SFU Policy Case Team takes on the rest of Canada
Friday, February 8th was a day of freezing winds, white-out snowstorms and fierce competition for three Masters of Public Policy (MPP) students from the School of Public Policy who represented SFU at the 2nd annual national policy case competition hosted by Queen’s University.
As the final presentation ended and the judges’ deliberations began, SFU team members Connor Curson, Anthony Carricato and Tabrina Clelland who had made the first presentation of the day at 8:30am, could only wait nervously along with faculty coach Nancy Olewiler until the results were announced.
WE WON!!!!!” was the message that reached Public Policy faculty and students on the West Coast just before 4pm. Olewiler recounts, “As they announced the third and second place winners, we knew it was then all or nothing. The judges had given feedback on what they were looking for and our folks delivered what they emphasized, so we felt it had to be SFU. But until the announcement, all you can do is wait anxiously. “
“All the teams were impressive, polished, and articulate. Our team excelled by delivering a pragmatic, risk based, clearly reasoned set of alternatives to the four judges who took on the roles of various federal cabinet ministers, but in real life were senior public servants. The team answered the grilling by the ministers with confidence and substance,” reflects Olewiler.
Teams from ten universities including Saskatchewan, Carlton, Ryerson, Dalhousie and University of Victoria put their skills to the test - from risk assessment and analysis of issues to policy recommendations, communications and implementation - to address a fictitious case focussed on the high-profile suicide of a young aboriginal girl that spurred local, national and international reaction.
SFU team member Connor Curson made this assessment, “the case we received this year was extremely complex, with multiple, yet very different, issues to focus on. Many issues were completely distanced from any common theme, but still pressing. Since the format was a 20 minute presentation with 10 minutes for Q&A from the judges, we really had to choose what issues to focus on and present them in a concise manner. I would say that was the largest challenge, as you were left with a lot of possibilities on how to proceed. We could focus too much on one aspect of the problem, and leave ourselves open to critique for not tackling the other issues, or we could tackle them all but risk not having enough detail or time to give them justice. It was a tricky balance, but I think what we delivered really set our approach apart from the others."
In terms of team dynamics and strengths, Connor had this to say, "Our team was really balanced and we stayed positive and gelled well together. Anthony knew a lot about the political side and what decision makers wanted to hear; he really delivered when pressed in the question round. Tabrina is an outstanding presenter-- this was extremely clear when we were selected as the first team to present and had barely practiced our final presentation. But when Tabrina spoke you would think she had done it a hundred times! This really made or presentation finish strong and confident. I would say I'm good at the research side - finding content and building a narrative. This combination worked amazingly well for us."
"The case competition event also had a social side, with many opportunities to interact with the other teams,” notes Carricato. “It was an extremely interesting and engaging group and it was great to talk to students with the same interests.”
The three-member team, all 2nd year students in the MPP program, brought a range of background experience to this competition; from theatre productions to elite-level white water sports competitions and speechwriting on Parliament Hill, these students were well-versed in situations involving pressure, deadlines and uncertainty.
“I would really recommend all MPP students take advantage of this opportunity, because it was an amazing way to network and learn," Clelland comments.
“We expect this to be an annual event and one that SFU will host in an upcoming year,” noted Olewiler. “The skills these competitions build use what our students have learned in our multi-disciplinary program – analysis of tough, real world problems under time constraints, preparing and presenting a slide deck where you try to convince a group of senior officials of the merits of your approach. The investment in developing these skills will serve them well in their careers.”
Interest was so great among MPP students that the school held an internal case competition in January where five teams honed their policy analysis skills on a fictitious case that involved a fire at a nightclub where the province had not been enforcing fire safety regulations. Two MPP grads served as judges, and two of the members of last year’s national case competition team debriefed with each team and gave feedback after their presentations.
“National interest in the policy case competition is growing quickly,” explains Olewiler. “In fact, the journal Policy Options is offering to showcase the competition with the winning team contributing to an article on their case for publication.” She notes, “as a leader in developing the field of graduate public policy education in Canada, we are simply delighted that the competition allows us to showcase our students’ many talents and look forward to being the school to beat in upcoming years.”
The School of Public Policy and the MPP team members sincerely thank the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Dean John Craig for providing funding for the team's airfare to the competition - and thanks to some luck and advance planning the team was not snowed in at the Ottawa airport.