Public Policy Commons^™

Utility Redlining: Inequitable Electric Distribution In The Dte Service Area, Alex B. Hill, Jackson Koeppel

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Key DTEE infrastructure is a decade or more past expected use in 4.8 kV areas. In Detroit, with double the vulnerability level as the region, most residents only have outdated electric infrastructure. Modernization efforts in Detroit favor industrial and municipal customers over residents.

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

Treating Anonymous Patients : The Effectiveness, Costs, And Strategies Of Promoting The Use Of Expedited Partner Therapy, Andre Kiesel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Despite decades of concerted efforts to prevent their spread, chlamydia andgonorrhea remain two of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections in the United States (U.S.) — exacting a high toll in terms of human health and healthcare expenditure. Though easily cured with antibiotics, both infections may lead to damaging secondary health conditions – known as sequelae – if untreated, including infertility among females. However, treating diagnosed individuals (known as “index patients”) is not enough—it is critical to also care for their recent sex partners as well, lest they reinfect the treated patient. Partner referral is the traditional approach to partner …

Affordable Housing: A National Crisis Fueled By The Coronavirus • A New Jersey Perspective, Latino Action Network Foundation

Center for Urban Policy Research

The Latino Action Network Foundation [LANF], its sister organization the Latino Action Network [LAN] and longtime ally, the Fair Share Housing Center [FSHC], have collaboratively monitored affordable housing issues in New Jersey for more than a decade. As part of its ongoing work, LANF sponsored a housing roundtable on September 10, 2021, to assess the affordable housing situation in the state and offer policy recommendations. At that time, a coalition of advocates, including the three organizations named above, were fresh from a legislative victory that safeguarded tenants unable to pay their rents during the pandemic and gave them a degree …

The Future Of Work In Education: Teachers’ Professional Commitment In A Changing World, Ee Ling Low, Sao-Ee Goh, Jocelyn Shi Yah Tan

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the midst of a changing global societal workplace and landscape, it is natural to hunt for stability. In the educational realm, however, finding stability is about what we can simplify and clarify in order to keep driving a high level of professional commitment by teachers with the goal of producing high teacher-quality outcomes. This article aims to identify the factors that drive teachers’ career-long commitment to their profession. We studied thirty-five primary school teachers across six career stages, from beginning teachers to those close to retirement, to uncover essential conditions, such as a supportive school leadership that helps teachers …

Jasmine’S Day: An Ai Education Story, Rob Weil

New England Journal of Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Collective Bargaining And Digitalization: A Global Survey Of Union Use Of Collective Bargaining To Increase Worker Control Over Digitalization, Eckhard Voss, Daniel Bertossa

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article outlines and collates exemplary clauses from collective bargaining agreements and similar sources, such as guidelines for union negotiators on digitalization in public and private services. Based on the evaluation of agreements and single clauses and their mapping along seven key dimensions of workers’ rights and protection as regards digital technology in the workplace, the research shows that collective bargaining provides clear added value in the absence of legal provisions and by complementing and tailoring existing regulation to sectoral and workplace specificities, new emerging risks, and other challenges. The research that will feed into an online database on the …

Reshaping The Digitization Of Public Services, Christina J. Colclough

New England Journal of Public Policy

Across the world, public services are rapidly being digitized. However, because of poor public procurement supplier contracts, poor laws, and a lack of governance processes and bodies, and because of competency gaps from all parties involved, digitization is happening in a void. As a consequence, harms are caused and rights are violated, threatening the future of quality public services. From the vantage point of public services as a service as well as a workplace, this article discusses potential remedies to ensure that digitalization does not affect the quality of public services as services and as places of employment. It spells …

At The Intersection Of The Future Of Work And Education, David Edwards

New England Journal of Public Policy

“At the Intersection of the Future of Work and Education” explores work in education as well as the contribution of education to the future of work in other sectors. It argues that, in both instances, a strong, well-financed, high-quality system of public education is needed.

