Five UNC MPA Students Compete in Simulation Challenge

About

As the largest
university-based local
government training,
advisory, and research
organization in the United
States, the School of
Government serves more
than 12,000 public officials
each year.

Browse by Role

The School provides
content and resources for a
wide array of local
government and judicial
officials in North Carolina.

Select your role to explore
all related content.

Browse by Topic

The School provides content
and resources on a wide array
of topics in local government
and judicial administration in
North Carolina.

Select a topic to explore all
related content.

Courses

The School of Government
offers up to 200 courses,
workshops, webinars, and
professional conferences
each year.

Publications

The School of Government
publishes essential books,
manuals, reports, articles,
bulletins, and other print and
online content related to state
and local government.

Blogs

Faculty write for a number
of School of Government
blogs providing timely
updates on emerging issues.

Resources

The School of Government
offers information and
services related to a wide
range of topics relevant to
government and judicial
officials—in-person and on a
variety of platforms.

Blog Posts

Timely updates on emerging issues

Centers and Services

Specialized training/research hubs and consulting services

Frequently Asked Questions

Aggregated answers to common questions on a variety of topics

Knapp Library

Print and online materials and research expertise

Legal Summaries

Brief descriptions of legal cases, bills, or legislative activity

Listservs

Information exchanges for peers and faculty experts

Microsites

In-depth or aggregated content for local government and judicial officials

Tools and Apps

Online and mobile tools for employees on-the-go

Master of Public
Administration Program

The UNC MPA program prepares public service leaders. The program is offered in two formats: on-campus and online.

For more information, visit mpa.unc.edu

Giving

The School of Government depends on private and public support for fulfilling its mission. Your gift will make a lasting impact on the quality of government and civic participation in North Carolina.

Knapp Library

The Joseph Palmer Knapp Library houses a large collection of material on state and local government, public administration, and management to support the School's instructional and research programs and the educational mission of the Master of Public Administration program. Reference and research services are available to all residents of North Carolina, and additional assistance is available to state and local government personnel, both elected and appointed.

The School of Government congratulates current Master of Public Administration students Chase Loudermelt, Jeana Taylor, Meredith Marlier, Jane Kaufmann, and Tiffany Oliva on being selected to represent the program at the 2021 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation. This day-long event allows graduate students in public policy and related fields across the world to test their skills on real-world data.

Each year, the Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming develops an original participatory simulation on a topic of relevance. Unsurprisingly, this year’s topic was oriented around pandemics. Past topics have included global migration and sustainable cities. The simulations employ a realistic situation, and participating students are randomly place in teams of five. Under limited time, each team is provided information on the problem and then tasked with creating a policy memorandum and giving a presentation to subject area experts.

The UNC MPA program was able to sponsor the participation of all five students in the 2021 Batten Challenge. As a professional development opportunity, this program teaches students to build skills in negotiation, decision making, and teamwork.

“We encourage students to participate in professional development opportunities such as these because it helps them apply theory to practice and gain important skills to support career growth,”’ said Allison Binkley, the program’s associate director for career services and professional development. “We appreciate all of our students but would like to especially recognize our four online students and one on-campus student who participated in this opportunity.”

Current MPA student Tiffany Oliva joined students from Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Missouri, and New York University on the first place-winning team at the North American competition held last month. Her team will be competing in the global competition set to take place this week. The School and program wish Oliva the best of fortune in their efforts.

"The NASPAA-Batten competition was an opportunity for me to apply some of the skills I have learned in UNC’s MPA program to make quick, team decisions about economic, health, and equity policy to contain a pandemic outbreak,” she said. “It was a fun learning experience, and I am excited to have moved on to compete in the global round of the competition.

To watch Oliva compete live on Friday, April 16, view the stream here.