Fall 2023 TSPPPA Newsletter

Please join alumni, faculty, current students and friends of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration as we reconnect with each other and celebrate the achievements of this year’s winners, Terry Hartle, DPA ‘82, and Traci Kraus, MPA ‘14.

Our annual Alumni Awards and Reception will be held on Wednesday, October 18 at 4:30pm. Please register here →

Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Terry Hartle, DPA '82
Terry W. Hartle has been one of America’s most effective and experienced advocates for higher education for over 25 years. As senior vice president of American Council on Education’s Government Relations and Public Affairs division from 1993 to 2023, Hartle directed comprehensive efforts to engage federal policymakers on a broad range of issues including student aid, government regulation, scientific research, and tax policy. He received the GW President’s Medal and the Hiram College Alumni Achievement Award, was inducted into Hiram College’s William H. Hollinger Athletic Hall of Fame, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 2021, Hartle and ACE’s Government Relations and Public Affairs team received the Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education Award from NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education in recognition of their public policy advocacy on behalf of the entire higher education community, particularly in response to the crisis the COVID-19 pandemic posed for institutions and students.

Outstanding Recent Alumni Award: Traci Kraus, MPA '14
Traci Kraus is the Executive Director of Government Relations leading the US federal advocacy team at Cummins Inc. She focuses on energy, climate, hydrogen, transportation and budget legislative and regulatory issues. She also represents Cummins as a co-founder of the Hydrogen Forward coalition, Co-Chair of the Hydrogen Council Policy and Advocacy Project Team and the Chair of the Truck and Engine Manufacturer’s Association Public Policy Committee. Traci serves on the Leadership Circle of the Ascend Fund, a bipartisan organization accelerating the pace of change toward gender parity in U.S. politics, and was a founding member of the Jewish Women International Young Women’s Impact Network. 

Capstone Excellence Prize: Katherine DeGeorge, MPA, Lancy Downs, MPA, Zoe Tollette, MPA, Vaibhav Vijay, MPP, Alyssa Weiner Sandler, MPA, Emma Weiss, MPA
For their project: Challenges and Best Practices for Retaining Workers with IDDs in the Federal Workforce
Client: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Dr. Morgan Walls-Dinnes, Virginia Andreu, Esq., William H. Rumsey III  

The Mixed Method Research Group (MMR) is an informal Trachtenberg School community, made up of faculty, alumni, and current students that has grown organically around Shapiro Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration Professor Sanjay Pandey’s Mixed Methods Research Design course. According to Pandey, "This community has opened up rich opportunities for learning, networking, and publishing with mixed methods publications appearing in the Trachtenberg School's Policy Perspectives journal as well as in leading public policy and public administration journals. Alumni Chelsea Richwine and Eric Luo, working with Trachtenberg faculty and students, published a paper in the leading public policy journal. Alumna Kathryn Hendren led a team of Trachtenberg faculty and students/alumni and published in the leading public administration journal. Chelsea, Eric, and Kathryn have also participated (in-person and/or Zoom) and shared their excitement and expertise with the Mixed Methods Research Interest Group at Trachtenberg meetings held as a part of the Mixed Methods Research Design course."

“I became involved in the Mixed Methods Research Group while completing my doctoral program in the Trachtenberg School. Engaging with the group allowed me to apply the skills I was learning in my coursework in a supportive, collaborative environment. I learned a lot about mixed methods research, but I also learned how to effectively collaborate with a group of individuals with diverse methodological backgrounds and how to leverage our different strengths to conduct high quality mixed methods research. The skills I developed in this group have been extremely valuable in my post-academic career - both in working with others and in developing an approach to policy relevant research questions” - Chelsea Richwine, PhD '20

Congratulations to the newest inductees of the TSPPPA chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha! The Pi Alpha Alpha TSPPPA Chapter President, Gabriel Royal, PhD ‘23 had this to say about the chapter and induction ceremony: "As I move on from Trachtenberg to teach American Politics to undergraduates at the U.S. Military Academy, maintaining connections to other academics and practitioners in the field of public policy is invaluable for cadets interested in exploring practical political science research. Pi Alpha Alpha is a great way to do just that! At our induction ceremony, Mr. Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) MPA '03, gave us an inspired look at how our graduate school education could lead to innovation and lasting change at some of the highest levels of government."