*APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING*

For-Credit Summer Graduate Course

Program Evaluation and Applied Policy Analysis

Summer 2019

Paris, France

The University of Maryland School of Public Policy will offer a for-credit international graduate course where students will learn the tools of program evaluation and apply them as they prepare policy analyses or research syntheses for real-world clients in Paris. The course will be offered in partnership with the Economics Department at Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne

Classes will be held in Paris, France from July 1-13, 2019 at the Pantheon-Sorbonne as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Some assignments will be due before and after the two weeks in Paris.

This study abroad course is designed for doctoral, masters level, and advanced undergraduate students studying economics, public policy, public administration, and other social policy-related subjects such as education, international development, political science/governance, public health, social welfare, sociology, and urban planning.

The core faculty for the course will be:

• Douglas J. Besharov, University of Maryland, College Park (Program Director); and
• Douglas M. Call, University of Maryland, College Park

The faculty will be augmented by a number of guest faculty who are luminaries in the field of program evaluation:

• Neil Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley;
• David Myers, President and CEO, American Institutes for Research;
• Anu Rangarajan, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, International Research Division, Mathematica Policy Research;
• Stefano Scarpetta, Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD; and
• David Seidenfeld, Vice President, International Research and Evaluation, American Institutes for Research

This course is designed to help students learn the concepts of program evaluation while they apply them to projects with real-world clients. Course topics include the preparation of policy analyses, evaluation methodologies for identifying the counterfactual, assessment of causal validity in research publications, and methods for synthesizing research.

Students will prepare either a policy analysis or research synthesis for the OECD or a similar agency or organization located in or near Paris. (Last year, in addition to the OECD, clients included the Agence Francaise de Développement, UNESCO, the Institut National d’Etudes Démographiques, and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement.)

The project topics will initially be identified by the clients and the UMD faculty, with the final details to be worked out between the clients and the students. Possible topic areas include aging and pensions, child welfare, criminal justice, education, employment and the labor market, the environment, families and children, health, housing, migration, and social welfare generally.

Prior to arriving in Paris, students will be matched to clients and will work with them to create an initial project description, which will include a delineation of the policy question to be addressed and the scope of the project. While in Paris, besides attending classes, students will prepare and present project plans to their clients (and others) and make site visits to international organizations that conduct similar policy-oriented research. After leaving Paris, students will complete their projects, interacting with their clients as needed. Final projects will be due at the end of August.

A preliminary syllabus will be available on the course web page.

(Classes will be in English.)

Prior to their arrival in Paris, students will be matched to clients and there will be a preliminary online meeting to discuss the course syllabus. In Paris, the course will meet daily (tentatively 9:30-13:00) Monday–Friday for two weeks from July 1 through July 13, 2019 at the Economics Department at Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne and the OECD. As mentioned above, final projects will be due at the end of August, after students leave Paris.

The course is open to all graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

Students must be in good academic and judicial standing and must not have any registration blocks. The minimum GPA for this program is 3.0 (unless otherwise approved by the program director).

Students will receive three credits from the University of Maryland upon successful completion of the course. Non-UMD students should confirm the transferability of credits with their home academic departments. 

A non-credit version of the course will be offered. More information can be found on the course web page.

Application Fee: 50 USD

Standard program fee: 3,800 USD

Enrollment Fee: 75 USD (for non-UMD students only)

The program fee includes registration and administration, tuition, housing, course related activities, and teaching services. Students are responsible for airfare, meals, and other incidental expenses.

Applications will be accepted through March 1, 2019.  Because space is limited, early application is encouraged. Students will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Students can register for the course at the University of Maryland’s Education Abroad website. Questions about the registration process should be directed to Ying Yin of the University of Maryland.

In previous summers, students stayed at the United States dorm on the campus of Cité International Universitaire de Paris and we expect that this will continue to be the housing accommodation.

Further information regarding the course format, travel, and other course logistics will soon be available on the course web page.

For any specific questions regarding the course, please contact: Ying Yin of the University of Maryland.