Student Research

In the classroom and in the community, Mills MPP students develop their analytical skills while helping government and nonprofit organizations address important policy problems.

In the Local Politics, Planning, and Management graduate seminar, Mills MPP students are collaborating to help community groups participate in the City of Oakland's Zoning Update process.  Students are helping residents and business owners in the Laurel District to envision how their neighborhood might change and grow under different zoning scenarios.  Student work on this project was recently featured in the MacArthur Metro community newspaper.

Under faculty supervision, each Mills MPP student produces a Master's Policy Report (MPR), a professional paper that meets both the school's academic standards and the needs of a practitioner who acts as a client for the project. Recently completed MPRs include:

• Nicole Hudley, MPP '09. Evaluating the Independent Living Skills Program for Foster Youth. Client: Alameda County ILSP.  Executive Summary.
• Katherine Puliafico, MPP '09. A "Nickel a Drink" Tax Increase: How will California's Alcohol Industry Be Affected? Client: Marin Institute. Executive Summary.*
• Drennen Shelton, MPP '09. An Analysis of an Ordinance to Assure the Maintenance of Vacant, Foreclosed Residential Properties.  Client: City of Hayward. Executive Summary.*
• Mailee Wang, MPP '09. San Francisco's Violence Prevention Plan: Year One Process Evaluation. Client: San Francisco Youth Commission. Executive Summary.
• Lauren Duran, MPP '08. Is the Region Ready? Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Zero Emission Busses. Client: Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Executive Summary.*
• Bronwyn Heaps, MPP '08. Building Oakland's Green Economy: Policy Barriers and Options. Client: Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Executive Summary.
• Laura Helland, MPP '08. Promoting Sustainable Practices of Sellers at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Client: Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture. Executive Summary.
• Kadie Kelly, MPP '08. Relationship Pathways: Building a Culturally Sensitive Family Justice Center in Alameda County. Client: Alameda County Family Justice Center. Executive Summary.
• Alysha Nachtigall, MPP '08. 511 Transit Data Management: Streamlining the Process. Client: Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 511.org. Executive Summary.
• Tracy Yarlott-Davis, MPP '08. Make Me Over: Effects of Programs to Convert LGBT Youth. Executive Summary.
• Raeanne Young, MPP '08. Reexamining the Reexamination Process: Improving Patent Quality in Post-Grant Review. Client: Electronic Frontier Foundation. Executive Summary. Full Text at EFF.

Complete reports are available upon request. The opinions expressed in the reports are those of the authors and not necessarily endorsed by the Mills Public Policy Program or the client organizations.  Asterisk (*) denotes Outstanding Thesis Award winners.

Faculty Research

Several members of the Mills faculty who teach public policy have conducted research that is typical of the work done in this field. Program Director Carol Chetkovich has studied the workings of affirmative action policy in the urban fire service, and her book on the subject is widely used by public managers trying to enhance diversity in uniformed services. Dr. Chetkovich has also produced several reports for federal and state government agencies in a number of social service areas, including childcare, healthcare, and services for people with disabilities. Her most recent work (with coauthor Frances Kunreuther of the Building Movement Project) is a book that explores the social-change work of small nonprofit organizations. This work is intended to inform nonprofit activists, funders, and researchers seeking to understand and support this sector.

Among their other work on organizational performance and reliability, Professor Paul Schulman and former program director Emery Roe recently have investigated California's restructuring of its electricity sector. Their findings are reported in High Reliability Management: Operating on the Edge (Stanford University Press, 2008).

Professor Siobhan Reilly has conducted a number of studies relating to family and child well-being, including work on welfare policy, child support, family structure and living arrangements, resource allocation within the family, and the risks of infant formula use. Her work has been supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and has significant implications for a number of social policies.

The challenge of interagency collaboration is the focus of one longitudinal, in-depth research project by Professor Dan Ryan. Studying community organizations working jointly on the problem of substance abuse, Dr. Ryan identified important factors constituting both obstacles and supports for cooperative work. Findings from this and other work have been used by foundations, local government agencies, and policy designers.

Among other Mills faculty, Professor Lorien Rice has reported on education and transportation policy for the Public Policy Institute of California, and Dr. Mark Henderson contributed to strategic planning for the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.