Perceptions, Predictions, and Barriers: The Atlanta Beltline

Author: Sean Dunn, Class of 2011

Link to Paper: Beltline Research Project May 2011

Summary: The goal of this research is to provide an analysis of the barriers that residents face when presented with an alternative to an established metropolitan environment. We do this by first surveying Georgia residents, both within Metro-Atlanta area and in the surrounding greater Atlanta area, regarding their choices within the built environment, their current and future predicted use of Atlanta’s parks, trails, and transit systems as well as perceptions of Atlanta’s proposed BeltLine project.

The purpose of this research is not simply to find out how many people in the Atlanta area approve or disapprove of the BeltLine project. Rather, it is to figure out why a project like the BeltLine is so difficult to bring to completion even if there is broad support for it, to understand how people think about the difficulty of such projects, and to consider whether people’s thinking itself might contribute to that difficulty.

By investigating perceptions, predictions, and opinions that Atlanta residents have about the city and the BeltLine, we reveal some of the most intriguing relationships that emerge from the data. We identify and examine factors contributing to support, skepticism, and likely use of the proposed BeltLine parks, trails, and transit.

In addition, we pull from various contemporary authors and researchers to support or contest their BeltLine-related assertions and hypotheses. The paper makes a valid contribution, as a well-researched and unbiased social survey is not found in the literature, much less one that draws from such a range of perspectives.

MARILYN BROWN NAMED AN INAUGURAL AMBASSADOR FOR DOE/MIT WOMEN IN CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAM

Climate and energy policy professor Marilyn Brown has been named an inaugural ambassador in U.S. Department of Energy / MIT Women in Clean Energy Program for the United States.

Announced in April, the Women in Clean Energy Program is part of the U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment initiative (C3E) and is aimed at attracting more women to clean energy careers and supporting their advancement into leadership positions.  As an ambassador, Brown is one of a cohort of distinguished senior professionals who share an interest in broadening the recruitment, retention and advancement of highly qualified women in the field of clean energy and are committed to acting as champions for the goals of C3E. She and her fellow ambassadors will also serve as the selection panel for the Women in Clean Energy awards program.

http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=128721

Philip Shapira, Jan Youtie et al staff the Georgia Manufacturing Survey

Project Title

Georgia Manufacturing Survey

Overview

The Georgia Manufacturing Survey (GMS) is a statewide study conducted every two to three years by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy to assess the business and technological conditions of Georgia’s manufacturers. The theme of GMS 2005 is Innovation in Manufacturing.Philip Shapira Jan Youtie John Slanina Jue Wang Jingjing Zhang Nooshin Ahangar-Mahalia Ajay Bhaskarabhatla Erin Lamos Uttam Malani http://stip.gatech.edu/?p=185

Juan D. Rogers furthers capacity-based evaluation of university STEM research programs

Developing Capacity Based Evaluation
Approaches to University Science Programs
Comparing Interdisciplinary Centers and Traditional Academic Units

PI: Juan D. Rogers

Co-PI: Barry Bozeman

         We have defined Capacity-based research evaluation as “an approach seeking to identify and measure factors presumed to enhance the ability of persons, institutions or social agglomerations to contribute to scientific and technical knowledge.”

The purpose of this project is to further develop the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings for “capacity-based evaluation” of university science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) research programs and to implement field evaluations in three different settings: university science and engineering centers in majority institutions, university science and engineering in historically black colleges and universities (HBCU’s) or EPSCOR programs, and, as a “control,” traditional, discipline oriented, academic departments in a matched set of universities. The capacity of a research unit is given by the scientific and technical human capital (STHC) of its members and the infrastructure that supports their activities. Capacity-based evaluation seeks to assess the two components of capacity and establish the adequacy of the fit between them. In other words, it seeks to assess not only the absolute value of human capital and of means at their disposal but also establish how well adjusted they are to each other. The analysis of infrastructure will focus especially on information technology. Many of the most significant recent investments in infrastructure for research and higher education, such as, Internet technologies, digital libraries, high performance computing, are in the area of information technology. Because of the generic nature and rapid change of these technologies, they present a special challenge for appropriate use and adequacy of fit with research activities in different fields.

http://www.rvm.gatech.edu/research_doe.htm

Peggy Berg, Class of 2011

Peggy Berg, CPA, CHA

Professor, Georgia State University

Atlanta, Georgia

Link to: Peggy Berg, Alumni Profile

I am a professor in the Robinson College of Business Cecil B. Day School at Georgia State University. I’m also managing our family’s hotel and rental property businesses.

My research at Tech was about using customer feedback to improve public sector service delivery. I’ve worked on two citizen feedback projects with the City of Atlanta and would like to work in this arena as my career goes forward.

Microeconomics was full of Aha! moments for me. From game theory to competitive market theory, I did not want the concepts to hold true, but the more I studied them, the more they helped me make sense of the world around me.

