Natalia Paolini

A Switch from STEM to Government Fit This Schar School Scholar

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 22:02:22 +0000

A Switch from STEM to Government Fit This Schar School Scholar Andrew J Schappert Mon, 02/12/2024 - 17:02

This is part of the Schar School's student-to-student story series where undergraduates are interviewed and profiled by their peers.

Ruthu Josyula discovered a passion for government as a senior in high school through her involvement in speech and debate. She knew she wanted to attend college in Virginia and investigated universities with government programs. Fairfax proved far enough away from home but still near bustling Washington, D.C., so ��ӽ紫ý and the Schar School of Policy and Government felt like a good fit.

Schar School student Ruthu Josyula has explored her career goals through a wide range of school activities. Photo provided

Not only was it in the perfect location, but Mason provided me with all of the tools I needed to begin delving into government,” she said.

Josyula attended a magnet high school, which focused on math and science. She had planned to be an architect, but switched to a government and international politics major because she was fascinated to learn about how government works and what role it plays in everyday life.

As a freshman, Josyula applied to the Democracy Lab, a first-year residential learning community, led by Associate Professor Jennifer Victor. As a member of the Democracy Lab, students live with peers who share a passion for learning and civic action. Students enroll in a government course, take part in customized field trips to important institutions in the Washington, D.C., area, and hear from prominent guest speakers. All of these opportunities build a strong network of students, professors, mentors, and advisors that contribute to students’ future success.

I was so nervous to enter a completely different area of study, but Democracy Lab was an essential step in my smooth transition,” she said. “I have met my closest friends through the program.”

Josyula had such an eye-opening experience with the Democracy Lab that, as a sophomore, she joined another learning community, the International Relations Policy Task Force, led by Associate Professor Eric McGlinchey, where sophomores, juniors, and seniors engage deeply in pressing worldwide challenges.

“This learning community will give me insight on how governments interact on a global scale,” she said.

Not only is Josyula fully immersed in Schar School programs, but she is also on the executive board of several clubs, most notably Bridge. As the name suggests, Bridge’s mission is to encourage civic dialogue on campus; it is strictly nonpartisan and specializes in mediating.

Josyula’s passion, when she is not leading a Bridge meeting or discussing international relations with Professor McGlinchey, is traveling. Another factor that led to her choosing Mason was the Global Gateway program, which allows first-year students to study abroad. She chose to travel to Morocco.

“I was shocked that I had the chance to leave the country as early as my first year,” she said. “It was a transformative adventure, and I plan to continue traveling the world.”

Having learned so much from her professors and peers, Josyula is excited for the next stage of her academic career. She plans to seek an internship in Washington, D.C. While internships are highly competitive, Josyula feels confident that she has gained marketable collaboration skills through her involvement with the Schar School’s learning communities.

In This Story

Jennifer N. Victor

Eric McGlinchey

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Topics

International Relations Task Force

Global Gateway Program

Schar School Student Spotlight

Schar School News for February 2024

Students

study abroad

Democracy Lab

Democracy Lab Learning Community

Learning How to Overcome the Barriers of Student Voting

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 15:50:03 +0000

Learning How to Overcome the Barriers of Student Voting Andrew J Schappert Wed, 12/06/2023 - 10:50

In This Story

Jennifer N. Victor

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Associate Professor Jennifer Victor leads students in her “You’re the Voter” project.

Jennifer N. Victor

College students are an elusive group of voters.

Looking at the low voter turnout rate among college students, it may seem as though they are disinterested in elections. But a new study in the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��ӽ紫ý suggests college students face more barriers to voting than nearly any other population of voters and aims to determine how to get students to the polls.

Mason’s voter turnout record has huge disparities over the last few elections. For example, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement based at Tufts University, Mason had record-high voter turnout in 2020—nearly 72 percent of registered students voted, including those who voted on campus, by mail, or in their home districts. But in 2023, despite a robust political climate on campus, Mason’s polling station in Merten Hall saw the lowest turnout in Fairfax County—only 12 percent of registered students voted there (excluding provisional ballots, which are not yet available).

Jennifer N. Victor, associate professor in the Schar School, wants to understand what drives student voting and the best ways to overcome the barriers in student voting. This fall, she mounted a new project called “You’re the Voter,” which aims to increase voter awareness and turnout at Mason. Part mobilization, research, and experiential learning, You’re the Voter was open to students whose class instructors are enrolled in the program, offering keen insights into the motivations of an elusive voting bloc that has yet to emerge as a dominant force in American politics.