The operation of school systems during the pandemic deepened long-standing problems of financing, segregation, inequality, and discrimination inside and between countries. Distance learning was a quantum leap in the use of artificial intelligence and other technology depriving learners of social relationships.

Governments are not implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 4 on education. That …

Proactive Union And Teacher Strategies For Shaping Technology In Education, Thomas A. Kochan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Artificial intelligence and related technologies will have profound effects on the future of work in all industries and occupations, including education. But technology has no predetermined effects. How it will change work, working conditions, and the performance of organizations depends on who participates in the key decisions that (1) define the problems technology is asked to solve, (2) set the design parameters that shape specific applications, (3) link new technologies and work processes, (4) ensure that the workforce is well-prepared to use advanced technologies, (5) determine who controls the data generated by these tools, and (6) address the needs of …

A.I.’S Impact On Jobs, Skills, And The Future Of Work: The Unesco Perspective On Key Policy Issues And The Ethical Debate, Gabriela Ramos

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article discusses how the principles, values, and actionable policy areas detailed in the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI can help steer the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs, skills, and the future of work in an inclusive, accountable, transparent, and people-centered way, and in line with the rule of law. It also discusses the provisions contained in this normative instrument compared with existing evidence on the cognitive and socioemotional skills required in the digital era, and the way AI is shaping job tasks, employment dynamics, and occupational mobility-related needs. It examines the challenges and possibilities related …

Crafting An Innovation Ecosystem That Works For Working People, Amanda Ballantyne, Patrick Woodall, Katie Corrigan, Edward Wytkind

New England Journal of Public Policy

The rapid pace and expanding scope of technological change is reshaping work and the workplace. These innovations can benefit workers by improving safety, reducing physical or repetitive burdens, or creating new types of jobs. But automation and new technologies can also eliminate workers, deskill occupations, reduce autonomy and job satisfaction, and erode economic stability for working families that contribute to the rising economic and racial inequality. These technologies do not fall from the sky; they are incubated in an innovation ecosystem shaped by public policy and public-research funding that is driven largely by an oligopoly of Big Tech companies and …

Smart Education Technology: How It Might Transform Teaching (And Learning), Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article highlights the importance of digitalization as a societal trend for education and discusses how artificial intelligence and learning analytics are transforming (or have the potential to transform) educational practices. It showcases the opportunities of smart technologies for education systems and how the work and role of teachers could be affected, before making some forward-looking concluding remarks.

The Torch (Summer 2022), Crtp

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

The Maine Office of the Attorney General administers the Civil Rights Team Project (CRTP). The CRTP’s mission is to increase the safety of elementary, middle school, and high school students by reducing bias-motivated behaviors and harassment in our schools. CRTP accomplishes this by supporting student civil rights teams in Maine schools. The CRTP and student teams are active in engaging school communities in thinking and talking about issues related to:

• Race and skin color
• National origin and ancestry
• Religion
• Disabilities
• Gender (including gender identify and expression)
• Sexual orientation

The Attorney General’s Office created the CRTP in 1996 as a pilot …

Examining Disparities In The Early Adoption Of Covid-19 Personal Mitigation Across Family Structures, Casey Harris, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Michael Nino, Priya Thelapurath, Grant Drawve

Sociology and Criminology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic has relied heavily on personal mitigation behaviors versus centralized governmental prevention strategies, especially early in the virus's outbreak. This study examines how family structure shapes mitigation, focusing on the intersectional effects of gender, marital status, and the presence of children while accounting for differences in worry about infection from the virus. Using data from a national survey of 10,368 United States adults early in the pandemic (March 2020), survey-weighted logistic regression models show important differences in the likelihood of personal mitigation adoption across family structures. Unmarried women with children were most likely …

Effective And Responsive Implementation Of German Asylum And Resettlement Procedures For Syrian Refugees From 2015 To 2018, Nourhan Morsy Abdelmeguid

