Partnership Opens Real-World Public Policy Research Internship to SUNY Empire’s Diverse Student Population

Albany, NY — SUNY Empire State College has joined the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Center for Law & Policy Solutions (CLPS), opening the center’s challenging, real-world public policy research internship to SUNY Empire’s diverse student population.

The Center for Law & Policy Solutions is a collaborative initiative that studies how decisions of law and policy affect ordinary people and communities.

The paid undergraduate CLPS internship pairs students with Rockefeller Institute experts to investigate a single issue of pressing state or national importance each semester through academic literature review, rigorous data analysis, and interviews with policymakers and stakeholders working directly on the issue in question.

“The Center for Law & Policy Solutions internship program will benefit from the diverse experiences and perspectives of Empire State College students while offering them a chance to see how public policy and research work in the real world,” said Patricia Strach, director for policy and research at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. “I thank Officer in Charge Mitchell Nesler and his colleagues for embracing this opportunity and look forward to working with SUNY Empire research interns.”

“By joining Rockefeller Institute’s Center for Law & Policy Solutions, SUNY Empire students now have access to academic, research, and public policy learning opportunities of the highest order,” said SUNY Empire State College Officer in Charge Mitchell S. Nesler. “The collaborative efforts of SUNY Empire faculty and the Rockefeller Institute’s public policy scholars have provided a learning environment that benefits both organizations and will lead to even better policy analysis and recommendations as we move forward together.”

Dr. Jenny Mincin, assistant professor and associate department chair at SUNY Empire State College in Health and Human Services, will join the CLPS advisory committee. Dr. David Fullard, visiting assistant professor and faculty advisor for the Black Male Initiative at SUNY Empire, will join as a senior advisor.

The collaborative Center for Law & Policy Solutions now includes the Rockefeller Institute of Government, SUNY Empire State College, Hudson Valley Community College, the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, and the University at Buffalo School of Law.

The CLPS internship program has produced analyses of drug treatment courts in the context of the opioid crisis, access to reproductive services in New York State, and college-in-prison programs in New York. Learn more here.

About the Rockefeller Institute of Government

The Rockefeller Institute of Government is the public policy research arm of the State University of New York. The Institute conducts cutting-edge research and analysis to inform lasting solutions to the problems facing New York State and the nation.

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