University Center Profile: University of Hawaii at Manoa's Public Policy Center
Department chairs send nominations for residents based on their areas of interest, and the dean of the College of Social Science then selects two, ideally a balance of one from each party and one from each chamber of the legislature. Legislators are often quite flattered to be asked and excited to be a part of the university life, says Chandler. “They really see this as an honorable prospect and take their role very seriously.”
Legislators determine an area of interest and the Center works with departments across campus to construct events and opportunities for legislators to engage with the community on relevant issues. For instance, faculty and graduate students in the sociology department worked with the Center and a legislator who was interested in substance abuse programs to create policy questions and a panel discussion.
One policy area where this relationship between the Center and legislators has been fruitful is energy. Past program participants who’ve been interested in energy issues have proposed energy initiatives in the state legislature, using materials developed during their time as Legislators in Residence.
The Program in Conflict Resolution (PCR), a program of the Matsunaga Institute for Peace, conducts research, prevention and peaceful resolution of interpersonal, family, workplace, community, public, organizational, cross-cultural and international conflicts. In recent years PCR has focused on the challenges of facilitation and other dispute resolution practices local, cross-cultural settings. A 2006 workshop, “PonoNow,” organized by PCR Program Manager Karen Cross, dealt with the impediments to effective inclusion and strategies for more effectively addressing the ways in which class, race and culture can impede effective problem-solving. PCR plans to develop new theory, a new research agenda, practitioner strategies, and critical questions to guide reflective practice in the area.
The Center also hosts public forums “to help citizens learn not to take responsibility for their community, come together as a public, talk through the issues of concern to them, and act together to address the issue at hand. The Hawai‘i Public Policy Forums (HPPF), based on the National Issues Forum model, was established in 2001 by a collaboration of individuals from UH and community groups to engage citizens in public policy deliberation.
Approximately 50-70 individuals participate in these workshops each year, including representatives of state and local government agencies and the State Legislature, nonprofits, and community leaders from O‘ahu and the neighbor islands, as well as HPPF faculty and UH graduate students interested public policy issues and deliberative processes.
To learn more about the Public Policy Center and its programs, contact Susan Chandler.