Schar School News April 2021

Leaving Notre Dame football for a career touchdown in D.C.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 22:14:03 +0000

Leaving Notre Dame football for a career touchdown in D.C. Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 04/21/2021 - 18:14

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Schar School student Steve Elmer is receiving the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Outstanding Public Policy Student. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Playing football for University of Notre Dame was something Steve Elmer said he could only dream of when he was younger. His talent combined with a scholarship had him playing on the field with a golden helmet as freshman. He became one of the team’s most experienced offensive linemen, having 30 starts to his name.

“A lot of people probably expected me to play my senior year and push hard to develop myself for the next step to the NFL,” said Elmer, who majored in economics. “But I was fortunate to land a wonderful Congressional internship on Capitol Hill in May of 2015 that really changed the way I thought about my future.”

The ��ӽ紫ý master of public policy student said that seeing people from his home state of Michigan making a difference in the lives of people every day confirmed a desire to go into public service. Community-mindedness was always important to him, he said, perhaps from growing up around public servants, such as his father and grandfather who were police officers.

Feeling burned out on football and inspired by a new opportunity, he graduated from Notre Dame a year early, accepting a job at Booz Allen Hamilton in Virginia, and three years later enrolled part-time at Mason, where he is graduating this May and receiving the 2021 Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Outstanding Public Policy Student.

“My experience at the Schar School has been really incredible for helping me discern the direction I wanted my career to take, and I already feel like I’ve won everything and more out of this experience that I was hoping for,” said Elmer, who hopes to have a career in international governance and policy. “To get this award is an honor and really special.”

Mason caught Elmer’s eye, he said, because of the quality of professors, its location near the nation’s capital, and its focus on tailoring programs for part-time students.

“It’s incredible to be able to learn from really accomplished professors and practitioners and their experiences,” said Elmer, adding that he has been particularly interested in courses focusing on European security policy.

“What impresses me about Steve, apart from his diligence, intelligence, erudition and decency, is that he has become so passionately interested in the European Union,” said Professor Desmond Dinan. “I hope that Steve will be able to fulfill his ambition of working on some aspect of the EU.”

In August, Elmer secured a job at the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports and Cooperation, where he’s responsible for coordinating the organization’s attendance at international defense trade shows around the world.

“The work dovetails exactly with how I targeted my MPP emphasis,” Elmer said. “It’s a huge honor to be a part of the Army team, and I’ve become much more aware of the absolute importance of United States’ allies and partners.”

Whether it’s the opportunity to support the Army, or another aspect of international governance, Elmer said he’s motivated by what his contributions could mean.

“Policies at the federal level have the potential to affect everybody in the country,” Elmer said. “Knowing that there’s the chance to do something great for a lot of people, that’s really compelling.”

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Schar School of Policy and Government

Student news

Students

Graduation

Schar School News April 2021

Chuck Robb Launches Memoir in Special Schar School Appearance With C-SPAN Founder Brian Lamb

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 13:25:19 +0000

Chuck Robb Launches Memoir in Special Schar School Appearance With C-SPAN Founder Brian Lamb Andrew J Schappert Wed, 04/21/2021 - 09:25

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Chuck Robb

It might have taken 20 years after leaving elected office, but former Virginia governor and U.S. senator Chuck Robb (D) has finished his memoirs. The former Schar School distinguished visiting professor—he taught at the school from 2001 to 2010—will discuss the book, In the Arena: A Memoir of Love, War, and Politics (UVA Press), and his career in public service during a special Schar School appearance on Wednesday, May 5, at 7 p.m.

C-SPAN founder and former Booknotes host Brian Lamb will moderate the virtual discussion. The event is free and open to the public.

The book, Robb said in a recent Zoom call, is written the way he taught his classes: Without a syllabus and in the manner of “war stories.” “I used to represent anything I was going to say or do [in class] like Jack Webb from the TV show Dragnet: ‘Just the facts,’” he said.

Those facts encompass an entire generation of Virginia and national politics, beginning with his military service at the White House as a Marine Corps officer—where he famously met his future wife, Lynda Bird, the daughter of then-president Lyndon Johnson—and later as a battlefield officer in Vietnam.

His rise through Virginia politics is detailed frankly and unflinchingly, taking in his sometimes-bruising inter-party skirmishes and his exhaustive search “to find an electable candidate” for his senate seat in 2000 when he knew “this was going to be my last tour,” he said. “Credible candidates,” he said, had reasons for not running “and I didn’t want to put somebody in there to be a sacrificial lamb by encouraging someone to do it. I decided I was going to have to do it myself. (He eventually lost to Republican George Allen.)

The senate’s loss was the Schar School’s gain. As a distinguished visiting professor, Robb and his wife opened their home’s doors many times for faculty and staff celebrations. It’s a relationship that continues to this day.

