McBride Honors Program in Public Affairs: Bridging Science and Public Policy

1. The McBride Honors Program in Public Affairs for Scientists and Engineers Wendy J. Harrison Interim Director and Professor of Geology CSM http://www.mines.edu/academic/mcb_honors/ Teaching Public Policy

2. CSM’s Mission and Student Body PhD-granting public institution focusing on applied sciences and engineering • 8 undergraduate ABET accredited engineering degrees •4 science degrees and economics and business •27 graduate degrees 4000 undergraduate students 90th percentile in quantitative skills; 80th percentile in verbal skills Undergraduate degrees all have a common core: •Earth and Environmental Systems •Nature and Human Values •Chemistry I, II •Physics I, II •Math through Differential Equations •Economics And 18 total hours across whole degree program in Liberal Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Teaching Public Policy

3. McBride Program Mission “ ….. to provide a select community of CSM students the enhanced opportunity to explore the interfaces between their areas of technical expertise and the humanities and social sciences; to gain the sensitivity to project and test the moral and social implications of their future professional judgments and activities; and to foster their leadership abilities in preparation for managing change and promoting the general welfare in an evolving technological and global context” Teaching Public Policy

4. Need in the Future Engineer The Engineer of 2020: National Academy Engineering, 2004 • …engagement of engineers in public policy issues has been haphazard at best. It is both the responsibility of engineers and important to the image of the profession that engineers make a better connection in the future (p. 34). • By 2020 we aspire to engineers who will assume leadership positions from which they can serve as positive influences in the making of public policy and in the administration of government and industry. (p.50) • (Engineers) must be willing to acknowledge the significance and importance of public service and its place in society,…stretching the challenge of bridging public policy and technology well beyond the roles accepted in the past. (p.56). Teaching Public Policy

5. Why has this been successful over a 30 year period? • Small seminars and one-on-one faculty tutorials • Interdisciplinary approach (faculty from S&E and faculty from LA&HSS are co-moderators of each seminar) • Instruction and practice in oral and written communication • A Washington D.C. public policy seminar • A practicum experience (internship or foreign study) • Participation in a “community within a community” • A blend of courses that promote individual awareness and personal growth combined with in-depth knowledge in public policy • A dedicated cadre of faculty (30% of CSM’s faculty have served at least one four year term on the Program’s governance body) • Institutional commitment to the Program as a recruiting and retention tool • A modest financial endowment providing student benefits appropriate for an Honors designation Teaching Public Policy

6. Who are our students? ● Selective admission of about 50 students per year: 130 students over all years ● 80% resident of Colorado ● 32% residents of Colorado’s non-urban counties ● 50% first generation 4-year college students ● SAT 1300 (1200), ACT 29 (27-29) ● Jan 2005 freshman GPA of 3.5 (2.9) ● 2006 senior class has overall GPA of 3.5 with an Honors Program GPA of 3.8 ● 42% women vs. 23% over all disciplines Teaching Public Policy

7. The Discipline of Public Affairs • "Public Affairs" includes the fields of: • public policy and policy analysis • public administration • public management • National Association of Schools of Public Affairs & Administration (NASPAA) • 240 members, half of whom have accredited master's degrees in public policy and public administration • does not accredit undergraduate degrees, but has a committee that has interest in these • Journal of Public Affairs Education Teaching Public Policy

8. Characteristics of Public Affairs for Scientists and Engineers A core curriculum which includes: • Economics • Finance and budgeting • Statistics and modeling • Ethics • Public Policy and Policy Analysis Focus Areas/Concentrations relevant to CSM • Environmental Policy • Science and Technology Policy • Energy and Resource Policy • International Development Policy An internship, or foreign study, which relates to an independent project (thesis) within a Focus Area Teaching Public Policy

9. Current Curriculum 7 semester, 24 hr. seminar sequence, substituting for HSS requirements, currently in review for better integration and focus area definition Teaching Public Policy

10. US Public Policy Seminar • To gain an appreciation for the public policy-making process in the U.S. at local as well as national levels, including how public agendas are set, how participants engage in public policy, and how problems, policies, and politics interact. • To learn how to make informed, critical analyses of public policies • To become better informed about how citizens can become involved in the public policy making process and to conceive of how one might use one’s skills and interests to serve the common good • To demonstrate an improved ability for civil discourse, both written and oral, and in particular to seek out, assemble, synthesize, and evaluate information from a variety of useful, reliable sources on a particular policy issue and then present it in both written and oral form to a critical audience • To function as a constructive member of a team interested in public policy—arguing fromknowledge rather than bias, defending positions with logic and diplomacy, helping to synthesize and present the team’s project Teaching Public Policy

