Professor, Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEPP), Virginia Tech; Joann Boughman Innovation Fellow at USG; Acting Director, Center for Future of Work Places and Practices (CFWPP); Head of Outreach and Engagement, Center for European and Transatlantic Studies (CEUTS)
Our new paper entitled “Systematic investigation of inadequate food access at a large southeastern land grant university,” is now available at PLOS ONE.
Abtract: Over the past decade, the impact of low food security on student well-being and academic performance has become a growing concern at institutions of higher education across the U.S. This mixed methods study adds to the growing body of evidence on the association between student socio-demographic and economic characteristics and food security. An online survey covering food access, student well-being, and housing security was sent to 35,337 undergraduate and graduate students at a large southeastern land grant university. A total of 2,116 complete responses were received; a 6% response rate. The survey responses also included 176 written statements by students. The survey found that 16% of both undergraduate and graduate students had low or very low food security, as defined by a modified USDA food security measure. The socio-demographic and economic characteristics that were linked to a higher likelihood of low food security included: having a GPA of less than 3.0, having a disability, being an international student, being a first-generation student, being a transfer student, going into debt to pay for food, being a Black or African American student, having poor mental health, having uncertain living arrangements, and having no medical insurance. Recommendations for enhancing student access to food, housing, and mental health services are discussed.
On March 13 at 2pm, the Center for Future Work Places and Practices (CFWPP) will welcome Dr. Alan Tomkins – the Acting Division Director of the NSF’s Social and Economic Sciences (SES) Directorate – to Virginia Tech as part of its speaker series. In this presentation, Dr. Tomkins will talk about NSF’s grant process and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) programs, provide tips for writing a competitive proposal, and discuss different types of grants.
Please register hereto join the talk in person or remotely.
On Wednesday, October 25, from 9-11am, Steven T. Licardi and I will be hosting an event as part of the Virginia Tech Humanities Week. Please join us if you would like to engage in our “Performing Alternative Economic Models” experience.
Performing Alternative Economic Models
Ralph Hall and Steven T. Licardi
Time: 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Location: Squires 134 and Zoom
For many, our current economic models no longer meet our basic human needs. Over the past two years, performance artist Steven T. Licardi and SPIA faculty member Ralph Hall have been exploring ways to advance new economic thinking – related to Community Wealth Building – through a SciArts project. Through this collaboration, they arrived at “Ping-pong-omics” and performance art as an engaging way to reveal economic inequality and challenge participants to imagine, explore, and develop alternative economic models.
Congratulations to Shahidur Rashid Talukdar for successfully defending his PhD dissertation entitled “Policy conflicts among local government officials: How does officials’ engagement with regional governance relate to their position divergence on sustainability policy?” The abstract for his dissertation is provided below.
Policy conflict plays an important role in shaping public policy—both as a process and as a product. The policy conflict framework—a relatively novel theoretical framework, developed by Christopher Weible and Tanya Heikkila in 2017—considers position divergence among policymakers a key characteristic of policy conflict, which can be affected several factors including organizational and network affiliation of policymakers. This dissertation analyzes position divergence among local and regional officials over community sustainability policy, with a focus on affordable housing, which is a major concern of community sustainability. This research examines if, and how, local government officials’ engagement with regional governance can play a role in shaping their policy positions. Understanding what influences officials’ policy positions is essential in managing conflicts that arise in the making of sustainability policies in general and affordable housing policies, in particular.
This study argues that local government officials’ engagement with regional governance can lower policy position divergence among them by influencing their policy core beliefs and policy relevant knowledge. This analysis includes testing several hypotheses using data from a state-wide survey of local and regional policymakers. Employing cross-tabulations, multivariate regressions, and ordered logit analysis, this study finds that (a) policymakers share a wide range of policy positions on community sustainability policies and (b) for local government officials engaged with regional governance, position divergence on community sustainability is lower than that among those who are not engaged with regional governance. Although position divergence on affordable housing among those engaged with regional governance is generally lower than those who are not engaged with regional governance, this finding is not robust. In some regions and localities, the relationship between position divergence and engagement with regional governance does not hold.
Furthermore, this study finds that local government officials’ engagement with regional governance is associated with higher levels of policy relevant knowledge, which can influence the policymakers’ policy positions. Policy core beliefs do not have a statistically significant relationship with policymakers’ engagement with regional governance. The analysis suggests that local government officials’ policy core beliefs may not be affected by their engagement with regional governance.
Congratulations to Ibrahim Altasan for successfully defending his PhD dissertation entitled “The Governance of Mobilized Urban Policies: The Case of Riyadh’s Transit-Oriented Development Program.” The general audience abstract for his dissertation is provided below.
Nowadays, city officials are looking outside their borders for urban policies that promote sustainability and improve quality of life. However, city officials rarely consider how differences between local urban areas could affect the adoption of urban policy. To address this challenge, the field of Urban Policy Mobility (UPM) emerged to shed light on how the unique local factors that shape each city environment affect what elements of an urban policy are or are not adopted. This study examines the changes that occurred when a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) urban policy was introduced in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In order to learn about the changes and challenges of Riyadh’s TOD policy, interviews were conducted with employees responsible for the policy. Additionally, TOD policy documents and other publications that contained information about Riyadh’s TOD were reviewed to obtain additional data to help build a deeper understanding of why certain policy elements were implemented and others were not. The study found that: 1) the TOD policy was not completely translated into Riyadh where the focus is more on increasing building density, diversifying land uses, and enhancing design aesthetics, which resulted in overlooking other important policy elements that enhance economic and social sustainability; and 2) the implementation of the TOD policy led to governance challenges due to the differences in how urban planning is undertaken in Riyadh when compared with TOD policy environments in western countries. This in-depth study of Riyadh’s experience can inform other cities that are looking to implement urban policies borrowed from overseas.
On Wednesday, April 26, at 3:30pm, please join Dr. Jessica Agnew and I to learn about the results from our 2019 and 2021 food access and well-being studies at Virginia Tech. The report from our 2019 study can be accessed here. We will provide a brief summary of the 2019 results and then share the findings from the 2021 study. We will also discuss the events that led to the creation of The Market of Virginia Tech and will outline the future research that is underway.
Please find below links to the 3-minute presentations given during the “Get Out There with SPIA” event held on February 10. The slides from the event can be accessed here.
If you have any questions about a specific program/course, please reach out to the lead faculty member(s) listed below. The first two summer programs have an application deadline of February 15, so please apply before then if you would like to be considered for one of these.
VT undergraduate and graduate students, please join us (in room 111, Architecture Annex or via zoom) on Friday, February 10 at 12pm to learn more about SPIA’s off campus and summer opportunities.
During the event, faculty will give 3-minute presentations on their programs/courses to provide a broad overview of the full range of unique opportunities available to students.
Ralph P Hall 