Matthew Galloway's Team Named NASPAA Regional Winner

The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) and the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy have announced the winners of the 2020 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition—the largest-ever student simulation competition in higher education. Matthew Galloway representing NIU won first place at the Ohio State University.
 

Team Members (left to right): Megan Selzler (University of North Dakota), Matthew Galloway (Northern Illinois University), Nino Lazariia (Indiana University Bloomington), Amanda Dawkins (University of Pittsburgh), Samantha Bigelow (Western Michigan University).

This year, nearly 400 students from 114 universities in 46 countries took part in the NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition. Participants competed at seven global host sites. Participants took on leadership roles in a simulated city, and were challenged to implement policies that would achieve the most sustainable public transit system. Developed by the Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming (CLSG) at the Batten School, the simulation was built using real-world data and with the help of academic experts and practitioners in the field of transportation and sustainable policy.

“Simulation-based learning is an incredibly valuable tool, offering some of the most exciting, intense, and impactful learning on the planet for public affairs education,” said NASPAA Executive Director Laurel McFarland. “In the classroom, our graduate students have been trained to be problem solvers, team players, and analysts—these simulations enhance students’ abilities to tackle complex policy problems they may face in the real world. They'll be ready to take the insights from their sustainable cities simulation experience into whatever kind of public service career they embark upon.”

Participating teams were evaluated on simulation scores, teamwork, organization, policy decision making, and policy presentations. Seven winning teams are moving on to the global round in which a panel of prominent judges will identify the global winner.
 

Three NIU MPA Students attended the NASPAA Batten competition from left to right: Max Gonzalez, Matthew Galloway and Kyle Knott. Funds to attend the competition were provided by the Banovetz Fellowship.

NIU MPA student Matthew Galloway described his experience this way, “The 2020 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition was an amazing experience that allowed me to work with students from across the Midwest to find solutions to sustainable urban transportation. My team was able to place first in the regional competition through enacting policies that increased green space, reduced gas-powered motor use, and incentivized alternate forms of transportation. The judges were impressed at how well our team worked together and applied out of the box solutions to reduce the cities' overall CO₂ emissions and increase its overall sustainability.”