The JSU Public Policy Student Symposium 2014 Fall was held on December 4, 2014 (Organizer: Dr. Jae-Young Ko). The event is organized to increase students’ independent research skills, and to enhance skills of public communications in a professional setting. Fourteen presentations (ten from PhD and four from MPPA students) were made, covering diverse topics in public policy area. Top three presentations were recognized for the PhD and MPPA students, respectively. The symposium recognizes Mr. Alan Branson (title, ‘An analysis of payday lending locations in Mississippi’; in the left picture) for the 1st place of the PhD division, followed by Mr. T’Willie Chandler (‘Incarceration of veterans with post traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder’) for the 2nd place, and Ms. Cassandra Hawkins-Wilson (‘Children’s access to mental health care in Mississippi’) for the 3rd place. For the MPPA division, Ms. Daisy Carter (‘Pharm Party: A study on prescription drug abuse among teens in Mississippi’; in the right picture) won the 1st place. Mr. James Thompson (‘A comparative strategy assessment of creating green jobs for five state capital cities & policy recommendations’), and Ms. Jermesiah Haywood (‘Social media’s impact on local nonprofit organization Management: Research plan for Mississippi’) shared the 2nd place. Ms. Angeline Walton (‘Examining urban sprawl as link to sustainable development’) achieved the 3rd place. The semi-annual student symposium is open to the public policy students who want to build the research and presentation skills. The next symposium will be held in the late April 2015.
