Real World EXPERIENCE: CIPA capstone projects foster change near and far.

Jackson, Rebecca

Students and faculty packed the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA) capstone reception on Dec. 5 to view poster presentations by graduate students who spent the semester developing recommendations for real-world clients.

The projects are made possible through Cornell's relationships with domestic and international NGOs and governmental organizations. Each student group chose aclient, and through in-depth interviews, field studies, and survey data, collaborated to create meaningful solutions.

"Our client provided a wide array of resources that the CIPA capstone team took full advantage of when we initiated our research," said Michael Foley, MPA '17. The collaboration allowed students to join ongoing efforts and help in the process of figuring out what is most needed in the communities they aim to serve.

Projects ranged from developing reintegration strategies for child soldiers in Uganda to improving funding for the Ithaca Health Alliance, a community-based health care cooperative. Some of the international projects involved agricultural communities facing economic and environmental challenges, and students worked to find solutions to revitalize development and growth. Others focused on analyzing policies already in place, such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program in New York City, to provide recommendations for further implementation. While the subject matter spanned government and environmental policy to nonprofit management, the projects all displayed an in-depth understanding of their focus populations and the issues at hand.

Capstone students repeatedly remarked on how much they enjoyed working on real-world problems and spoke of the satisfaction they gained from being engaged in current policy issues. "Since it's a professional masters, this type of applied work experience is very important to us," said Ana Alvarez Vijil, a teaching assistant for the capstone course.

The capstone experience epitomizes CIPA's goal of complementing students' solid academic preparation with hands-on, practical experiences. "CIPA courses give you more of a holistic perspective," said Arpit Chatuvedi, MPA '18. "It's basically training your brain to approach different policy issues."