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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Telephone:  608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233


Last updated:
October 27, 2009

© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

News: Summer 2008

MIPA alum organizes leadership training for young Arab women

Young women from the Middle East and North Africa gathered in Doha, Qatar, to improve their leadership skills, thanks in part to the organizing efforts of La Follette School alum Katie Croake.

“The participants were students, civil society leaders and political activists from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar and Yemen,” Croake says. “During the week we were in Doha, they gained the intellectual tools, comparative knowledge and practical skills they need to become leaders in their communities.”

Croake designed and implemented the Young Women Leaders Academy as part of her job as program manager with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Washington, D.C. The institute is a nonprofit organization that strengthens and expands democracy worldwide. Croake graduated in 2003 with a master’s degree in international public affairs.

Seminars addressed women’s leadership and social and political issues in the Middle East and North Africa. Sessions also covered public speaking, conflict resolution, advocacy and fund-raising. Throughout the week, the women worked in small groups to develop political campaigns, including platforms and media plans, that they presented on the academy’s final day.

“Each participant came to the academy wanting to strengthen the role of women leaders in their own countries,” Croake says. “After the academy, we place them in internships with parliaments, political parties or civil society organizations where they put what they learned into practice.”

“These women are amazing,” Croake says. “To be so young and so dedicated to improving the lives of people in their countries has been inspiring for all of us who worked with them.”

— posted August 25, 2008

Stockholm University to grant professor honorary degree

La Follette School professor Timothy Smeeding will join ABBA lead singer Benny Andersson on stage as they receive honorary degrees from Sweden’s Stockholm University on September 26.

Smeeding, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and director of the Institute for Research on Poverty, is being recognized for his contributions to the Luxembourg Income Study, a research center and cross-national data archive located in Luxembourg. Prior to joining the La Follette School of Public Affairs this fall, he was founding director of the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School.

“I am very grateful and honored to have the Luxembourg Income Study recognized in this way,” says Smeeding, who plans to give a lecture at the Swedish Institute for Social Research while in Stockholm. “I just hope they don’t ask me to join Mr. Andersson in a rendition of ‘Dancing Queen.’ I prefer that they ask John McCain since that tune was No. 1 on his list of top 10 songs.”

Smeeding  founded the Luxembourg Income Study in 1983.  One of the archive's two databases includes income microdata from many countries at multiple points in time. The other houses wealth microdata from a smaller selection of countries. Both incorporate labor market and demographic information. The LIS data play an essential role in research at the University of Stockholm, especially in studies of social, economic and health-related inequality, the university said in its announcement of the honorary degree.

The LIS is mainly funded by the national science and social science research foundations of its member countries and now boasts more than 200 datasets from 34 countries. LIS has earned its own entry in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. The news media regularly cite the study as the most reliable source of comparable data on inequality and poverty across rich nations. Smeeding recently began a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation to add middle-income countries like China and India to the LIS archives.

Smeeding’s research focuses on the economics of public policy, especially social policy and at-risk populations; national and cross-national comparisons of income and wealth inequality; poverty; social policy; and social mobility. Based on LIS data, his book Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America's Children in Comparative Perspective, co-authored with Lee Rainwater, places child poverty in the United States in an international context. Another, The Future of the Family, co-edited by Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Lee Rainwater, brings together the top scholars of family policy to take stock of the state of the family in the United States and address the ways in which public policy affects the family and vice versa, also using the LIS. Immigration and the Transformation of Europe, co-edited with Craig Parsons examines a historic transformation underway in 21st-century Europe, in-flows of non-European people. Smeeding is also co-editor of the Handbook of Economic Inequality that Oxford University Press will publish in January.

Benny Andersson to receive Honorary Doctorate from Stockholm University, Stockholm University, April 24, 2008

White House DJ Battle, Blender magazine, July 30, 2008

— posted August 21, 2008

Orientation welcomes new students to La Follette School

The La Follette School welcomes its entering class of 50 students with an orientation starting Tuesday, August 26, that includes the nuts and bolts of being a student, plus opportunities for new students to get to know continuing students, faculty and staff.

The Tuesday session at the Pyle Center provides an overview of La Follette faculty, staff, curriculum and career development options. “New students will have many formal and informal opportunities ask questions of continuing students, faculty and staff,” says Associate Director Menzie Chinn.

The session on Tuesday includes Chinn and Director Carolyn Heinrich. They and a number of continuing students will talk with first-year students about areas of study, affiliated courses, and academic and professional opportunities for La Follette School students. Faculty who will be talking about their policy and management research interests are Mark Copelovitch, Don Moynihan, Tom DeLeire and John Witte.

Chinn and Student Services Coordinator Mary Treleven will review curricular issues. Career Development Coordinator Mary Russell will explore how students can advance toward their career goals and outline the course PA800 Professional Development Workshop.