Theses and Dissertations

The refugee and migrant crises are one of Europe’s most contentious and divisive issues. In particular, Germany is one of the countries most involved in the Syrian refugee crisis. The number of Syrians seeking refuge in Germany is substantial, and it hosts over one million refugees. Germany is also a key participant and stakeholder in the European Union asylum policies. Thus, this thesis examines the responsiveness and effectiveness of asylum proceedings under the crisis-induced from 2015 to 2018. Germany temporarily suspended the Dublin regulation by processing asylum applications despite stopping by other EU countries as a humanitarian response to accommodate …

The Public’S Case Against Dte Energy: Extracting Profits, Inducing Health Harms, And Damaging Democracy, Alex B. Hill, Bridget Vial, Aly Shaw, Gin Armstrong, Robert Galbraith

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Together with our partners, MEJC and LittleSis, We The People Michigan finds that DTE has extracted profit from its customers through hundreds of thousands of shutoffs, the second highest amount of rate hikes in the country, and unnecessary power outages that leave customers without power. They have invested heavily in new fossil fuel power plants that place significant health burdens on customers while blocking renewable energy initiatives. Finally, this report digs into the campaign donations of DTE executives, board members, and PAC to reveal how they utilize dark money to advance their profit-driven agenda.

The Effects Of “No Pro Homo” Policies On Lgbtq+ Perceptions In The American South, Isabella L. Brocato

Honors Theses

Five states in the American South currently have “no pro homo” policies in place, while an increasing number of bills targeting discussions about sexuality and gender identity in public schools are being introduced to House floors around the country. Although there is extensive research on the ways in which these policies put the physical and mental well-being of LGBTQ+ students at risk, there is little to no research about how they shape public perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community collectively. With inspiration from Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s social science study cited in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), this study works …

Happiness And Policy Implications: A Sociological View, Sarah M. Kahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The World Happiness Report is released every year, ranking each country by who is “happier” and explaining the variables and data they have used. This project attempts to build from that base and create a machine learning algorithm that can predict if a country will be in a “happy” or “could be happier” category. Findings show that taking a broader scope of variables can better help predict happiness. Policy implications are discussed in using both big data and considering social indicators to make better and lasting policies.

Assessing The Influence Of Food Insecurity And Retail Environments As A Proxy For Structural Racism On The Covid-19 Pandemic In An Urban Setting, Rachael D. Dombrowski, Alex B. Hill, Bree Bode, Kathrybn A. G Knoff, Hadis Dastgerdizad, Noel Kulik, James Mallare, Kibibi Blount-Dorn, Winona Bynum

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

A collaborative partnership launched the Great Grocer Project (GGP) in March 2021 in Detroit, Michigan where health inequities, including deaths due to COVID-19, have historically been politically determined and informed by socially entrenched norms. Institutional and structural racism has contributed to a lack of diversity in store ownership among Detroit grocers and limited access to high-quality, affordable healthy foods as well as disparate food insecurity among Detroit residents. The GGP seeks to promote Detroit’s healthy grocers to improve community health and economic vitality through research, programs, and policies that have the potential to advance health equity. A cross-sectional design was …

Student And Faculty Diversity: University Of Nevada, Las Vegas (Unlv) And University Of Nevada, Reno (Unr), 2012-2020, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet highlights data on the racial and ethnic diversity of students, tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, and non-tenured/tenure-track faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Data are presented for each year from 2012 to 2020. The UNLV Office of Decision Support and representatives at UNR assisted in the compilation of this data.

Civil Rights, Firearm Safety, And Environmental Protection Policies Predict Better Health Among U.S. Midlife Adults, Blakelee R. Kemp, Jacob M. Grumbach, Jennifer Karas Montez

Population Health Research Brief Series

Americans suffer worse health and shorter lives than do people in most other high-income countries. The poor health and early death of many Americans are pronounced in certain states. One explanation may be the dramatic changes in the policy environment in recent decades, particularly the polarization in state policies. This research brief examines the association between several state policies and self-rated health among adults ages 45-64 from 1993 to 2016. Findings show that more liberal versions of certain state policies, namely civil rights, firearm safety, and environmental protection are associated with better health.

