University of New Orleans justice studies doctoral students Nathalie DuPont, Ben Posner and Emily Ratner competed in the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) inaugural Student Evaluation Case Competition in June, earning an honorable mention for placing among the top teams in the nation.
The competition required teams to develop—within a day—a comprehensive proposal for an evaluation design for a real-life program advancing racial equity through public libraries.
The trio, representing Team Justice, was led by two volunteer coaches with deep ties to New Orleans: Jason Altman of TerraLuna Collaborative and Lisanne Brown of Abt Associates. Assistant professor of political science Steve Mumford, who teaches program evaluation for UNO’s Master of Public Administration program, helped coordinate UNO’s participation.
Winning teams will be honored at the AEA annual conference in Indianapolis in October, and the top team will have the opportunity to represent the United States in the World Evaluation Case Competition later this year.
UNO’s justice studies program, which was approved by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors in 2020, offers four concentration areas in criminal, educational, environmental and social justice. The program enrolled its third class this fall.