Members of the La Follette School Student Association will staff the orientation check-in, says President Lindsay Read, who will introduce the association and officers, describe activities and facilitate discussion among new and continuing students. LSSA volunteers will be on hand to go to lunch with new students during the break on Tuesday before the new students take the statistics and microeconomics assessment exams at 2 p.m.

A highlight of orientation is the school’s dinner on Tuesday in Tripp Commons at Memorial Union, Chinn says, and it is one of the few times the entire entering class and La Follette faculty meet as a group. Wednesday and Thursday features times for meetings with school faculty and staff. Orientation winds up on Friday with a required review of the assessment exam, 9 a.m. to noon in 6104 Sewell Social Sciences Building.

— posted August 19, 2008

Prof wins grant to explore ways to improve Social Security

Pamela Herd of the La Follette School has won a $30,000 Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Award to Strengthen Social Security for Vulnerable Groups.

She will use the award to develop a proposal to improve Social Security benefits for older low-income women who raised children. “Many women end up poor in old age, in part, due to the time and energy they devoted to raising children as opposed to participating in paid labor,” says Herd, an assistant professor of public affairs and sociology. “Most other countries reward women for this work. The U.S. does not do so.”

Selected by the National Academy of Social Insurance, Herd and 11 other recipients from across the United States will meet this fall to discuss their proposals. An advisory committee of NASI experts selected the 12 policy scholars after thorough review of a large number of proposals. The 12 from disciplines such as political science, law, actuarial science, sociology, social work and economics. Their final papers will identify specific ways to improve Social Security for a range of vulnerable groups.

Herd's research examines the effects of Medicare and Social Security on gender, race, and class, and the relationship between socioeconomic status and health. She co-authored the 2007 book Market Friendly or Family Friendly? The State and Gender Inequality in Old Age with Madonna Harrington Meyer. The book is part of the American Sociological Association's Rose Series on Public Policy. Herd is also author of numerous articles and chapters that have appeared in Social Forces, Gender and Society, The Gerontologist, Journal of Aging and Social Policy and the Blackwell Companion to Sociology.

UW prof awarded grant to advance Social Security, Capital Times, August 26, 2008

Professor wins grant to explore ways to improve Social Security, University of Wisconsin-Madison News, August 26, 2008

NASI Announces Winners of Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Awards to Strengthen Social Security for Vulnerable Groups, National Academy of Social Insurance press release, July 23, 2008

Older women still likely to be impoverished, professor says, La Follette School News, February 21, 2008

— posted August 19, 2008; updated August 26, August 27, 2008

60 percent of May graduates working in their fields

Three months after graduation, 60 percent of the members of the class of 2008 have found work in their fields. Including the three students who plan to continue their education, 65.5 percent of the 55 new alumni are taking the next steps in their careers.

“That’s an impressive percentage of students to have jobs so soon after graduation,” says Career Development Coordinator Mary Russell. “This shows how in demand our students are.”

Twenty-one members of the class of 2008 are in Madison, while seven are in Washington, D.C., and eight are working elsewhere in the United States.

Private and nonprofit employers include the World Council of Credit Unions, Kema, Carana Corporation and the Civil Society Institute. In local government, one student is now deputy controller for Milwaukee County, while another is working in the city of Milwaukee’s budget office.

Three members of the class reached the finalist stage in the Presidential Management Fellows Program that places recent graduates with federal agencies for two-year assignments. Two chose to move forward. The third accepted a position with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Another member of the class won the L.P. Cookingham Management Fellowship, with the City of Kansas City in Missouri.

Three grads signed on with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, adding to a sizable number of La Follette School alumni already working there. “The GAO recruits here nearly every year,” Russell says.

Twelve alumni are working for the State of Wisconsin, two with the Department of Children and Families and two with the Department of Health Services. The State changed the Department of Health and Family Services into the Department of Health Services and created the Department of Children and Families on July 1, 2008.

Four grads are now with the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, including one who interned there in the spring and parlayed that into a job. “Of the six staffers LAB hired this year,” Russell says, “four were from La Follette.”

"We typically hire two to four La Follette graduates every year. Their education and experience make them strong candidates for careers at the Legislative Audit Bureau," says Paul Stuiber, deputy state auditor for Program Evaluation at the LAB and a 1988 La Folette grad. "The coursework of La Follette graduates prepares them exceptionally well for analyzing a wide range of complex public policy issues, formulating effective recommendations for improving state programs, and drafting clear evaluation reports."

3 students make PMF finalist stage, one takes Federal Reserve post, La Follette School News, April 16, 2008

Student accepts city management fellowship in Kansas City, La Follette School News, April 3, 2008

Speed-networking event brings together alumni, students, La Follette School News, February 6, 2008

— posted August 15, 2008; updated August 20, August 21, August 25, August 26, 2008

Journal ranks No. 1 for citation impact

A journal edited by La Follette School director Carolyn Heinrich reclaimed the No. 1 ranking for 2007, based on its citation impact factor.

