Examining Equitable Access to Health Resources, Support Staff and Technology Across HISD
This series of briefs examined whether students across different Houston Independent School District campuses had equitable access to health resources, support staff and technology.
Undergraduate research assistants were responsible for the analysis of these briefs as part of a capstone project for the program in Social Policy & Analysis at Rice University. Kinder Institute research staff supervised the projects, and the final briefs were adapted to fit the format of other research briefs.
View All Briefs
Careers in Policy Spring Workshop Series
Careers in SOPA Spring Workshop Series.pdf
SOPA Capstone Class of 2020 Present their Final Projects (Virtually)
On April 30, 2020, SOPA students presented their final Capstone projects to their community partners and Rice faculty members. These presentations were scheduled to happen on campus and were supposed to be followed by a poster session and reception. However, due to Covid-19, they were instead presented via Zoom.
This year’s capstone students deserve special credit not only for being the first full-fledged capstone group, but for also being so adaptable and flexible. This group of 14 students met the challenges of finishing their projects remotely by demonstrating their grit and determination. The final products were outstanding! The SOPA advisory committee was truly impressed with the dedication, hard work, and excellence this group of students exhibited throughout the capstone process.
We would like to offer special thanks to the community partners who supervised these projects, mentored the SOPA students, and gave our program an opportunity to engage in hands-on social policy research and evaluation:
- Diego Amador Research Scientist, Criminal and Juvenile Justice Lead, Texas Policy Lab,
- Daniel J. Potter, Associate Director of Regional Research, Houston Education Research Consortium,
- Snejana Nihtianova, Director of Research Operations for the Texas Policy Lab,
- John Boerstler, CEO of Combined Arms.
We would also like to acknowledge the faculty mentors who sponsored these projects and worked with the SOPA students this year: Dr. Flavio Cunha (TPL-LENA Project), Dr. Ruth Lopez-Turley (HERC-CTE), Dr. Paul Treacy (TPL-Criminal Justice), and Dr. Zoe Wool (Combined Arms).
Isabela Walkin Honored with Outstanding Social Policy Analysis Graduating Senior Award
This year SOPA gave its inaugural award for its outstanding graduating senior, Isabela Walkin. The SOPA Advisory Committee considered the following criteria in selecting this year’s winner: intellectual curiosity, participation, quality of writing, leadership, and communication. The award comes with $250 prize. Congratulations Isabela on being the first recipient of this award!
Isabela Walkin has been interested in public policy ever since interning for her local District Attorney’s office in Lake Charles, LA during high school. At Rice, she advanced her professional interests by interning with Covenant Community Capital, a local nonprofit, through the Community Bridges program and interning with a federal magistrate judge as a part of the judicial practicum. For her SOPA capstone this past year, Isabela and the rest of her team worked with the Texas Policy Lab to evaluate the impact of a prisoner reentry program for veterans run by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Outside of the classroom, she co-captained the Rice women’s club water polo team and was an active member of her residential college (Sid Rich Rules). After graduation, Isabela will be working for a management consulting firm in Houston, though she plans on applying to law school in the next few years.