Center for Policy Research

The Maxwell School Center for Policy Research (CPR), established in 1994, encompasses the Metropolitan Studies and Aging Studies programs of the Maxwell School, established in 1961 and 1990, respectively. It is also the administrative home of the University Gerontology Center. 

CPR conducts a broad range of interdisciplinary research and related activities in the areas of: aging, disability, social welfare, and income security policy; domestic urban and regional issues; and public finance; particularly education finance. Faculty associates of the Center typically work on a variety of research grants related to public policy and involving graduate students as assistants and junior colleagues. Faculty also consult regularly with government agencies and other institutions concerned with the issues they are studying.

The Education Finance and Accountability Program (EFAP) in CPR is designed to promote research, education, and debate about fundamental issues in the system of elementary and secondary education in the United States.  The central focus of the program is on the tax and state aid programs that fund this system and on programs to promote efficiency and accountability in school districts. In addition, the center holds a regular seminar with speakers affiliated with EFAP as well as outside speakers.

The Center includes faculty from several of the departments within the Maxwell School, mainly Economics, Political Science, Public Administration, and Sociology. This collection of specialists brings a depth of experience and skill to research and offers students a wealth of opportunity for discussion and advice on their own research, as well as the possibility of research assistantships on projects directed by the faculty. The Center also provides a base for visiting scholars from the United States and abroad. CPR faculty participate in university research consortia within New York State and have collaborative research programs with several U.S., European, and Asian institutes.

With space for over 60 faculty, staff, and graduate students, CPR is housed on the fourth floor of Eggers Hall. In addition to faculty and graduate student offices, Center facilities include a specialized research library, a school-wide network of personal computers, and CPR's own UNIX computing system. A full complement of support staff and a librarian also provide extensive assistance for faculty researchers.

For more information about CPR programs and research projects, contact Peggy Austin or Martha Bonney. You may also obtain general information about CPR by calling +1 315 443 3114, or sending email to ctrpol@syr.edu.

The Moynihan Institute

The Moynihan Institute was created to integrate and focus Maxwell's international programs, research, service and training activities in an interdisciplinary setting that promotes global awareness. The Institute supports interdisciplinary programs, such as the South Asia Center, and various research projects, such as the Programs and Research on Latin America (PROLA), within the School. 

The Global Political Economy Research Consortium (G-PERC) encourages research on the political economy of global integration. The program involves Maxwell faculty and graduate students from several departments in workshops, colloquia, research, and dissemination venues aimed at professional audiences and outlets. 

G-PERC workshops feature constructive consideration of research papers and proposals by Maxwell faculty and graduate students, as well as outside scholars. These workshops aspire to help the presenter fundamentally refine his or her research and always produce lively discussion. Occasional colloquia include conferences and multi-day visits by distinguished scholars.

Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Campbell Institute is an interdisciplinary research organization dedicated to linking the worlds of scholarship and public affairs.  The Institute supports the study and analysis of public programs and actions, citizenship and participation, public management and public administration, policy processes, governance, civil society, the politics and history of public policy creation, and public affairs research in general.

Environmental Finance Center

EFC is one of six such centers partially funded by the U.S. EPA with initiatives in enhancing the financial and managerial capacity of state and local officials, promoting full cost water and wastewater rate-setting, and facilitating the development of environmental governance models and environmental service management options such as privatization.

Office Space

Each Ph.D. student in the department has a desk in an office that houses no more than five other students. The desk has built-in storage for books and a locking file drawer. In addition, each office has a shared filing cabinet and a telephone. These offices and desk spaces are custom-designed for the building that houses the Economics Department, as well as several other social science departments and research centers. Students have access to microcomputers either within the office, or, in cases where several offices are adjacent to one another, a central computer lab and lounge area. The computers are networked for Email correspondence, the Internet, and for modern statistical and word processing software. All students have access to the University Library and to University computing.

Libraries at Syracuse University

The University Library system includes the E.S. Bird Library (social sciences, including government publications, humanities, fine arts, media, special collections) the Science and Technology and Mathematics libraries in Carnegie, separate Geology and Physics libraries and the Belfer Audio Archive.

Access is also available to the Law School library, which is separately administered, and to the Moon Library at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry (State University of New York, SUNY).  Separate access and circulation policies are in effect at these two libraries. Records of their holdings are available in SUMMIT, the S.U. Library's on-line catalog. The SUNY Health Science Center Library, nearby, is also available as a resource, although its collections are not listed in SUMMIT. Graduate students who present a letter of introduction from a faculty member may borrow materials from the Health Center Library.

Syracuse University Library holds 2.4 million volumes and almost 12,000 periodicals, several hundred of which are economic journals. In addition to its collections, the library offers an array of library services, including interlibrary loan, reference, reserves, access to on- and off- site electronic resources, and instruction in the use of library resources for classes. The Center for Policy Research has its own reading room. This collection includes a selection of major journals. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers, and reference works in Economics, as well as a few hundred monographs.