The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory saw an increase in its citation impact factor from 2006 to 2007, setting a new "high bar" for journals in the public administration and public policy category. The impact rating measures the number of times authors cited articles from the journal within the past two years, adjusted for the number of articles published. Citations of published research are key indicators of the influence of scholarly work. The rankings are compiled by Thomson ISI Web of Knowledge’s Journal Citation Reports database.

JPART ranked No. 1 in 2005 and No. 2 in 2006, with a steadily increasing impact factor from 1.451 in 2005 to 1.655 in 2006 and 1.982 in 2007, Heinrich reports. In the year prior to Heinrich's acceptance of the editorial role (2004), JPART ranked 14th with an impact factor of 0.872, suggesting a sharply positive trajectory for the journal since it has come to the La Follette School.

In addition, the Journal of International Economics, co-edited by professor of public affairs and economics Charles Engel, ranked 25th in economics with an impact factor of 1.541.

— posted August 13, 2008

Heinrich takes helm as director of La Follette School

Carolyn Heinrich has succeeded Barbara (Bobbi) Wolfe as director the La Follette School.

Heinrich is a highly regarded expert on social welfare policy, public management and the application of econometric methods in social-program evaluation. She is the first director with full tenure in the school of public affairs; most of the 22 faculty have joint appointments with other departments. Heinrich is also an affiliated professor of economics.

For La Follette she teaches Advanced Statistical Methods for Public Policy (formerly Quantitative Methods for Public Policy) and Social Welfare Policy and Management. She also is associate director of research and training for the Institute for Research on Poverty.

In her research, Heinrich works directly with governments at all levels, including the U.S. government on an evaluation of workforce development programs, the state of Wisconsin on a child-support demonstration program, Milwaukee Public Schools in the evaluation of supplemental educational services, and the governments of Brazil and South Africa on their social and human capital development programs.

Other faculty news

Andrew Reschovsky is back in Madison after spending the 2007-08 academic year as a visiting fellow with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The institute’s Land Lines magazine featured a Q&A with him that explores his research on Wisconsin’s property tax and highlights his views on various strategies states are following to reduce the burden of the property. He says that states should avoid  measures that distort the relationship between tax liabilities and the market value of property; not interfere with the ability of local elected governments to determine tax levels; and target tax relief to people for whom property taxes cause the most hardship.

Reschovsky shared his insights with a couple of news outlets. He noted in Education Week that the current economic situation is likely to threaten education funding in a number of states as state legislators around the country struggle to fill state budget gaps. He commented in the Wisconsin State Journal about Wisconsin's minimum markup law that requires filling stations to price gasoline at least 9.2 percent above the wholesale price of gas.

He also commented on a proposal in New York state to cap school property taxes, limiting increases to 4 percent or 120 percent of the consumer price index, whichever is less. An increase beyond that would require a referendum. "The property tax traditionally helps guarantee a steady stream of funds for public education in tough times," Reschovsky wrote in an op-ed in the Albany (NY) Times Union. "When state aid to local school districts is cut during recessions, the property tax can substitute for reduced state funding. It can, that is, if it is unconstrained by caps or other limits." During a recession, schools in states with caps cannot turn to the property tax to offset cuts in state funds. This means schools have to cut spending, and this leads to poorer quality education. "[A]ll else being equal, states with caps have poorer-quality schools," Reschovsky says.

Associate Director Menzie Chinn presented two papers at four conferences in May and June. One is a new paper on business cycles and exchange rates, presented in June at the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena conference on “The Impact of Global Financial Imbalances” in Siena, Italy, and at the Reinventing Bretton Woods/Austrian National Bank conference "Global Markets Disruptions: Will Global Imbalances Unwind?" in Salzburg, Austria.

He also presented a paper on the misalignment of China’s renminbi at in a June 3 seminar at the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development program; and at the Deutsche Bundesbank/Center for Financial Studies-Goethe University Frankfurt workshop on “Panel Methods and Open Economies” in May.

Greg Nemet presented his recent research on modeling the impacts of government action on low carbon energy technologies at the International Energy Agency in Paris. He also presented this work at a workshop on modeling technological innovation at the Santa Fe Institute. In June, he participated in a two-week Fulbright seminar in Berlin and Brussels studying how science is used to inform public policy on climate change, food safety, and stem cells in Germany and in the European Union.

Bob Haveman and Bobbi Wolfe participated in two conferences at the end of August. The first, the meetings of the International Institute of Public Finance (of which Haveman is a past president), focused on demography and pensions. These meetings were in Maastricht, The Netherlands, at the university there. Both Wolfe and Haveman presented papers. The second conference, the meetings of the International Association on Research in Income and Wealth, was in Portorož, Slovenia. Haveman and Wolfe each contributed a paper, and Wolfe discussed two papers tied to measuring inequalities in health. “While there, we drove into Croatia and went to see the Coliseum in Pula, the sixth largest in the world and well preserved,” Wolfe reports.

— posted August 13, 2008; updated August 19, August 21, September 5, 2008

Alum running for district attorney

La Follette School alum Peter Tempelis is running for district attorney in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. As an assistant direct attorney for Jefferson County, he prosecutes misdemeanor, felony, juvenile delinquency and child protective services cases. He has tried 20 jury trials on behalf of Jefferson County and the state of Wisconsin.

