Date December 5, 2024

The Policy Analysis 48-hour project challenges MPA students to think and act like public policy professionals

By Nancy Kirsch

The 48-hour project requires Master of Public Affairs (MPA) students to evaluate a policy problem and issue policy recommendations to a real or theoretical client on a complex policy problem within 48 hours.

Students typically have an entire semester to complete a project — be it a term paper or other assignment — but the workplace does not always afford public affairs professionals the luxury of time. In a fast-changing environment, deadlines can be tight. Sometimes, professionals in the field need to conduct research, process information, and make policy recommendations quickly.

With this reality in mind and in keeping with its commitment to hands-on learning in real-world environments, Brown's Master of Public Affairs (MPA) Program adopted the 48-hour project. As the name implies, the project requires MPA students to gather data, evaluate a complex public policy problem, and make recommendations to a theoretical or actual client, whether a nonprofit organization, a government agency, or a think tank, all within a tight 48-hour window.

Faculty Director of the MPA Program David Blanding credits Eric Patashnik with bringing the 48-hour project to Brown. "It was developed to simulate the kinds of conditions that policy professionals, especially those in leadership, inevitably encounter in their careers," said Blanding.

"The MPA students must do this work while balancing competing priorities of other class work, family or extracurricular commitments," said Blanding. "This assignment simulates what these students will face in the workforce — the need to produce high-quality, timely and actionable recommendations."

This is Blanding's second year teaching the Policy Analysis and Problem Solving class, which incorporates the 48-hour project in its first semester. This year, the 48-hour clock began ticking on Election Day, and students had the option, said Blanding, "to choose their own adventure" by writing their policy memos on more than 20 different contemporary policy topics occurring around the world, based on stories published in leading news outlets, and which reflected the interests of this year's cohort of students.

This assignment simulates what these students will face in the workforce — the need to produce high-quality, timely and actionable recommendations.

David Blanding Faculty Director of the MPA Program

Faculty Director of the MPA Program David Blanding

Blanding and his co-instructor, Diana Perdomo, compiled a list of relevant news stories as a foundational tool for the students’ policy analysis. "We hoped that, by allowing students to choose their own topic, they would find the assignment both challenging and fulfilling," said Blanding. "When they choose a topic they are passionate about and then go into job interviews, they can explain and describe the policy analysis they worked on as MPA students."

This year, several students wrote compelling and creative policy memos addressing how Atlanta could manage a persistent problem with public school enrollment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blanding noted that the inconvenience of having the project start on Election Day is similar to the challenges public affairs professionals regularly encounter at work. "This is what the real world will throw at you,” he said. “Nothing in the textbooks describes what to do if your boss wants you to work on a big project on Election Day."

While Patashnik historically allowed students to choose their own topic for the 48-hour project, last year's project focused on one issue that thousands of Rhode Island residents struggle with—being able to pay for household energy costs.

After hearing from the Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS), Blanding and the students discovered that the state was not certain of the true scale of the need or how much was too much to pay for energy costs. With a very lean staff working on energy issues, DHS lacked the resources to develop and implement a comprehensive study, said Blanding.

"Our MPA students had access to a wealth of information from DHS. Before the 48-hour clock start time, students gathered new and original data by interviewing Rhode Island residents, conducting focus groups, and developing surveys," said Blanding. "Unfortunately, DHS didn't have the resources to do that additional research, but our students could. Several of them conducted independent research and developed data that DHS could use to redesign their energy bill assistance program."

"Last year's 48-hour project, which was both innovative and practical, engaged the students in deeply experiential learning," said Blanding. Students' collective analyses and reports laid the foundation for a more comprehensive reappraisal of household energy assistance programs in Rhode Island.

"I hope that the 48-hour project affords students deeper insight into issues that may be unfamiliar to them," said Blanding. “Even more so, I hope that they gain resilience and adaptability. These skills are always valuable, especially during an election year in a deeply divided country.”

While many students reported they found the 48-hour project's tight turnaround time stressful, they also described it as exhilarating and one of the MPA Program's most valuable and meaningful exercises.

"This is the stuff of leadership," said Blanding. "We're in the business of elevating and cultivating the next generation of global leaders as directors of think tanks or advocacy organizations or leaders in the U.S. and other countries." He added, "I sincerely hope that when our MPA graduates have a high-stakes assignment in their professional careers, they can draw upon the skills they developed at Watson and succeed."