The following article is a featured story in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy’s annual magazine, Engage. To read the full 2022-2023 issue of Engage, click here.
The College of Social Sciences and Public Policy is committed to helping students “Get More Than a Degree” during their time at Florida State University.
High-impact educational experiences are core to the College’s pedagogy at every level of education, and COSSPP’s top-notch faculty provide compelling learning opportunities for students at every stage of their academic journeys.
“I’m extremely pleased with the breadth of opportunities available to our undergraduate and graduate students due to our faculty’s persistence toward academic excellence,” said Tim Chapin, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. “Whether it’s going out in the community and making real-world contributions or getting to pitch solutions to city leaders, the experiential learning opportunities within COSSPP are plentiful and have set many students on a path to achieving their career goals after graduation.”
Rubin O.D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy
Dating back to 1947, the Master of Public Administration from FSU’s Askew School of Public Administration and Policy is one of the oldest and most respected programs in the country. One of the reasons for that is the emphasis the program places on practical and experiential learning opportunities.
None are more impactful than the program’s capstone course. Students work with city and county leadership to identify issues and best practices. The students then act as a consulting firm, researching issues and presenting their findings and policy alternatives.
“The focus of the two-semester capstone project is to offer students opportunities to engage in evidence-based research that is useful and relevant to the needs of program stakeholders,” said Linda Schrader, Ph.D., Clinical Professor for the Askew School. “This experience not only enhances students’ knowledge of the field, but also allows them to demonstrate leadership, team collaboration, and communication skills that are desired by employers.”
Over the past year, MPA students have worked with City of Tallahassee and Leon County officials on 11 projects, which included exploring issues like reducing homelessness, recruiting and retaining blue-collar workers, and alternative options to incarceration to alleviate prison overcrowding.
This spring, students presented their findings to Leon County Administrator and Askew School alumnus Vince Long (MPA ‘96). One project in particular, “Legislative and Judicial Implications on the Leon County Detention Facility Population,” was a timely one.
The presentation came right after the Board of County Commissioners requested a report identifying strategies and recommendations for mitigating the growth of the inmate population at the Leon County Detention Facility, focusing on judicial case processing and alternatives to reduce or shorten periods of incarceration.
This benchmarking study analyzed 11 years of data across Florida’s 20 Circuit Courts and identified inefficiencies and best practices among court processes, specifically with the legislative appointment of judges and case clearance rates. Students collaborated with Assistant County Administrator Wanda Hunter and the Leon County Director of the Office of Intervention and Detention Alternatives Teresa Broxton.
Andrew Baxter, Wendy Diaz, and Madisen Maring, the students who worked on the project, delivered their findings to the Leon County Public Safety Coordinating Council at their April 18 meeting led by Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor.
“This partnership created a fresh perspective to problem-solving for our agency,” Long said. “The students were not constrained by the dynamics of politics or personalities and approached the problems from a logical and practical vantage point. I believe it also gave the students a chance to see real-world issues that exist in every community and also gave them an opportunity to put what they’ve studied and learned into practice.”
Partnerships with government and non-profit human service organizations will continue in the coming semesters helping to ensure MPA students get the most comprehensive education possible.
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Florida State University’s Master of Science in Planning (MSP) program is one the oldest and largest programs of its kind in the state of Florida, ranked top 20 in the nation by Planetizen.
Graduates have contributed to projects with city, county, and state government agencies such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Health, Department of Economic Opportunity, Regional Planning Councils), private consulting firms (Kimley-Horn and AECOM), and non-profit organizations (Florida Housing Coalition.) These exceptional successes can be attributed to the rigorous and experiential nature of the program.
Urban planning requires one to know their community and the infrastructural problems that exist within it. That can mean a number of things such as transportation, housing, and community design.
Students get that experience firsthand by conducting community surveys every semester. Led by Tisha Holmes, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, students went into South City, Tallahassee during the spring semester where they supported the THRIVE Initiative and conducted resident surveys about experiences with food access and ways to increase food security in the neighborhood.
“We were happy to support a community-led initiative to collect data that will inform the design of strategies which can address food insecurity and increase access to fresh and healthy food options in South City,” said Dr. Holmes.
Before graduation, students complete a studio capstone class in the Mark & Marianne Barnebey Planning & Development Lab. In this class, students put their knowledge to use by conducting studies for ongoing projects in the local community.
Many of these projects go on to be presented to local government leaders.
Past cohorts have completed implementation strategy reports for the City of Tallahassee’s Neighborhood First Planning Process; conducted feasibility studies for the installation of high-voltage power transmission lines for the Jefferson County Commission; and designed, facilitated, and hosted community visioning sessions for the incorporation of St. George Island.