Current Jefferson County District Attorney David Wambach announced in June he will not seek re-election and will be moving to serve with the state attorney general's office. Tempelis’ opposition is attorney Susan Happ.

Tempelis graduated in 2006 with a dual degree in public affairs and law. In endorsing Tempelis, Wambach noted the value of the candidate's training in public management. While in school, Tempelis won the distinction of being selected to serve as a symposium editor for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy's national symposium on enforcement litigation.

Prior to joining the DA's office, Tempelis completed criminal prosecution internships with the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee County district attorney's office. He also worked for Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson's chief legal counsel and Waterman & Associates, a government relations firm that lobbies on behalf of the Wisconsin Counties Association before Congress.

He is chair of the Jefferson County Delinquency Prevention Council, which works to address the causes of juvenile delinquency in the community. Tempelis is also a member of the Jefferson County Interagency Collaboration Council, which comprises school and human services officials and addresses countywide youth and school-related issues.

In addition, Tempelis serves as the DA's representative to the Juvenile Drug Court Planning and Implementation Committee, which, if successful, will create one of the first juvenile drug courts in Wisconsin addressing teenage drug abuse. This past year he joined the Jefferson County Gangs Committee, which consists of local law enforcement officers who hope to tackle the growing gang problem in the county. Tempelis began service this spring as a volunteer teen court judge for the Jefferson County Teen Court Program, a juvenile prosecution diversion program.

“I gladly volunteered to take on these additional activities,” he told the Watertown Daily Times. “I believe it is incumbent on the district attorney to collaborate with outside agency justice partners. Through these experiences, I understand how important it is to communicate and work effectively with diverse members of outside agencies and members of the community. These experiences have already laid the foundation for continued collaboration and success in addressing criminal activity.”

Tempelis challenges Happ for DA, Watertown Daily Times, June 23, 2008

— posted August 11, 2008; updated August 12, 2008

Alum testifies before U.S. House panel on long-term care insurance

Sean Dilweg, an alum who is now Wisconsin commissioner of insurance, testified before a U.S. House subcommittee about long-term care insurance and its regulation.

On behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Dilweg spoke before the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on July 24 in Washington, D.C. The 1998 La Follette School grad suggested that Congress work with NAIC to update the standards for tax qualified long-term policies and incorporate some of the latest consumer protections in the NAIC models.

Long-term care insurance is one way older adults with assets finance their long-term care needs, Dilweg says. In 2008, the annual cost of nursing home care is $76,500, while assisted living facilities cost about $36,100. “Long-term care insurance policies provide protection, up to the limits of the policies, against the financial burdens of long-term care, thus protecting the assets that have been accumulated by consumers,” he says.

Use of long-term care insurance has been increasing in the last several decades, Dilweg says, but it is difficult to regulate because the product is intended to fund services that won’t be used until 15 to 30 years have passed. That the cost and nature of those services and how they will be used may change dramatically in that time period makes regulation a challenge.

In response to concerns about long-term care insurance, NAIC made changes to its models and its Senior Issues Task Force, of which Dilweg is chair, is considering additional revisions. DIlweg urged Congress to adopt some of the NAIC consumer protections.

Dilweg noted that not all states experienced the problems reported in 2008 in the New York Times. “Overall, state regulation of long-term care insurance has worked very well and will continue to work well,” he says. “We would strongly encourage Congress to work with state regulators and the NAIC to ensure a strong, viable and healthy long-term care insurance market with good competition and consumers who have the knowledge and assistance to make good buying decisions.”

Testimony of Sean Dilweg, Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance, July 24, 2008

— posted August 8, 2008

Infrastructure, governance, education highlight annual legislative leadership training session

A focus on the Midwest’s infrastructure – from bridges and transportation to human capital and education – highlights the 14th annual Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development in August at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Each year, the institute, a joint offering by the La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments, offers an intensive leadership and professional development seminar for a select group of representatives.

Thirty-three legislators from 11 states and three Canadian provinces are in Madison this week for five days for the institute, the only leadership training program exclusively for Midwestern legislators. It helps newer legislators develop the skills necessary to become effective leaders, informed decision-makers and astute policy analysts.

“We try to teach them to ask the tough, hard questions on different policy issues,” says Dennis Dresang, the main La Follette School faculty member involved in the institute. “Some of these legislators are from term-limited states and they are rocketed into leadership. So they need this chance to learn quickly about policy initiatives underway in other states and provinces.”

Wisconsin lawmakers attending this year are Rep. Ann Hraychuck, Rep. Jim Ott, Rep. Gary Hebl and Sen. Pat Kreitlow. They join 27 current Wisconsin legislators as BILLD alumni.  

Through the program, lawmakers explore issues with nationally renowned scholars, professional development experts and legislative leaders and colleagues from across the region.