Topics

Schar School of Policy and Government

Book Talk

Events

Schar School News April 2021

J-RIG Offers Rapid Response Research Grants for Studies of Addiction Treatment in Justice-Related Settings

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 17:25:16 +0000

J-RIG Offers Rapid Response Research Grants for Studies of Addiction Treatment in Justice-Related Settings Andrew J Schappert Tue, 04/20/2021 - 13:25

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Faye S. Taxman

You have a great idea for a new study related to the treatment of opioid addiction, but the thought of writing a proposal that might not be funded for months is daunting. Or, you would like to have some seed money to do a pilot study before facing the large grant application. JCOIN’s Rapid Innovation Grant program (J-RIG) is here for just such a dilemma.

J-RIG facilitates and, importantly, accelerates research on policies and practices affecting individuals in the criminal justice system. J-RIG provides researchers with quickly approved, small grants targeting new efforts to address prevention and treatment of addiction in justice, or justice-related, settings. Applicants may request up to $110,000 for a study of 6 months to 2 years.

J-RIG is the latest initiative funded through the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network—JCOIN— a program within the National Institutes of Health’s Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Initiative, a collaborative effort to provide scientific solutions to the opioid crisis.

The goals of J-RIG, said JCOIN director Faye Taxman, “are to fund research that will create quick changes, leading to higher quality care. We see a desperate need to speed up the pace of change while maintaining scientific and academic excellence…We are seeking to support innovation and ideas that are often mired in bureaucracy and paperwork.” Decisions on funding are typically made in 90 days.

Two J-RIG grants have been approved and are underway.

In Vermont, researchers at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine are undertaking a statewide evaluation of how medications are used for opioid use disorder among those in the state’s correctional facilities, as well as studying the effects of COVID-19 on incarcerated populations. Assistant Professor Elias Klemperer at the university’s Vermont Center on Behavior and Health in the Department of Psychiatry is leading that program.
Washington, D.C.-based Rulo Strategies LLC, along with Wayne State University and the National Center for State Courts, is examining the effects of COVID-19 remote treatment teleservices in judicially led diversion programs. The national study will look at how courts use telehealth services. Rulo Strategies is led by Tara Kunkel.

While opioids are a key priority for J-RIG projects, applications may focus more broadly on other substance use issues, particularly substances associated with overdose and overdose mortality. Projects should have direct relevance to individuals who are justice-involved, but need not take place within justice settings. Those applying for grants may come from universities, nonprofit organizations, or private businesses.

J-RIG funding is available three times per year, with the call for proposals available January 5, March 20, and July 1. Typically, one project is funded in each funding cycle. Applications for the March 20 funding cycle are due May 6. Funding is open to those who work in research, policy, and practice settings. These studies will provide opportunities to learn about local initiatives, policy changes, or practice improvement efforts. For more information, contact jcpilot@gmu.edu.

At ��ӽ紫ý, the Coordination and Translation Center for JCOIN is managed by the 10-year-old Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence, ACE!, at Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government. ACE! is led by Schar School professor Faye Taxman and Danielle Rudes, an associate professor in Mason’s Department of Criminology, Law, and Society.

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Schar School of Policy and Government

ACE!

Criminal Justice

Addiction

Schar School News April 2021

Mason Vision Series on the Middle East: Peter Mandaville

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 17:02:04 +0000

Mason Vision Series on the Middle East: Peter Mandaville Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/19/2021 - 13:02

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Peter Mandaville

Professor Peter Mandaville of the Schar School of Policy and Government will hold a discussion called A Decade Beyond the Arab Spring: New Challenges for U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East tonight at 7 p.m. as part of ��ӽ紫ý’s Mason Vision Series of events.

Mandaville’s former roles in the Middle East were serving as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of State and as a member of the State Department's policy planning staff under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But we wanted to know what makes this region fascinating for him.

When and how did you become interested in the Middle East?

I was born and raised in the Middle East, the third generation of my family to live and work in the region as American expatriates. Most of that time was spent in Saudi Arabia, but at various points members of my family also lived in Lebanon, Yemen, and Egypt. So, I’ve had a lifelong connection to the Middle East.

What keeps it interesting for you?

What I find most interesting about the Middle East today—especially from the perspective of foreign policy analysis—is the fact that the rulebook governing regional politics and diplomacy seems to have been thrown out the window in the last few years.

Leaders in the region are starting to entertain a much broader portfolio of strategic relationships—including with China and Russia—and that brings with it a whole new set of variables and a more complicated calculus for U.S. policy makers.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your role(s) with the State Department?

As academics, we are trained and incentivized to explore and explain the complexity of the world in our research and teaching. We relish the many shades of gray and rarely are we forced to repackage our expertise in terms of black and white, yes or no.

At the State Department, however, I found myself in situations where I had to advise senior national decision makers about what course of action the United States should take in response to some event or development, knowing that their decision would have significant and very tangible effects in the world. Making that shift was deeply challenging and, at times, highly stressful.

The Mason Vision Series will be live-streamed through GMU-TV at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 19. Individuals will have the opportunity to participate and engage in the discussion by submitting questions via email to GMUProv@gmu.edu or Twitter by using #VisionSeriesMason. To RSVP, click here.

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Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School News April 2021