Department of Political Science
One of Florida State University’s greatest advantages is its proximity to the epicenter of Florida’s Government. The Political Science programs take full advantage of this, leveraging it to give students experiential learning opportunities from the moment they step on campus all the way up to the moment they earn a master’s degree.
It starts with the Applied Politics and Policy Experience (APPLE), a highly selective three-semester program for undergraduate students. The only program of its kind in the United States, it offers a small cohort of students leadership training and experiential political learning opportunities at the local, state, and federal levels of government.
“The APPLE program is unique in that students gain valuable professional and leadership experience with curriculum that integrates seamlessly with their undergraduate degree objectives,” said APPLE program co-founder and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department, Amanda Driscoll, Ph.D. “This program really super-charges students’ course of study, all while building their portfolios as early career professionals.”
The program’s coursework helps to build a student’s understanding from the ground up, starting with establishing theories in the classroom and ending with putting that knowledge into practice with numerous opportunities in the real world.
In the fall, students enroll in courses on local politics, which positions them to engage in local politics through leadership training and connecting with civic leaders, public officials, community leaders and stakeholder groups. In the upcoming academic year, students in the APPLE program will collaborate on projects to better understand and proactively address challenges relating to food insecurity in Tallahassee and in Leon County.
At the same time, they will start to apply this knowledge while getting a front-row seat to the happenings at all levels of government. In the spring, APPLE students participate in premier state-level internships for credit, gaining hands-on experience during the fast-paced Florida legislative session.
Last year, APPLE student interns worked with the leadership and members of the Florida Senate, the Florida House of Representatives, and within executive agencies of the State of Florida.
Over the summer they are able to take a step up to the federal level thanks to a partnership with The Washington Center. The Center provides a selection of world-class internship programs and seminars in the heart of Washington, D.C., as well as fully furnished housing within proximity to make the experience a little easier.
“The APPLE Program has provided unparalleled opportunities to gain real-world experience in the political arena,” senior political science student Sarah Brophy said. “The network I built and the transferable skills I learned are integral for both my undergraduate experience and future career.”
Undergraduate students more interested in pursuing opportunities that emphasize research might instead opt into the Research Intensive Bachelor’s Certificate (RIBC) Program.
The competitive 25-person program puts students through a series of intensive research classes, culminating with them working on real university research projects through an internship supervised by faculty at the Department of Political Science. This allows them to gain high-caliber research skills and practical experience working in an academic research environment.
The most recent cohort of RIBC undergraduates designed and fielded an original survey experiment that investigates the electoral incentives for legislatures to exercise oversight of executive actions taken in the name of national security. As a class, the undergraduates formulated the research question, designed and preregistered the survey instrument and experimental design, and then analyzed, visualized and wrote up the analysis of the results. They will submit this research to a peer-reviewed journal in the coming months.
“The RIBC program provides an unparalleled, hands-on learning experience for motivated undergraduates to hone their research skills, building confidence for future research endeavors,” Dr. Driscoll said.
Students can then go on to earn a Master’s of Applied American Politics and Policy (MAAPP), a top national master’s program for applied learning in several political fields, including campaigns, fundraising, political communications, lobbying, legislative affairs, and more. The program’s 500+ alumni are some of today’s top political professionals in the Florida and Washington, D.C., political arenas. Students in the program engage with the program’s alumni from day one and complete a required 300-hour Practicum to observe and analyze political processes.
Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy
Housed within the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy is the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy offering students interested in a career in social sciences many opportunities for experiential learning.
One of which is the Institute’s affiliation with the CAnD3 training program, which teaches population analytics in an aging society. It’s a 12-month primarily virtual supplemental program that is a mix of data science, knowledge translation, and other applied skill-building for today’s policy and professional sectors.
The Institute funds two to three students in the program each year.
“This is an important and unprecedented opportunity for PhD-earning social scientists in COSSPP to expand their training for solving real-world solutions,” said Pepper Institute Director Miles Taylor, Ph.D.
The program prepares students for roles outside of academia and aims to increase their immediate productivity in the workforce.
“Training from programs like CAnD3 helps close the gaps between academic roles and applied data science work,” said Knowli CEO and COSSPP alumna Emily Saras (M.S. Sociology ‘18; Ph.D. Sociology ‘23).
Department of Economics
The Master’s in Applied Economics program within the Department of Economics provides more than your typical economics education. The terminal program has over a 90 percent job placement rate for graduates.
As the name suggests, it differentiates itself from traditional economics because the curriculum goes beyond the theory to give students the chance to apply their knowledge in practical settings.
This style of learning is seen in full effect during the summer capstone class each cohort completes. Three to four students work in a group and act as if they were analysts at an economic consulting firm, with a supervising faculty member acting as a partner of this mock consulting firm. These groups often present their work and findings to real clients, who tasked them with finding answers to specific questions or issues.