This year focuses on several infrastructure questions, from regional cooperation on economic development to alternative ways to fund transportation and novel compacts for managing natural resources. Speakers include Professor Ken Potter of the Engineering Department, Professor John Surdyk of the Business School and Professor Stephen Born of Environmental Studies. Fellows also will hear from Professor Walter Dickey, the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law, on ways to ease the corrections problems many states face. Other topics included immigration policy, research parks and educational issues for high-flyers and underachievers.

The political and cultural characteristics of the Midwest are the focus of a presentation by Dresang, who also discusses leadership types, legislative decision-making and legislators as change agents. Another session helps lawmakers understand the basics of ethics, work on practical applications in the legislative workplace, and recognize, navigate and resolve ethical dilemmas.

La Follette School Director Carolyn Heinrich and Outreach Director Terry Shelton greeted the lawmakers at the opening reception at the governor’s mansion.

— posted August 8, 2008

Professor wins political science research prize

La Follette School assistant professor Susan Webb Yackee has won the Paul Volcker Endowment Junior Scholar Research Grant from the American Political Science Association's Public Administration Section.

The $3,000 award will support her research project "Does Political Accountability Lead to Regulatory Delay? An Empirical Assessment of Federal Agency Rulemaking."

The Volcker Grant is given for research that sheds new light on important public administration questions, their scholarly and methodological rigor, and their promise for advancing practice and theory development.

Yackee received ASPA's 2007 "Emerging Scholar Award" from its Political Parties and Organizations Section. The Midwest Political Science Association honored her for the "Best Paper by an Emerging Scholar" Award for her 2007 presentation. The paper, co-authored with La Follette School affiliate Jason Yackee, is entitled "Is Agency Rulemaking 'Ossified'? Testing Congressional, Presidential, and Judicial Procedural Constraints from 1983 to 2006."

Her work has been published in the Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, American Politics Research, Political Research Quarterly, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and Policy Studies Journal.

La Follette School associate professor Donald P. Moynihan won the Volcker award in 2004 for his work, "What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Performance? A Content Analysis of Legislative Discussion of Performance Information." He published the book The Dynamics of Performance Management: Constructing Information and Reform earlier this year.

Professor wins political science research prize, University of Wisconsin-Madison news release, July 11, 2008

— posted July 10, 2008

Governor adopts recommendations in student workshop report

When Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle announced a record purchase of renewable electrical energy from state utilities, he did so based on recommendations La Follette School students made in a capstone report to the Department of Administration last year.

Doyle says the purchase, part of his Clean Energy Wisconsin agenda, of more than 92,400 megawatt hours of electricity from Madison Gas and Electric, We Energies and Wisconsin Public Power Inc. was one of the largest government acquisitions of renewable energy in the country.

“We have one of the greatest research engines in the world in our university system in this state, and we have a state that is blessed with rich forests, farms and industry,” Doyle says. “When we put these together, we can define an energy future that leaves our air cleaner, our water purer and our energy dollars here in our own pockets and not going overseas to countries that don’t even like us very much.”

The state is purchasing electricity from renewable sources equal to 10 percent of the energy consumed by the University of Wisconsin System and the departments of Health and Family Services, Corrections, Veterans Affairs, Administration and Public Instruction. The amount of electricity to be purchased from Madison Gas and Electric, We Energies and Wisconsin Public Power Inc. enough to light 9,240 Wisconsin homes each year. The majority of the renewable energy will come from wind, solar, hydro and landfill gas sources in Wisconsin.

That decision was the top recommendation La Follette School students made in their report,  Complying with Act 141: Renewable Electricity Consumption at State Facilities, for the Public Affairs Workshop, Domestic Issues taught by associate professor Donald Moynihan.

In their study, the students studied four policy alternatives. But the strongest option, and the one the governor chose, was to purchase renewable electricity from local utilities that will invest in in-state resources to generate renewable electricity.

That option performs “well in terms of maximizing feasibility and promoting a healthy natural environment in Wisconsin,” the students said. 

Doyle explained that purchasing electricity from renewable sources will cost the state an additional $1 million per year, but added that he expects Wisconsin to begin saving money from this investment within seven years.
 
“We will need people from all walks of life to work with us to build an infrastructure for a clean tomorrow,” Doyle says. “Together we can trade Mideast oil for Midwest know-how.”

Governor Doyle Announces Record State Clean Energy Purchase, Office of the Governor, July 9, 2008

— posted July 10, 2008

Professor to inform legislators on education budgets

La Follette School economist Andrew Reschovsky has been invited to present at the annual conference of the National Conference of State Legislators being held in New Orleans. He will discuss "The Impact of the Economic Downturn on Education Budgets and What to Do About It" on July 23.

— posted July 9, 2008

Chancellor to become La Follette School faculty member

Outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John D. Wiley will be joining the faculty of the La Follette School of Public Affairs as part of the next step in his service to the campus.

“We are very pleased to have Chancellor Wiley contribute his expertise and experience in higher education policy to the La Follette School,” says director Barbara (Bobbi) Wolfe.