I’m just back from two horse back pack trips; one in the Wimenuche Range in Colorado and the other in the Wenatchee Range in Washington State: horses, wilderness, campfires, wildflowers, good company, cowboy poetry, mountain streams and lakes, heaven. And, you can’t get away from the impacts of policy, even in the wild, from beetle damage to wildfires, to drought – it’s all visible at 10,000 feet.

Wes Staley, Class of 2011

 Wes Staley

Presidential Management Fellow

Washington, DC

Link to: Wes Staley Alumni Profile

 

I am currently working as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md.  As a PMF, I rotate in various offices at the NIH to gain an understanding of the administrative functions performed by the NIH.  At the completion of my 2 year fellowship, I will convert to a traditional position.

I am now  in the Division of Risk Management and Audit Liaison.  This provides an opportunity for me to apply the skills/knowledge obtained through a Negotiation and Conflict Management course I attended while at Tech.

Working at the NIH is fascinating.  One of the aspects I had not expected was the research that is conducted on site at the NIH.  One of the more amazing experiences was a presentation from the Doctor/Researcher responsible for the Undiagnosed Diseases Program.  This researcher’s responsibility is the same as the character Dr. House in the program title House.

I am still exploring the D.C. area to take in the sights.  Attending committee hearings is also an interesting experience.

 

Sean Dunn, Class of 2011

 Sean Dunn

Focus: Environmental and Economic Development Policy

Policy Analyst at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Link to Full Profile: Sean Dunn — Alumni Profile

I am a fiscal and policy analyst at Georgia’s Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget—I provide budget oversight on behalf of the Governor and policy recommendations regarding several agencies within the State’s “Growing Georgia” initiative. I work closely with the Department of Natural Resources (including the Environmental Protection Division), Department of Agriculture, and Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

While at Tech, I focused mainly on Environmental Policy and Economic Development Policy—Atlanta’s Beltline Project was a large conductor of this interest. I still hold a strong affinity for “sustainability”, where I feel these two policy areas intersect, and I always had my fingers crossed for employment at the City’s Office of Sustainability or a progressive think-tank

My greatest Aha! moment at Tech took place somewhere between Microeconomics for Policymakers and Geographies of Innovation when I realized much of what is “known” about how businesses, the economy, and economic development works is still largely theory! I always thought that, “I just didn’t get it” … turns out no one knows for sure how all these variables do, or should, fit together. Phew!

Matt Cox, Class of 2009

Matt Cox

Atlanta, Georgia

NSF IGERT Fellow

Link to: Cox Alumni Profile July 2012

 

I’m currently engaged in policy analyses of building codes, flexible financing opportunities, and energy bench-marking for the commercial building sector, as well as the climate and energy footprints of metropolitan areas in the United States. I have forthcoming publications on the impact of an economically efficient carbon tax, the potential of an investment tax credit for combined heat and power in the industrial sector, and methods for calculating uncertainty in policy analysis with applications to the industrial sector.

What was your greatest “Aha!” moment at Tech? Realizing that if you don’t have a realistic answer, your answer will be nearly useless.

I have many other tools available to me, in terms of developing policy options to address problems, than I entered the program with.

My current hobbies/interests are: promoting a local foods economy, playing and enjoying music, and brewing beer!

 

Federal Science Funding in the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: An Assessment of Two Policy Process Frameworks

Federal Science Funding in the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: An Assessment of Two Policy Process Frameworks

by: Tamara E. Hutto

Class of 2011

Link to: Thesis 2011

SUMMARY

In order to understand how policies are made, analysts need to be able to explain and describe the policy making process. This is a complex task due to the variety and complexity of policy making environments. The difficulty lies in accounting for the multiple actors who come and go, differing preferences, and impending problems and solutions sets which vary by policy environment.

Therefore, there is a need to approach the understanding of policy processes from several different theoretical perspectives to aid in evaluating the multifaceted variations which ultimately affect policy making. An improved description of processes can lead to more accurate predictions of possible future policies, improved advocacy efforts, and enhanced problem solving.

Two policy process frameworks, the Multiple Stream Framework (MSF) and the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, were applied to a recent significant change in science policy.  An understanding is developed to explain how federal science funding survived within the highly controversial and costly American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

The volatile and unpredictable nature of science policy lends itself well to the MSF, while the more static IAD is less useful to explain how and why the funds stayed in the bill. This is telling about the scope and adaptability of the two frameworks, where each may be better suited for different policy environments. The MSF being more appropriate for unstable and capricious policy issues and the IAD better matched for policy issues which have a somewhat more stable environment.

Citizen Feedback

  Citizen Feedback Survey:  Business License Office

This survey of all business license applicants providing email addresses to the City of Atlanta from January through October 2011 provides information to improve customer service and generates information about how the City’s business license system can be made more effective.

View full paper: Citizen Feedback Report for Transform Government