This experience allows students to meet with members of the community and refine their data analysis and networking skills. Students always face data cleaning and acquisition setbacks, so they learn how to think on their feet. If one path doesn’t prove fruitful, they quickly redirect to get the project completed in the twelve-week timeframe.
In the past, groups have presented their findings to the Department of Education, the Jackson County Commission, and the Osceola County Commission. One study done a by previous group, “Assessing the Fiscal Impact of Sea Level Rise in Florida,” has been cited by many other researchers.
Students also end their capstone by presenting their findings to key stakeholders in the economic world at their Summer Symposium. Attendees in the past have included the Bureau Chief at the Department of Economic Opportunity, board members of the Able Trust, the Florida Chamber, and the Atlanta Fed.
“I found that really valuable because we had to work on it for several months, it was one of the longest projects I had ever worked on,” Krista Lape, a MAEP graduate and consultant with Charles Rivers Associates said. “It was also the most data I ever had my hands on, so we got to learn real data issues, got to answer real questions that had an impact, and then we got to present to the community. Other people had things to say about our project, it was relevant. Florida Tax Watch in my case, had done the same project and they got a number around ours, which was validating that we as students had figured it out using the same tools that the professionals had.”
Students also get the chance to work on their soft skills in the program thanks to a bi-annual Career Day put on by the program. Economic professionals from around Tallahassee and alumni from around the country and the southeast come to the Bellamy building for a networking event and conduct mock interviews with students.
“There are many different classes and activities throughout your few semesters that teach you how to work with others, teamwork, how to communicate, like soft skills needed to survive on the job,” Krista Lape, a MAEP graduate and consultant with Charles Rivers Associates said. “Not just here’s a bunch of theory, you’re spending years learning how to be an academic.”
This helps many of the students ultimately land an internship and get real-world experience before they graduate. Students from past cohorts have worked in public, private, and non-profit sectors.
Thanks to the experience from the MAEP program, students are ready to make immediate impacts despite their intern status, leading to a rewarding and productive experience for both the student and the company employing them.
Department of Geography
The three pillars of the FSU Geography program are the human, the environment, and the technical. The physical nature of the field requires tangible learning opportunities, and FSU provides students with plenty.
It starts with undergraduate curriculum and classes like Stephanie Pau, Ph.D.’s, GEO 4114: Field Methods. A significant portion of the class is spent outdoors as students go into nature and conduct field research.
Be it Landis Green or the Apalachicola National Forest, students get to observe North Florida’s ecology firsthand. Students keep field journals and notebooks where they record the things they see and experience.
These logs along with data recorded in the field are analyzed using the knowledge from their lectures. This gives students a holistic view of the field, as well as practical experiences for what they can expect in a career in geography, ecology, natural resource management, or conservation.
“Field courses provide unique outdoor experiences that promote cooperative problem-solving, community and belonging, and hands-on training,” Dr. Pau said. “My field course in particular, challenges students to work together and share their careful, systematic observations of the environment around them, as a foundation to understand the scientific process.”
The study of geography doesn’t all take place in nature, however. The use of technology to analyze data has become increasingly important for solving the world’s problems.
FSU’s Master’s in Geographic Information Science provides students with the tools to go right into the labor force thanks to its hands-on curriculum.
A geographic information system (GIS) is a system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data. This data then helps stakeholders and problem solvers in many industries such as education, retail, and real estate, to identify and forecast problems before they happen.
An important component of the subject is understanding the technology used to turn the raw data into something useful. Students in the terminal one-year master’s program get lots of time using this technology, achieving high levels of proficiency with the technology and learning to interpret the datasets they create.
In order to complete the program, students must complete a 6-hour capstone class designed to assess students’ ability to synthesize knowledge and demonstrate skills gained throughout the entire MSGIS program.
Students typically complete this through an internship, giving them hands-on experience offering solutions and support to real-world problems, including emergency management and mining operations. Students have previously worked on projects for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Resources and Environmental Analysis Center, Feather River Land Trust, and Altamira Technologies Corporation.
“Hand-on education in GIS is extremely important for training in the field of geography as GIS can help answer questions such as where things are, what patterns and relationships exist, and what actions should be taken, which can enhance spatial thinking and support inquiry-based learning,” M.S. GIS Program Coordinator and Professor of Geography Xiaojun Yang, Ph.D., said.
With these skills, students become the problem solvers in their chosen industry, ranging from environmental protection, urban planning, and emergency management to public health and more.
To read the full 2022-2023 edition of Engage Magazine, go to https://cosspp.fsu.edu/engage.