renewing the Hubert Humphrey Fellows program. The program brings talented mid-level professionals from all over the world to universities in the U.S. Fellows engage in graduate-level work, receive leadership development and professional training, and participate in workshops and conferences.
• Prof. Gail Corrado has been revamping the senior practicum course.

Remember, feel free to email us /leave comments! We're here to represent you.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Public Policy Majors Union.

Here you will find information about:

• The Public Policy Major
• The scoop from the Monthly Faculty Meetings
• The many exciting PPMU events.
• Other UNC policy-related events.
  
• General news related to public policy.

You will also get an opportunity to:

• Discuss policy-related issues.
• Give us feedback on what you want from the PPMU--what kinds of events should we have? which speakers should we invite? what kind of job/graduate school preparation should we provide? how are we doing?
• Tell us about a policy project that you want to initiate. Let us help you!