This summer, the University of Oklahoma unveiled its first strategic plan in a generation. “Lead On, University” – OU’s strategic plan for the Norman campus – provides a roadmap to unlocking OU’s greatest potential as one of the nation’s top public research universities. The plan is guided by five overarching pillars that stem from OU’s core traditions, which include enriching and positively impacting Oklahoma, the nation and the world through research and creative activity.
In the OU College of Arts and Sciences, Erin Maher, associate professor of sociology, is well underway in her efforts to cultivate cross-campus collaborations and state agency partnerships to help fulfill the strategic plan since arriving at OU just over two years ago.
Her work also aligns with the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, which was established by the bipartisan Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act of 2016 and signed by President Barack Obama in March 2016. The Act emphasizes that better use of existing data may improve how government programs operate.
“This [commission] really sets the stage for why these university and state agency relationships are so important,” said Maher. “We are in a time of government accountability where there is more and more demand for and requirement for evidence to accompany policy, interventions and resource spending. The need for state human service agencies to have evaluation capacity is very high. They are hiring internally, such as data managers, but still are often overwhelmed by day-to-day operations. They welcome more expertise and help.”
To meet the standard of evidence that is often required to accompany the spending of public dollars, state agencies have looked externally to third parties to provide objective evaluations, and universities offer a cost-effective way to do so. In that spirit, Maher is working on two projects that could bring significant additional federal grant dollars and federal reimbursement for social services that have been deemed effective through rigorous evaluations.
Several other academic units at OU also have relationships with state agencies. To provide an example, however, Maher, along with her OU colleagues, have worked closely with state agencies on the following projects.