Three years after opening and a semester after the arrival of Dean Harry Harding, the Batten School has its sights set on the future, which will include a two-year master's program, school-specific faculty and new ways to promote research.
"It's been an incredibly exciting year," Assoc. Dean Eric Patashnik said. "Dean Harding arrived July 1 and his presence has raised the energy and activity level in the Batten school immeasurably."
Patashnik said highlights from the past year include finalizing plans for the remodeling of Garrett Hall, beginning to form a faculty, working to find ways to promote faculty research and designing the curriculum for a two-year masters of public policy program that will be open to students from outside the University.
The Batten School hopes to begin the two-year degree program in fall 2011, he said. The program would be similar to the current accelerated degree program but open to students from all colleges and universities, who typically have two to five years of work experience, he added. The program will include courses in "key analytical skills," such as economics, statistics, policy analysis and political analysis, as well as courses in history, law, ethics, social psychology and other areas.
"Our goal is to establish an MPP program that has an analytic base that is as strong as our top peer competitors but will have a much broader angle of vision and that will include attention to the historical, legal, ethical and psychological context of public policy and leadership," Harding said. "We think we have an incredible opportunity to do something unique that will make Batten a distinctive institution for the 21st century."
Miller Center Prof. Guian McKee, who will teach a course on policy history for the Batten School next semester, agreed that having courses such as his included in the core curriculum is relatively unique among higher education institutions.
"It really offers something that is not being provided by other policy programs," he said.
Establishing a freestanding master's program, though, requires more faculty, said Edgar Olsen, an economics professor who teaches in the Batten School. Up until this point, all the teaching has been done by faculty members from other schools and adjunct professors, he said.
The Batten School will soon make as many as six full-time faculty appointments, which will allow the school to offer more courses, Patashnik said. These include possible hires in areas of leadership and public policy, development economics, the political and institutional context of public policy in the United States and abroad, the economics of public policy and research, as well as a professor of practice who will offer courses on leadership skills.
The search process for these hires began in August, Patashnik said. Though each process is at a different stage, the hires are meant to begin their positions next fall, he said.
Throughout the process, the Batten School has worked closely with several departments in the College, including politics, economics and psychology, and hopes that many of the appointments will be joint appointments, Patashnik said. Many of the faculty will offer courses for students from other schools, as well as for Batten students, he said.
The Batten School also is looking for ways to collaborate and develop partnerships with colleagues in other areas, Patashnik said. Officials are contemplating the role of the Batten School in undergraduate and mid-career education, as well as the possibility of joint degrees and doctoral programs with other schools, though there are currently no definite plans, he said.
"It's been great how many people around grounds are eager to work with and contribute to the Batten School," Patashnik said, "and we in turn are eager to find way of making sure that we fulfill Mr. Batten's vision for this institution."
One of the Batten School's missions is to contribute to public deliberation and enlightenment about domestic and international issues, and Patashnik and others are hoping to accomplish that goal in part through empirically based policy-oriented research. He said Batten School leaders are working to initiate and to expand research programs for the school, which would help the University's newest school develop a larger research profile.
"It's an exciting time; it's an exhilarating time," he said. "Varsity Hall - our temporary home - is a bevy of activity, and we have an amazing opportunity to create something really special at U.Va"
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