Policy Research Shop Reaches Milestone: 100th (and 101st) Policy Briefs Produced by Dartmouth Students

On Tuesday, April 2, 2013, four students from the Policy Research Shop (PRS) of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center traveled to Concord, NH to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Sharon Carson.  Austin Goldberg '13, Adam Nasser '15, Portia Schultz '15, and Grace Hart '13 presented two PRS policy briefs—

" and

—to the committee members and responded to their questions.  PRS students Jaya Batra '13, Aislinn McLaughlin '14, Megan Bogia '15, and Ayesha Dholakia '15 also contributed to the two policy briefs but were unable to attend the committee hearing.

PRS students Adam Nasser '15, Portia Schultz '15, and Austin Goldberg '13 testify before the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Sharon Carson.  The students presented the PRS policy brief, "The Adult Drug Courts of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine: An Analysis of Effectiveness and  Barriers to Expansion."

These two papers represent the 100th and 101st PRS policy briefs produced by the Policy Research Shop since its inception in the spring term of 2005 when a single policy brief was produced by three students.  To date more than 200 Dartmouth undergraduates have participated in the PRS.  During the 2012-2013 academic years, 51 students produced 18 policy briefs.  During the current academic year close to 60 students are participating in the PRS with an anticipated 20 policy briefs to be produced. 

Students enter the Policy Research Shop via one of two policy research methods courses (PBPL 45: Introduction to Public Policy Research and PBPL 48: Policy Analysis and Local Governance) offered by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center through its Public Policy Minor.  Students begin projects brought to the classes by state and local policymakers from Vermont and New Hampshire.  In subsequent terms following the conclusion of the classes, the PRS students complete these projects, prepare final policy briefs, and rehearse formal oral presentations.  When the policy briefs and oral presentations are approved by faculty mentors, the students then travel to the state capitals (or to county or local governments) and present their findings to policymakers.

Senator Donna Soucy, Adam Nasser '15, Senator Sharon Carson (chair), Austin Goldberg '13, Grace Hart '13, Portia Schultz '15, and Senator Sam Cataldo in the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room following the student testimonies.

The PRS is a student-staffed, faculty-mentored research enterprise that produces high quality, social science research and analysis in a non-partisan, non-advocacy manner for policymakers at the state and local levels in Vermont and New Hampshire.  In its infancy, the PRS received funding from the Surdna Foundation. In 2007, the PRS received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to expand the PRS teaching and learning model. More recently, in 2010, the PRS was awarded a three-year, $750,000 grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education (FIPSE) at the U.S. Department of Education to bring the PRS to its current levels of student participation and policy brief production.  In 2013, the Policy Research Shop, along with the First-Year Fellows Program and the Rockefeller Leadership Fellows Program at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, were identified by the Dartmouth College leadership as endowment priorities for the College. 

PRS student Grace Hart '13 testifies before the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Sharon Carson.  Hart presented the PRS policy brief, "New Hampshire's Juvenile Justice System: An Investigation of Current Practices for Handling Youth in the Criminal Justice System."