Posted
by
Lisa Jervey Lennox, CIPA Assistant Director for External Relations & Communications
In Cornell Institute for Public Affairs

Adapted from a joint press release provided by NASPAA and the UV Batten School

In April, the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) and the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy announced the winners of the 2018 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition—the largest-ever student simulation competition in higher education. A team of four students (three of them from CIPA), who competed at the Cornell-CIPA site, took Third Place overall. Each received $150 USD from the Batten School's Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming (CLSG) and NASPAA. The winning team included:

  • Bethany Jones, CIPA MPA ‘19
  • Nida Mahmud, CIPA MPA ‘19
  • Joseph VerValin, CIPA MPA ‘18
  • Muhammad Saad Arshad, Syracuse University
Third place team for NASPAA Batten Simulation (from left to right: Joseph VerValian, Muhammad Saad Arshad, Nida Mahmud, and Bethany Jones)

 

"This is the only global simulation in public policy education I know of that brings grad students together from all different countries to address a common policy problem and learn from each other," said NASPAA Executive Director Laurel McFarland. "Our hope is they will graduate and go out into the real world in a year or two with a heightened understanding of global health insecurity and a desire to contribute to its eradication wherever they might end up working."

Nearly 130 participating teams were evaluated on simulation scores, negotiation skills, and presentations made to regional site judges, who selected 22 regional winners. A panel of prominent "super judges" determined the global winners: one first-place team, a two-team tie for second place, and one third-place team. A full list of winning teams, including the special category winners, is available on the NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition website.

In the coming months, the CLSG will devise a classroom version of the simulation and make it available free of charge for the next three years. NASPAA will distribute the free classroom version to its 300 member schools.