Members of the Schar School Democracy Lab Learning Community assisted Victor with the project. Democracy Lab is the only Schar School residential learning community that is exclusively for first-year students. Together, the students take an introductory government course while also engaging in events, discussions, and field trips to learn about civic engagement.

Democracy Lab students delivered an experimental protocol by going into classrooms and providing information about voting and encouragement to vote. Other classes only received emailed encouragement, while about one-third of classes in the study received no added information about voting.

A watch party was hosted for election night on November 7, 2023, and an open invitation was extended to all Schar School students to gather and watch the live results of the Virginia election. After the night ended, Victor shared some of her preliminary results.

Historical data on turnout at the Mason campus polling place (Fairfax County precinct 134 “University”; VA House of Delegates district 35; Senate district 11; Fairfax Count Braddock District)

Year	Registered Voters	Total	Percentage
2020	2294	709	30
2021	1992	452	23
2022	1798	305	17
2023	2165	254	12

*Excludes provisional ballots for all except 2021, which is inclusive of provisional ballots.

The year 2023 saw an increase in the number of registered voters in the Mason precinct relative to 2021 and 2022. Mason saw a roughly 20 percent increase in registered voters from 2022 to 2023.

Turnout at the Mason student polling site has been declining over the past four election cycles. Turnout in 2023 was 29.4 percent lower in relative to 2022, with only 12 percent of registered voters.

Victor will not know which motivation method was the most effective for turning out students until she receives the final tallies of voting data from the state, which she expects in early 2024. In the spring semester, she will work with Democracy Lab students to analyze the study data and draw conclusions about how to best get students to the polls.

Victor and her campus and community partners, including the Provost’s Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning (CECiL) and the League of Women Voters of Fairfax, celebrated the students and faculty who participated in the study at a breakfast event on Wednesday, November 29.

“The people in this room, and elsewhere on campus, are the village that makes voting happen and keeps democracy resilient,” Victor said to the group.

Topics

Democracy Lab

Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning

Schar School News for December 2023

Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School Featured Stories

Students

Democracy Lab Learning Community

Meet the New VP of Student Government: Nell Palumbo

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 01 May 2023 15:45:49 +0000

Meet the New VP of Student Government: Nell Palumbo Andrew J Schappert Mon, 05/01/2023 - 11:45

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Nell Palumbo poses with a vintage auto during a study abroad visit to Cuba.

If ever there was a lesson to be learned about elections, this year’s contest for student body leadership was it. Paul Wyche, a cyber security engineering major, and running mate Nell Palumbo, a government and international politics major at the Schar School of Policy and Government, won the ��ӽ紫ý student body presidency and vice presidency, respectively, by a mere three votes.

Of the 1,474 votes cast, the Wyche-Palumbo combo took 646 of them, topping the Liam Keen-Amanda Magpiong ticket’s 643 votes. Wyche and Palumbo were sworn in on April 27.

For Nashville native Palumbo, the three weeks of campaigning she characterized as “stressful” were worth the effort. “I believe that the most important part of Mason is the students,” she said.

Palumbo, who will be a junior in the fall, chose to attend Mason since it fit with her desire to go to a large university near Washington, D.C., where she could pursue a future in government. But as her first semester as a freshman came and went, she was nervous that she would be lost amid crowds.

To her surprise, she saw benefits of belonging to a smaller school—the Schar School—within a larger institution and found that it unlocked more paths for her future.

She added that relationships with professors, who encouraged her to explore new avenues of academics, influenced her to consider law school, which is now on her horizon.

Palumbo has taken advantage of leadership opportunities during her Mason career. As her sorority’s president, Alpha Phi, she strives to motivate peers and improve community building. Although the chapter does not have a traditional Greek house, she has managed to live with several of her sorority sisters in a home that offers stress-busting DIY projects. At the moment, she is working on gardening boxes she plans to bring from the Mason greenhouse to her own house.

Palumbo is also enjoying the proximity to Washington, working this summer as an intern on Capitol Hill. A prior internship for the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia, prepared her for her next political assignment.

Included on the Wyche-Palumbo campaign platform was a promise to increase student engagement with student government. Palumbo hopes to explore new ways to use communication platforms to generate participation in common goals.

And in doing so, maybe get more students to vote.

Topics

student government

Schar School News May 2023

Students

Schar School Student Spotlight