Annual Reviews

Dear Friends,

This will be my last Carsey School annual review director’s message as I am moving on to new adventures. The Carsey School has been an adventure. I feel great gratitude and pride for what we’ve accomplished in the eight years since our founding. There are many fine schools of public policy, many bigger than ours, and many longstanding schools with deserved longstanding reputations for excellence. Among the goliaths, the Carsey School has found its place by doing what we do very, very well.

Look at this annual review, and the ones from previous years, and you’ll get the idea. Our action-oriented research, hands-on engagement in policy-making and implementation, community building, dialogue convening, leadership, and pragmatic interventions all have a track record of making a difference in the quest for a sustainable future. 

Our students are terrific. Diverse in every dimension, they have in common the goal of making our world a better place. The approach we take in our academic programs has served to make our graduates the kind of catalysts for change that are desperately needed. If, as a global community, we are going to achieve the objectives outlined by the nations of the world in the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, it is people such as our students who are going to make it happen.

Now I’ll get a little personal. I want to thank everyone who has made this ride for me possible. The faculty and staff of the Carsey School are the reason we’re so good at what we do. I’m proud to have helped make the magic happen. It’s the faculty and staff who are at the heart of what we’ve accomplished … plus a group of supporters who recognize our value. The most notable of these is, of course, our founding supporter: Marcy Carsey. Funding, obviously, matters for faculty and staff who are leaders in their fields, experiences such as our trip to Washington, and unique methods of equipping our students with skills-based education and pipelines to the professional world. Encouragement and advice are also important. Support, in all its forms—from Marcy, the other members of our advisory board, and a community of other supporters—make what we do possible and better.

I’m as excited about what the Carsey School of Public Policy will be as I am proud of what it is and how it evolved out of the Carsey Institute that came before. The team I leave at the School is extraordinary. The finances have grown and are more secure than ever. The trajectory is up. Take a look at this year’s review, and you’ll see what I mean.

Michael Ettlinger
Carsey School of Public Policy