Editor’s Note: Managing the remarkable growth of the Batten School presents unique challenges and opportunities. Dean Harding recently discussed with Professor of Public Policy Gerry Warburg how the School tackles these challenges. Following are excerpts.

Warburg: How do you teach public policy at a time when voters are so skeptical of government and national institutions?

Harding: At the Batten School, we don’t believe that public policy is the unique preserve of either government or national institutions. We see policy being designed, adopted, and implemented at all levels of society, from the local to the global. Policy is now shaped by nonprofits, for-profits and social entrepreneurs, as well as by government. We expose our students to the full range of policy-oriented careers. We’re training civic leaders with the assumption that they will not necessarily be government officials—but that they can engage in public service and civic leadership from a variety of perches.

What areas of public policy does the Batten School emphasize?

We don’t have pre-determined “tracks” among which students are required to choose. Our goal is to enable our students to master the analytic and leadership skills that can be applied across the board to policy issues, and that can be applied to different issues over the course of their careers. Our MPP students’ final policy projects, conducted for real-world clients, reflect a very broad range of policy issues.

Our individual faculty members do focus their research on specific areas of policy where they have expertise, and we’ve created research groups of faculty who work on education policy and health policy. Other Batten faculty members are conducting research on issues as diverse as energy, economic development, anti-crime policy, and intelligence reform.

What is the balance you seek between leadership and analysis?

We seek to give our students the very specific skills needed to conduct rigorous policy analysis—the ability to assess the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of various policy alternatives. We draw on a broader range of academic disciplines than is common in most policy schools. In addition to political scientists and economists, we have faculty who are historians and social psychologists, and we also draw on scholars of ethics and law. We push our students to go beyond analysis: We impart skills in advocacy, negotiation, coalition building, communications, ethical decision making, crisis management, and strategic planning. We want our students to know how to move from analysis to advocacy, from advocacy to adoption, from adoption to implementation, and then from implementation to assessment.

What is the role of policy history at Batten?

Our students need to understand how the context of policy is changing as a result of increasing fiscal constraints, major demographic transformations, and technological innovation. Change requires a historical perspective. Policy is always path-dependent; both today’s problems and tomorrow’s policy solutions have been shaped by past decisions. Students must understand antecedents if they are to be successful change agents. They must also beware of inappropriate historical analogies, which are often inaccurate or misleading accounts of the actual historical record.

What are the greatest hurdles in reshaping the traditional curriculum?

Overcoming the perception that leadership can’t be taught—that it is rooted in personal characteristics that are formed at birth or in early childhood and can only be honed by direct experience. This debate is as sterile as the old debate over “nature” versus “nurture”: Both are important. As in athletics, raw talent does matter. Yet, prospective athletes still have to choose the sport in which they are most likely to excel, seek outstanding coaches and trainers to develop their skills, and then further develop their talents in the arena or on the playing field. We think the same model applies to developing civic leaders. We also teach our students that leadership is highly contextual. The skills Batten students will need as, say, a legislative assistant in Congress are quite different from the skills they’ll apply as a small business leader shaping local policy, or as the head of an NGO trying to build an international coalition to support a specific policy. Different skills are needed in different contexts, and different leadership styles work in different settings.

What approach does the Batten School take in striking a balance between theory and practice?

Our emphasis is upon a synthesis of theory and practice; our faculty includes both scholars and practitioners. Some have established global reputations as academic researchers; others have achieved distinction in policy positions outside the academy. They’ve written major laws, led change-oriented organizations, and met payrolls. The majority of our faculty have had experience in both worlds. Our students also blend theory and practice, engaging in extensive experiential education, conducting policy research, and advocacy for real-world clients in their policy internships.

Is the Batten School’s focus primarily domestic or international?

It is increasingly global. And that’s being driven largely by our students, for whom the traditional distinctions between domestic and foreign policy are becoming irrelevant. We’re adding international policy issues to our classes on policy analysis, adding elective courses on global leadership and transnational policy problems, and looking at policy issues from a comparative perspective. We are also gradually identifying or developing study abroad opportunities for both our graduate and our undergraduate students, and creating ways to give our faculty increasing international experience and exposure. I’ve recently returned from Asia, where I found that our course offerings on civic leadership and on the policy challenges of the 21st century attracted enormous interest. We’ll be exploring ways in which we can bring those classes to students in partner universities abroad—as well, of course, as bringing more international students into our classrooms here on Grounds.

Those are ambitious goals. How do they mesh with the University’s broader challenges?

The tumult of June 2012 shined a national spotlight on Grounds, and there is enormous interest in how U.Va. meets the challenges that are facing public universities everywhere. I believe that the Batten School’s aspirations are entirely supportive of the University’s mission and emerging strategic vision. We offer our undergraduate students a personalized liberal arts education, but within the context of a professional school that teaches important skills in communications, analysis, and leadership. As a professional school of public policy, we collaborate with just about every other school on Grounds. We are realistic, focused on achievable and effective solutions to pressing problems. We’re adding to U.Va.’s engagement in policy debates at every level from the local and state to the national and global. Above all, we are fulfilling two of Mr. Jefferson’s central missions for his university: to inspire and prepare the nation’s future civic leaders, and to produce useful knowledge for society. 

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