Wiley intends to continue a number of lines of research on policy-related matters, including the finance and economics of higher education, and the accreditation of programs and institutions of higher education. He will have a joint appointment with the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, and he will be affiliated with the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Post-Secondary Education as a senior scholar.

On an interim basis, Wiley also will serve as director of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, the public half of a new interdisciplinary science research center.

Wiley to tackle interim role leading new institute, June 22, 2008, University of Wisconsin–Madison News

Wiley Named Interim Director Of Wisconsin Institute For Discovery, June 22, 2008, The Capital Times

— posted June 26, 2008

Alumni, students gather in Washington, D.C., for happy hour

Recent alumni in Washington, D.C., welcomed La Follette School students interning this summer at a happy hour at the downtown Capital City Brewing Co.

Five interns visited with seven members of the class of 2007 and one from 2008 who went to work at the U.S. Government Accountability Office just a few weeks after graduating. “We had some good conversations about our experiences in D.C. and at La Follette,” reports 2007 grad Kate Clark, who helped organize the gathering. She also is at GAO, working as a health policy analyst.

The gathering was partly made possible through gifts from alumni and friends of the La Follette School. “People were very appreciative of the food,” Clark says.

Career Development Coordinator Mary Russell helped connect the interns with the alumni. “With that many students interning in D.C. we thought it would be a good chance for them and alumni to meet and network,” she says.

The 2007 alumni hope to hold another gathering in a couple of months to meet more of the half dozen or more 2008 alumni who will be working in Washington. “Many of the new grads don’t start work until July or August, so we’re thinking of trying to set something up in late summer to welcome them as well,” Clark says. “We may also try to have a brown bag at GAO in July to make some connections between the interns and some of the many folks from La Follette who have been at GAO for a while.”

For information on future alumni gatherings in Washington, D.C., contact .

— posted June 20, 2008

Eno leadership conference helps student map route for transportation career

This summer, La Follette School student Michael Rodriguez is taking his firsthand knowledge of how national transportation policies are developed on the road to Chicago.

Back from a weeklong transportation conference in Washington, D.C., Rodriguez is spending the summer interning with the Chicago Transit Authority.

Rodriguez was one of 20 Eno fellows selected to participate in the weeklong Eno Leadership Development Conference in May in Washington, D.C. He and other graduate students from around the country heard from high-level policymakers and participated in discussions on topics critical to the future of transportation. Speakers represented the government, industry and nonprofit sectors.

“I gained a strong understanding of federal transportation policy, particularly the coming crisis in federal transportation funding,” he says. “I mainly took away that our system of gasoline taxes to fund roads and transit is not meeting 21st century needs, and we need better solutions to keep our surface transportation systems running.”

Topics covered the federal budgeting and appropriations process, the transportation funding crisis, safety and security, sustainability and climate change, and career planning. The students prepared for and participated in a mock congressional hearing.

“The Eno program is well recognized in the transportation community and exposes students to the policymaking process in the transportation domain,” says Midwest Regional University Transportation Center Deputy Director and La Follette alum Jason Bittner, who was an Eno fellow in 2000. “It is an honor to be selected.”

This fall Rodriguez, who worked with Bittner at the Midwest Regional University Transportation Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, will start his third and final year toward his double degree in public affairs and urban and regional planning. Rodriguez is also earning a certificate in transportation management and policy, which the center sponsors. He came to the La Follette School after an internship with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the aviation department. He has since interned at Fehr & Peers, a California-based transportation consulting firm.

In Chicago this summer, Rodriguez is doing project management for transit technology implementation efforts, such as a system that allows bus mileage to be wirelessly transmitted to the maintenance garage. “I am also working on ‘next train technology,’ to inform riders when a train is arriving through web and mobile interfaces, as well as visual displays at the stations,” he says.

Once he completes his degree, he hopes to work in transit planning or transportation management for a large city, preferably in the Bay Area. “I’m interested in public policy as it pertains to the urban planning process, land use and transportation,” he says, “especially in the policy and planning perspective on how governments create sustainable built environments for all residents.”

This requires an approach to transportation that incorporates planning, public policy and engineering, he says. “The interdisciplinary nature of the La Follette program with the double degree in urban planning has the flexibility I need to become a better transportation professional.”

Rodriguez is the second La Follette student in recent years to win an Eno fellowship. 2007 graduate Jen Blonn went to Washington, D.C., the year before. She is now an environmental protection specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. This summer she is on a detail to the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. “I’m working with transit experts from 15 transit agencies in the U.S. and Canada to draft industrywide sustainability guidelines for transit,” she says. “The American Public Transportation Association is also providing support for the project and will promote the completed guidelines.”

Bittner says the networking that continues after the Eno fellows conference is invaluable. “Some of my cohorts and I meet regularly, have collaborated on projects, and provided advice, comment, and review of materials,” he says. “This is an invaluable service for young professionals. I am working on projects with peers from Texas A&M and Cal State Long Beach who were in my Eno class. I’ve provided contact information for others that has led to job opportunities, one of our center’s consortium partner reps is from my Eno class, and I have continued networking with Eno staff as they advanced in their own careers.”

