In the News: Colleen Heflin

“Codifying Data Analytics for Public Policy as an area of study will allow us to deepen and expand our relationships with top employers in this area and ensure that Maxwell remains at the leading edge of this rapidly evolving field,” said Chair and Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs Robert Bifulco about Maxwell's new area of study in Data Analytics for Public Policy.

The inaugural Policy Camp introduced undergraduate students of color to career options in policy — and to the impact bolstered racial and cultural diversity can have across the public sector.

Colleen Heflin and Michah Rothbart, professor and assistant professor, respectively, of public administration and international affairs, have received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to research the relationship between student participation in the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and school readiness. The results of the study will help the USDA understand both the effectiveness and efficiency of the SNAP program.

"The workforce is not going to be as dynamic as other parts of the country," says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs. "It's going to be a pull on our economy going forward," because children growing up in poverty traditionally have lower educational attainment and wages.

"Typically people who qualify for higher SNAP benefits are in the worst health, so this suggests there is something really protective about the SNAP benefits," says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.

"Typically people who qualify for higher SNAP benefits are in the worst health, so this suggests there is something really protective about the SNAP benefits," says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.