11. Seminar Structure • Four faculty (PA, PP/GE, GE, CE); sixteen students • Two major projects as well as structured learning about government, policy, and ethics: • Local government simulation: 2006 -relocation of City of Golden Maintenance Shops. • National policy analysis: How federal science funding decisions are made in support of Natural Hazards (Earthquakes, Wildland Fires, Tsunamis, Avian Flu Pandemic). • Oral and written communication skills: • Team work, research plans, progress reports, drafts, journals, final reports. Teaching Public Policy

12. Spring Break in Washington, D.C. • Make government more accessible • Awareness that PP is part of the professional life of scientists and engineers • Series of briefings, tours, and individual research on pre-selected topics • Hinges on faculty and alumni contacts Teaching Public Policy

13. Itinerary • Monday: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, and Supreme Court • Tuesday: White House Fellows Breakfast, Office of Management and Budget, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dept. of the Interior • Wednesday: House Committee on Science; Sen. Salazar (CO), AGU and NSF; Indonesian Embassy. • Thursday and Friday: research and pre-arranged group/individual interviews (NSF, USGS, NASA, NRC, WHO, FDA, Pharma lobbyist, Insurance lobbyist). Teaching Public Policy

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21. “Dr. Harrison, be sure to tell them this was the best Spring Break ever!” Teaching Public Policy

22. Excerpts from “Reflections” papers • “Meeting with leaders within the professional world, …. certainly fostered my imagination and my ambition to create something greater than the sum of its parts.” • “This was one of the most amazing trips of my life. We met so many people who are absolutely critical to the governmental process.” • “This trip introduced me to the possibility of a non-technical political career in my future and helped me understand how multifaceted and complex policy making really is. I learned that many policy-makers are in fact ethical and effective leaders.” • “Being at an engineering school, I am constantly surrounded by only scientists so visiting Washington and finding very little scientific thought was different and difficult.” • “The highlight of the trip for me was visiting the White House Fellows….it was evident that people from all walks of life can benefit from just a short year in D.C. without being a politician or lobbyist. • “I never expected to be so affected by the contagious energy and ambitious dreams in this city” Teaching Public Policy

23. Ideas to Share • Truth-in-advertising applies at all levels – from single lecture to a full fledged minor - core content to Public Policy includes ethics, economics, and policy analysis as well as the scientific component • S&E – HSS faculty team teaching is powerful • Use required non-earth science courses as leverage to increase depth and breadth of exposure to Public Policy • Public Policy research in DC or overseas is considerably more exciting that web-based investigations Teaching Public Policy

24. Resources • Harrison W.J., Miller R.L., Streveler R.A., and Sacks A.B. (2006) Curriculum design for the engineer of 2020: Faculty create a public affairs curriculum for engineering undergraduates. American Society for Engineering Education, 113th Annual ASEE Conference, Chicago, Il., June 18-21, 2006. • Olds B.M. and Miller R.L. (1996): A liberal education model of leadership preparation: The McBride Honors Program in Public Affairs for Engineers. Proceedings of the Frontiers in Education Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 6-9, 1996. • Olds B.M. and Miller R.L. (2004): Integrating Humanities and Engineering: two models for achieving ABET Criteria 2000 goals: pp. 217-232 in Liberal Education in Twenty-First Century Engineering, Ollis S.F., Neeley, K.A., and Luegenbiehl (Eds.), Peter Lang, New York, 2004. • National Academy of Engineering (2004): The Engineer of 2020 – Visions of Engineering in the New Century. National Academies Press, Washington DC, (p. 50). • Public Affairs Accreditation Agency. http://www.naspaa.org/ • The Guy T. McBride, Jr. Honors Program in Public Affairs for Engineers. http://www.mines.edu/academic/mcb_honors/ • Public Policy Minor for Undergraduates at MIT. http://web.mit.edu/hass/www/guide/mpub.html • Public Policy (for engineering majors) Minor at Carnegie Mellon http://www.epp.cmu.edu/httpdocs/undergraduate/program_description.html Teaching Public Policy