Like Rodriguez, Blonn worked with Bittner at the Midwest Regional University Transportation Center, which provides sponsoring funding for the Eno program. “Eno gave me the opportunity to hear about transportation challenges directly from top management and appointed officials with real decision-making authority,” says Blonn, who earned a certificate in transportation management and policy in addition to her master of public affairs. “The need to improve partnering between sectors came up throughout the conference and motivated me to pursue my interest in jointly addressing environmental and transportation issues.”

— posted June 18, 2008

Haveman to address "What Does it Mean to be Poor in a Rich Society?" in Lampman Lecture

Professor Bob Haveman, John Bascom Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Emeritus, will explore poverty in a rich society when he gives the Robert J. Lampman Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, June 18, in the Pyle Center's Lee Lounge.

Haveman will address "What Does it Mean to be Poor in a Rich Society?" for the ninth annual Robert J. Lampman Memorial Lecture. This lecture series was established in honor of Robert Lampman, a professor of economics at UW–Madison for more than 30 years, and founding director and guiding spirit of the Institute for Research on Poverty. The lecture series enables eminent U.S. poverty scholars to address topics to which Lampman devoted his intellectual career: poverty and the distribution of income and wealth.

The Lampman family established the memorial lecture with the help of the University of Wisconsin Foundation. The lecture series, organized by the Institute for Research on Poverty in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Economics, maintains and nurtures interest in poverty research among the academic community and members of the public.

Presentation slides

— posted June 12, 2008

Health policy project keeps lawmakers informed

The Evidence-Based Health Policy Project has become a trusted and established resource in its mission to provide policymakers in the public and private sectors with timely, non-partisan, high-quality information for evidence-based decision-making.

Initiated in fall 2006, the collaboration by the La Follette School of Public Affairs, the Population Health Institute and the Wisconsin Legislative Council has produced 14 events to bring health information to legislators and policymakers.

The most recent, a May briefing at the Capitol, highlighted findings from three studies by University of Wisconsin–Madison investigators and faculty — includling La Follette professor Carolyn Heinrich — on the prevalence of alcohol use and the effectiveness of various interventions.

Another was the La Follette School’s annual symposium, "Wisconsin Health Care Payment Reform and Pay-for-Performance: How to Promote System Transformation (and What Not to Do)." This event attracted 185 people.

“We see this cooperative activity in which we work with our legislative partners to learn what is of interest to them and to provide expertise on these topics as a great example of the Wisconsin Idea,” says La Follette School director Bobbi Wolfe, one of the project’s leaders. “I know legislators are finding this an excellent model of the Legislature and university working together. I will not be surprised to see similar programs developing.”

“We continue to assess the needs and interests among key stakeholders through regular meetings with our advisors from the Legislature and with our project team,” she adds. “The number of inquiries from legislators and expressions of interest from faculty and researchers has grown steadily with awareness of the project.”

Spring symposium to examine health-care reform, April 9, 2008, La Follette School News

— posted June 6, 2008

Wisconsin Women in Government honors Dresang

Dennis Dresang was honored at the annual Wisconsin Women in Government banquet for his contributions to the seminar program the nonprofit organization runs in partnership with the La Follette School.

“Without Dennis Dresang’s enthusiasm, energy, and planning, the Graduate Seminar program would not have gotten off the ground,” WWIG President Katie Walby says. “Dennis Dresang has long been a strong advocate for advancing the status of women and a strong supporter of Wisconsin Women in Government. We thank him for his commitment to helping advance the careers of so many dedicated, talented womenin government.”

Wisconsin Women in Government’s annual dinner is the premier bipartisan political event in Wisconsin, attended by more than 1,000 state and local elected officials, business leaders, public servants, and political enthusiasts. Several La Follette School students attended the April gathering, thanks to Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. sharing its table.

— posted June 6, 2008

New grads run Madison Marathon, one marking anniversary of kidney donation

Jennie Mauer and Corey Palmer-Rehorst completed two marathons in May. They graduated from the La Follette School and they ran the Madison Marathon.

For Mauer, the marathon marked another celebration — the two-year anniversary of the day she donated a kidney to her father, Henry Mauer, who lives in Milwaukee. Her father joined her at the event, walking the quarter route. He sported a shirt that said “Two years ago I got a kidney,” while Jennie’s said “Two years ago I donated a kidney.”

“Dad is doing really well since his transplant,” Mauer says. “We’re hoping the Madison Marathon can be an annual event for us.”

She completed the full marathon in four hours and 37 minutes, while Palmer-Rehorst came in 12 minutes ahead of Mauer. It was the first marathon for both of them, and Palmer-Rehorst hopes to run another in the fall.

 

Carrie Traud, Carissa DeCramer and Katie Miskell were part of the support team for marathoners Jennie Mauer and Corey Palmer-Rehorst.

