Undergraduate Students
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

AYS undergraduate student extracurricular activities extend beyond their degree programs to involvement with the whole university and to their local and national communities. Some highlights of our students’ achievements are: 

Bradford Sill, an economics major, received a scholarship from the International Education Fund and the Foundation to study abroad in China; he spent five weeks traveling to six cities and completing studies at Zheng Zhou University that focused on environmental economics and business ethics.

Sandra Strozier, an urban policy studies major, was selected to participate in the 2006 Young Global Leaders Summit, which introduced student leaders from across the country to current global efforts to end poverty; Summit speakers included Economics chair James Alm.

Douglas Jefferson, urban policy studies, was a Georgia State delegate to the Model AU (African Union) in Washington, D.C.

Robert Lockett, urban policy studies, worked as a volunteer and then an intern for the National Conference of Black Mayors, promoting the Hip-Hop Summit and Youth Day activities and developing a database of sponsors.

Philip Wu, an urban policy studies major, continued the Victory Temps program he founded to employ and assist homeless men in Atlanta.

As policy intern for the Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority, Elizabeth Beeching, an urban policy major specializing in planning, worked on a number of SRTA projects and was one of the first to read the Reason Foundation Report on “Reducing Congestion in Atlanta.” 

Mattice Haynes-Amusa, a public policy major, was Atlanta site manager for the Unified New Orleans Plan Community Congress and Leonard Jones, urban policy studies, participated as a volunteer at the NOPC Congress.

Sylvia Akuchie and Huubinh “Ben” Le, economics majors, served as some of the first students to be special goodwill ambassadors for Georgia State. As “1913 Ambassadors” they welcomed prospective students, dignitaries, and special guests to Georgia State; they also assisted with commencement, Leadership Night at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot and other important university events during 2006.

Brandon Sistrunk, an urban policy studies major, represented AYS in the Student Government Association and Dominique Huff, a dual degree student in urban policy studies and public policy, was executive vice president of the SGA.  Dominique also served as managing editor of The Signal and Urbanite campus newspapers. Casey Cochran and Rhonda Belser-Davis were staff writers for The Signal.

In recognition of academic excellence, 33 economics majors were tapped into Omicron Delta Epsilon, the national honor society for economics. Six students received the university’s Faculty Scholar Award for long-term academic excellence, including Zackary Hawley, who was accepted to our Ph.D. in Economics program after graduating with the B.S. in Economics. Along with Marcella Motta, Zack also received the Economics Award for attaining the highest grade point average in undergraduate economics this year. Faculty scholar Anthony Rendon, B.A. in Economics, participated in the Georgia State Honors Program. (Binh Le, Dana Render, James Sorbet and Sterling Thomas were also faculty scholars.)

Huubihn Le and Harold Vasquez-Ruiz, economics, were runners-up for the Atlanta Economics Club scholarship in Economics.

Joel Baker, a dual major in economics and sociology, celebrated both graduation from AYS with his B.S. degree and promotion to Chief in the Atlanta Fire Department.

Kara Kessler, urban policy studies, realized a personal dream when she went to work as a pilot for the Georgia Forestry Service.

Seven AYS students participated in athletics programs this year: Jamie Cagle (softball), Robert Hasenfelt (baseball), Marcquitta Head and Monica Thomas (women’s basketball), Brian Langman (cross-country), Sylvester Morgan (basketball), and Jacque Redman (women’s soccer).

In 2006, our students also volunteered for several important community events and organizations:

• The Atlanta AIDS walk
• The Clean Air campaign
• Citizens for Progressive Transit
• The Community Food Bank
• Habitat for Humanity
• Hands-On Atlanta
• The Hosea Williams Feed the Hungry campaign
• The Salvation Army
• Trees Atlanta
• The Black Student Alliance
• The Chinese Student Alliance
• Circle-K
• The French Club
• The Mathematics and Statistics Club
• Pi Alpha Alpha
• The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
• The Sociology Club
• Scabbard and Blade
• Tighter Grip
• the College Republicans of Georgia State
• the College Democrats of Georgia State

and many other community initiatives and campus organizations.

From the Students Themselves

What is it about an undergraduate major in Urban Policy Studies, Public Policy, Economics, or International Economics and Modern Languages that drives our students to succeed?

In a web survey, students gave many reasons for their choice of an AYS major:

“…I have lived in Atlanta for three years, during which time I have seen the good and bad changes in the city happening quickly. This convinced me that I want to have to knowledge to make a difference in my community, wherever I end up living.”

“….I have always been interested in other countries; I took the Global Economics course, and I was hooked.”

“…I chose public policy to further my aspirations of working in the federal government to improve social issues. I’m currently volunteering for the unified New Orleans Plan community congress—one of my professors introduced me to this opportunity.”

“…the planning and development courses are part of the Urban Policy Studies degree, that’s why I chose it. I have a deep interest in society and the policies that shape it.”

“…I had an unbelievable time studying Environmental Economics in China, where cities are growing at an astonishing rate. The most interesting thing about going to another country when you’re interested in economics is that their government is so different—they have a lot of the same problems, but they use completely different tactics to try to solve them.”

“….My perception is that economics is a lot bigger than business: it shows you ‘The Big Idea’—the broader perspective—behind business.”

“…I figured with a policy degree I could really make a difference. I think this degree allows me a great start on the aspirations I have to contribute to my community in numerous ways.” 

“…I am currently a real estate agent and housing and other issues that go along with my job have always been my passion.”

“…I am a business manager in a purchasing department. I love the challenge of doing budgets and projections, going through the numbers, and making things work; that’s why I chose economics.”

“….I chose economics because I know I’m going to apply to law school; it was recommended as a background major for law.”

“….I know I want to be a financial advisor, maybe work on Wall Street.”

Several students commented that their AYS experience helped them succeed:

“…I chose to pursue economics through the Andrew Young School because it is a policy school and because of the culture of the school. I felt I received a lot of individual attention from the professors—I know that being part of this school was the right choice for me because it made college seem less overwhelming, with all the personal assistance I received.”

“…I particularly appreciated being invited to the guest lectures, being able to ask questions, being able to get to know faculty and feel a part of the school—this year the Usery lecture was a high point for me.”

 “…I originally chose the Andrew Young School because I took flying lesson in high school and was interested in aviation. I have enjoyed not only the courses in AYS but the opportunity to make lasting friendships with other students and with teachers who will continue to be my mentors.”

“….Thanks to the hard work of the AYS professors and myself, I am now employed and on my way into management, which has always been a dream of mine. While the job may be stressful, if it is something you really want to do, the benefits always outlast the downsides.”