12:49 p.m., June 3, 2010----University of Delaware School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy graduate students Robert Coons and Sarah Logrieco were invited to participate in a session entitled “Study Abroad for Graduate Students: Combining Teaching and Research in a Cross Cultural Course in Public Administration and Public Policy” at the 18th NISPAcee (Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe) Annual Conference held in Warsaw in mid-May.

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They never expected their January 2010 trip to Romania as part of the SUAPP cross cultural course in public administration and public policy would turn into a May trip to Warsaw -- but it did.

The research was conducted with public administration graduate students studying at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Coons, accompanied by Romanian student Andreaa Andries, presented research on “Emergency Management in Romania” and Logrieco, accompanied by Diana Pop, presented a paper on “Prevalent Issues in Romania: Public School Management and the Progress of Regional Decentralization.”

During their January stay in Cluj-Napoca, Coons, Logrieco and five other SUAPP students worked in teams with Romanian graduate students, conducting interviews, collecting data and meeting with local and national government leaders as well as nonprofit, education and media leaders.

Research topics included public education, public health, opportunities for economic and social development of minorities (especially the Roma population), disaster response, freedom of information, anticorruption measures, and the interrelationship of public transportation and air quality.

The resulting research papers were initially presented at a forum on Jan. 21 in Romania that was preceded by a press conference at which student participants were interviewed by Romanian print and broadcast media.

Logrieco received her master's degree in public administration (MPA) on May 29 and will begin work with Uncommon Schools in Newark, N.J. Coons, who has been working in the University's Disaster Research Center, expects to receive the MPA degree in 2011.

The study abroad program was developed by Arno Loessner, University of Delaware associate professor emeritus (SUAPP) and supported by Calin Hintea, chair of the Public Administration Department at Babes-Bolyai University as part of the active cooperation between the two programs.

UD and Babes-Bolyai University in Romania have cooperated for several years. The cooperation has resulted in Fulbright exchanges of faculty, student exchanges and courses conducted by Loessner, who holds appointments at both institutions.

A recent meeting of UD's Loessner, Dan Rich, University Professor of Public Policy, Maria Aristigueta, director of SUAPP, and Jerome Lewis, director of the Institute for Public Administration, with Hintea and Catalin Baba, dean of social science at Babes-Bolyai, developed a proposed project to adapt successful programs from UD's School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy to higher education institutions in Romania.

The project, designed to promote social and economic development in Romania by involving universities in applied research and public service, has been mentioned by Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc in communications with Vice President Joe Biden, a UD alumnus.