— posted June 4, 2008

Moynihan shares ideas to reduce turnover in public sector

Social relationships affect how people feel about their jobs, and managers of public agencies worried about employee retention may want to think about how to build a sense of community within their organizations, La Follette School professor Donald Moynihan says in a May article in Miller-McCune, an online magazine.

People drawn to government employment often do not do for the money, Moynihan says in the article. “‘Many people come to work in the public sector because they see it as a place where they can fulfill an intrinsic desire to either help other people or be involved in the policy process.’”

Moynihan and co-author Sanjay Pandey surveyed 300 employees at public and nonprofit human service agencies in the northeastern United States and found that workers who feel a strong sense of obligation and who feel their co-workers support them are much less likely to be thinking about quitting their jobs. They suggest that agencies emphasize shared responsibility, establish mentorship programs and hold get-togethers to enhance social networks within the organizations.

Moynihan and Pandey's paper is available through the La Follette School Working Paper Series.

Reinventing Turnover in a Hollowed-Out Public Sector, May 5, 2008, Miller-McCune

— posted June 4, 2008

Wisconsin drops in tax ranking

A new analysis by La Follette School professor Andrew Reschovsky shows that Wisconsin was the 11th high-taxed state in the nation in 2006, dropping from eighth in 2005. The study measures Wisconsin's state and local taxes as a portion of the money residents earn. In 2006, state and local taxes made up 12.3 percent of personal income in Wisconsin.

One factor prompting the ranking to drop is that while Wisconsin taxes climbed in the fiscal year ending June 2006, taxes in other states rose more, the Wisconsin State Journal reported in May.

Less federal money and lower university tuition are two reasons state and local taxes are higher in Wisconsin, says Reschovsky, who was visiting fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Mass, during the 2007-08 school year. Wages and other earnings are lower in Wisconsin, which makes taxes a larger portion of income. If those scenarios are considered, the cost of government in Wisconsin is closer to the national average.

Wisconsin falls from ranks of top 10 highest-taxed states for first time since 1980, May 27, 2008, Wisconsin State Journal

— posted June 4, 2008

Conferences examine world economy

Two May conferences convened by La Follette School faculty Menzie Chinn and Charles Engel took on the state of the global economy.

The first, Global Imbalances and the U.S. Dollar: Doing Business in the World Economy, brought together four prominent international financial experts on May 1 to explore the prospects for the U.S. trade deficit, whether China, Saudi Arabia and Russia will continue to finance the trade and federal budget deficits, the value of the dollar, and the global implications of the ailing U.S. economy. More than 70 representatives from local businesses, government and academic community attended the event.

The panelists included Jeffrey Frankel, a Harvard University professor who served on President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and currently serves on the National Bureau of Economic Research's business cycle dating committee, which officially declared the 2000-01 recession; Catherine Mann from Brandeis University, an expert on the U.S. trade deficit, who was formerly at the Peter G. Peterson Institute on International Economics; Shang-Jin Wei, a Columbia University professor and a former chief of the International Monetary Fund's division on international trade and investment; and Michael Melvin, head of currency research at Barclays Global Investors, which manages more than $1.4 trillion in assets.

An academic conference investigated Current Account Sustainability in Major Advanced Economies. This conference was the second meeting of the Current Account Sustainability in Major Industrialized Countries project.

Representatives from the Federal Reserve Board, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and several universities — including Harvard, Columbia, Virginia and Southern California — discussed the U.S. current account, expectations for consumption growth, trends in international trade in services and the U.S. trade deficit, among other topics. The proceedings of this conference will be published in IMF Staff Papers, a well-known journal devoted to international financial issues.

The Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE) funded both events. The La Follette School sponsored both events, while the Center for International Business Education and Research co-sponsored the May 1 conference, and the Economics Department co-sponsored the May 2-3 conference.

Experts Discuss Global Imbalances and the U.S. Dollar: Doing Business in the World Economy, June 3, 2008, Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy

— posted June 4, 2008; updated June 5, 2008

Graduate shares insights on how web site brings debate community together

Debate coach and Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services analyst Nick Bubb argues the merits of blogs for improving collaboration among debate and forensics coaches, participants and fans in an article in Rostrum, the National Forensic League's monthly magazine.

Bubb is the founder of the web site Wisconsin Forensics Daily. He argues that establishing links among coaches and students is critical to the survival of debate and forensics in Wisconsin. A community website creates and nurtures these links by creating space for coaches to communicate; sharing information that otherwise would only be given to individuals at tournaments; and enhancing public relations, including the recruitment of judges and reunions of alumni.

Bubb, who completed his master of public affairs degree in May is a budget and policy analyst with DHFS where he has been working with the biennial budget request. He moves to the new Department of Children and Families on July 1.

Community Collaboration in Wisconsin, Rostrum volume 82, no. 9

La Follette student coaches alma mater to win state debate championship, May 27, 2007, La Follette School News

— posted June 4, 2008

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