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Happy Summer DMC friends and supporters! We are grateful for another week of progress and persistence at our center. Congratulations to our staff and students for officially completing the Spring 2021 semester.
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 The Prospect of Exemptions and Incentives in Vaccination Policy
The Spring semester officially concluded on April 23rd—but our researchers cannot be stopped. On April 29th, Mae Baltz had her research published in the Tallahassee Democrat, titled, “DeSantis needs to strike a balance in Florida campus vaccination policies.” As a DMC Public Policy researcher, Mae investigates vaccination policy with an analytical eye focused on evidence and case studies across Florida.
Her article is inspired by DeSantis’ executive order banning government entities from issuing vaccine passports. Rather than focus on the discourse surrounding Florida businesses, Mae’s research turns the spotlight to college campuses and the prospective role of exemptions and incentives in vaccination policy.
Mae advocates for “A clear, flexible, and inclusive policy” inspired by recent policies at other universities. Dickinson State University in North Dakota exemplifies the incentivization route; they are exempting students with proof of vaccination from their campus mask mandate in the Fall. Encouraging students to seek vaccination will facilitate a safer campus return in the Fall.
Likewise, Mae points to the potential for exemptions as well. Florida State University already operates through exemption-based policies for measles. Mae artfully argues that the opportunity for exemption, coupled with incentives, is a welcomed turn from DeSantis’ sweeping ban.
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Engagement Through Storytelling: A New Perspective on Fostering Community
Our faculty have not skipped a beat, either! Dr. Taylor recently had her work published in Societies: an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of sociology, published quarterly online by MDPI. Dr. Taylor weaves sociology and urban planning together in her study titled: Storytelling and Arts to Facilitate Community Capacity Building for Urban Planning and Social Work.
Dr. Taylor’s article focuses on a community in Lopez Island, Washington, facing sustainable housing and agricultural issues. They brought in a 2-day storytelling and theater program that endeavored to engage the community through the arts. Dr. Taylor created and distributed a community capacity survey to evaluate the experience of community members. Her results are promising, showing that the program helps with “deepening connections to others and generating authentic dialogue.”
Her article has no shortage of success. As of May 1st, her study accumulated 979 Views and 603 Downloads: a testament to the value of interdisciplinary research and Dr. Taylor’s pioneering research.
Our students and staff are lucky to have her public policy expertise and ingenuity at the center!
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Staff Spotlight: Danielle Waidley
Danielle Waidley is an economics major at FSU. Although new to our center this year, she did not hesitate to show her dynamic research prowess. After learning about our Annual Symposium on School Choice, Danielle jumped into an individual research project analyzing how the availability of school choice programs affects local housing markets.
Danielle’s preliminary research explores how house prices increase or decrease based on school performance. School choice programs should break the direct link between school quality and neighborhood choice. With Dr. Taylor’s mentorship, Danielle assesses the quality of neighborhood schools and compares them to the prices of houses in the respective school zones.
Danielle is pursuing every angle of research available to her. After presenting preliminary results at FSU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, her sights are still set on more presentation and publication opportunities. We look forward to supporting and spotlighting Daniell’s career!
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Alumni Spotlight: Samuel Lister
Samuel Lister is a professional DMC alumni who embodies our mission: both in where we have been as a Center, and where we want to be.
Samuel is a Senior Financial Analyst at Paya with a diverse occupational background. His professional trajectory started at the DMC as an economic and financial analyst with our Public Policy team. His tenure at the Center started in 2015 and he co-authored a research paper on the effects of Land Conservation policies in the State of Florida, which was presented at the Association of Private Enterprise Education in Las Vegas. Samuel helped pave the way for our future APEE applicants and presenters: one of whom took home first prize this year!
In addition to being a talented and committed analyst, Samuel dedicated his time and expertise to our April Alumni Panel. You can read his reflections on the panel in his recent LinkedIn post. Samuel reflects that he “owe[s] a lot of thanks for the opportunities my internship 6 years ago provided,” further describing his experience as a panelist as a unique way to see “how much the center has grown since”!
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Support Our Student Internship Program!
The DMC has made a name for itself through a robust and innovative internship program that now includes 30 undergraduate and graduate students in any given academic year. Our hands-on mentoring, immersive student education, applied policy research give them the tools to be successful when they graduate, whether they enter the professional workforce or go onto graduate school.
Please consider supporting this program, which is funded through private donations, by giving to the DeVoe L. Moore Center (Fund code F04824S in the drop-down memo).
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