The Johns Hopkins Gazette: May 6, 2002
May 6, 2002
VOL. 31, NO. 33

  

IPS Announces Abell Award for Best Student Paper on Baltimore Problems

By Lavinia Edmunds
Institute for Policy Studies
Johns Hopkins Gazette Online Edition

The Institute for Policy Studies has announced the establishment of the Abell Foundation Award in Urban Policy.

Beginning in the 2002-2003 academic year, the $5,000 Abell Foundation Award will be given to the student who prepares the best paper on a pressing issue facing the city of Baltimore, including an analysis of the problem and proposed policy remedies. Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges representing Baltimore policy-makers, opinion leaders, practitioners and IPS faculty.

"The award is intended to encourage fresh thinking about the challenges facing Baltimore City and, at the same time, provide an incentive for promising students interested in urban problems to come to Baltimore and focus their talents on the city's problems, both during graduate school and beyond," said Robert C. Embry Jr., Abell Foundation president.

IPS and the foundation have collaborated to develop this project.

Sandra Newman, director of IPS and professor of policy studies, said, "The award is an exciting approach to assisting Baltimore by attracting the best young minds to work on city problems and solutions. We are honored to be a partner with the Abell Foundation in this effort," she said. "The Abell Foundation Award's emphasis on marrying rigorous policy analysis with policy strategies that will work in the real world is at the heart of our graduate program."

IPS research on urban issues includes workforce development, housing and neighborhoods, and crime. Its courses in urban policy and policy analysis incorporate a focus on Baltimore problems and opportunities. For example, the undergraduate seminar in urban policy requires a 12 hour per week internship in a city or nonprofit agency. The core policy analysis course in the public policy graduate program includes an annual Baltimore project, a term-long assignment requiring the examination of a timely policy issue facing the city and proposals for addressing it.

Past topics include "Poverty Deconcentration as a Policy Strategy" (1994), "Empowerment Zone Strategies for Baltimore: Lessons from Research and Experience" (1996), "Neighborhoods Moving Up: What Baltimore Can Learn From its Own Improving Neighborhoods" (2000) and "Population Dynamics in Baltimore Neighborhoods: The Good, the Bad and the Neutral" (2001).


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