Defund The Police: Snappy Slogan Or A Viable Solution? A Case Study Of Savannah, Georgia, Michayla F. Knox

Honors College Theses

The notion of defunding the police remains a hot-button political topic since the protests of Summer 2020. The forefront of the debate concerns how defunding the police will impact crime rates. Still, the topic has scarcely been investigated empirically. This thesis provides an early examination into the relationship between "defunding the police", reallocating funding, and crime rates in Savannah, Ga. Several experiments are performed to answer three research questions that involve comparing and manipulating the budget provided for policing and the budgets for neighborhood vitality and poverty reduction. The findings show that Savannah allocates significantly more money to the policing …

Promoting Health Equity Among Racial And Ethnic Minorities During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alexandra Viramontes, Deserry Salgado

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Racial and ethnic minorities experience disproportionate health outcomes during a pandemic, yet preparedness plans have failed to address the social determinants of health that produce the most severe impact. By examining social workers’ perspectives on the health disparities faced by racial and ethnic minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study provides insight into the ways in which services can be improved in a future health crisis. In this exploratory study, a qualitative approach was utilized where social workers were asked to participate in interviews consisting of open-ended questions. The qualitative data was obtained in the form of interview transcripts, which …

The Value Of Education: School Policy Decisions During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elika W. Somani

Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major Honors Project

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lacking national U.S. policies, wide variation and conflict over chosen public school policy decisions emerged. What factors and guidelines informed the decision-making process in K-12 public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and who were the key stakeholders? This study examines three school district types – a large city, medium city, and small-town – across Minnesota as case studies to unpack how policy decisions were made during the pandemic. Stakeholder interviews uncovered that the school decision-making process was a) connected to a district's political opinions, b) made by the superintendent and school board, c) primarily influenced by …

Contested Deployment, Bert B. Tussing, John Eric Powell, Benjamin C. Leitzel

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

As indicated in the 2018 National Defense Strategy and evolving Multi-Domain Operations doctrine, the assumption the homeland will provide a secure space for mobilization and deployment is no longer valid. This integrated research project goes beyond affirming this assumption and contributes to efforts to mitigate the concerns a contested deployment entails.

Following the introductory chapter, Chapter 2, “Army Deployments in a Contested Homeland: A Framework for Protection,” explores how current coordination and cooperation mechanisms between the DoD and state and local government may need realignment, with civil authorities preparing themselves to support military mobilization. Chapter 3, “Strategic Seaports and National …

The Torch (Spring 2022), Crtp

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

The Maine Office of the Attorney General administers the Civil Rights Team Project (CRTP). The CRTP’s mission is to increase the safety of elementary, middle school, and high school students by reducing bias-motivated behaviors and harassment in our schools. CRTP accomplishes this by supporting student civil rights teams in Maine schools. The CRTP and student teams are active in engaging school communities in thinking and talking about issues related to:

• Race and skin color
• National origin and ancestry
• Religion
• Disabilities
• Gender (including gender identify and expression)
• Sexual orientation

The Attorney General’s Office created the CRTP in 1996 as a pilot …

Race-Ethnic Population Changes In Mountain West Metros, 2010-2020, Joshua Padilla, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

The 2020 census shows continuing nationwide trends in population growth when compared to the last decade. The growth of various race-ethnic groups across the country contribute to the diversification of the population in selected regions. Using the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 data prepared by William H. Frey of the Brookings Institution, this fact sheet focuses on the population changes in nine Mountain West metros.

The Commonwealth Takes An Important Step In Protecting Our Democracy, Ashish Vaidya

eJournal of Public Affairs

Northern Kentucky University’s President Ashish Vaidya wrote an article celebrating Kentucky’s new bipartisan voting rights bill. Signed into law in April, the legislation is contrary to what we are seeing in other states and expands voting options in Kentucky. As an immigrant to the U.S. from India, President Vaidya has a unique perspective on democracy in America, and he is very passionate about higher education’s role to inform its students on their responsibility.

Criminal Justice Update - March 2022, Autumn R. Chassie

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office - No new updates this month
• Updates from the PA Legislature - No new updates this month
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Supreme Court: No new updates this month
• PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure