At a time of wrenching changes to legacy public policies and social program funding, our overall goal is to enable each student to prepare to lead strategic policy making forward into tomorrow’s communities and public sector organizations. Compounded by a Federal reset of core American policies, programs, and norms, rapidly evolving political, economic, social, and technology dynamics are transforming our society and the public sector that serves it. In the years ahead, creative, agile policy innovation will be as much the hallmark of the leaders of healthy, successful public service agencies and community organizations as it is of the entrepreneurs in today’s high tech startups. With a view to developing new policies suited to tomorrow’s America, the class explores a wide range of the thorny strategic policy issues and leadership opportunities which lie ahead in the working careers of our MPA graduates. Students in this intensive course will strengthen their personal capacities to create and lead strategic policy change efforts in public agencies, in community-based organizations, and in the hybrid collaborations which increasingly plan and deliver key public services. Using real world strategic planning problems, seminar work will develop a repertoire of the policy planning principles and practices needed by leaders in tomorrow’s American communities and governments. Augmented by preparatory reading and by in-class conversations with guest experts, students will use in-class “clinics” to strengthen a personal repertoire of policy planning and change leadership skills. That repertoire will include students’ conduct of an innovative “Strategy Lab” to explore a difficult, class-selected public policy problem with invited community guests. At the heart of the class experience is each student’s step-by-step development of an action plan to tackle one of our society’s difficult problems. Selecting a policy issue of compelling personal interest, aided by in class discussion and faculty coaching, students will progress from problem definition to strategic concept to a finished game plan as they each tackle one of the big challenges likely facing tomorrow’s public sector leaders in our We the People democracy.
The Future of Public Policy with meet weekly on Tuesday evenings.