Andrew Young Speaks on Policy Studies
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

Enrollments in AYSPS programs are up nearly 25 percent over last fall. Credit hours are increasing faster than in any other GSU college. Former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, chairman of GoodWorks International and PAUS professor of policy studies, recently offered his thoughts on the school and its growth.

Why do you feel there is increased student interest in the public and the quasi-public sector now?
“I really think the interest is in the school (AYSPS) and the dean. The respect that the profession has given the school and the school has given the profession, and the students have given to both, is beginning to register.

“Young people have an attitude now that they really want to be able to get a handle on the world. There is still a rebellion against the ‘life is who can buy the most toys’ attitude and there are serious young people, who, when they think about making a contribution to the community and to the world, find a degree in policy and planning for public institutions both powerful and accessible. The global economy is a reality in the lives of intelligent young people, and there are two routes: one through a multi-national corporation, the other through public policy opportunities in the many governments of the world.

“For many foreign students, a job as the head of a public institution or bureaucracy is the height of ambition. Realistically, they can expect to be ministers of development, ministers of planning, or ministers of finance. We’ve already had graduates who in less than 10 years have gone to the tops of their departments. And I think because we’re getting the cream of the crop of students from many countries around the world, it is also challenging our own students.”

How do you think they’re hearing about the Andrew Young School?
“I think many are students who came to Atlanta simply for employment and found that employment and education go well together in Atlanta. Many also came to Atlanta because it has been not only the headquarters for the civil rights movement, but also the center of creative and artistic thinking in the South. We’ve been the headquarters for economic development. There really aren’t many cities in the world that work as well as Atlanta.”

You participate frequently in the school. What do you learn from our students?
“I’ve learned to believe that the world is in pretty good hands, and that they are so much smarter and wiser than I was at that age. I feel that wherever they go, they’re going to do well. The very fact that they’re at the school together… they’ve become a laboratory of human rights and human dignity, brotherhood and sisterhood.

“I went to a (European) work camp right out of college – where I suddenly found myself living and working in a refugee camp with people from 14 other countries. We were in Austria in 1953 helping to build a community center for refugees coming in from Eastern Europe. That was my first international experience, talking every day over three meals with people: Swedes, Germans, Italians, French, English, Croats, one North African. I think I was the only black person. There were maybe one or two other Americans.

“It taught me that you change your world view, almost immediately, when you’re challenged by the world every day in your thinking. The connections made in your student years are almost always going to help shape the way you live.

“And I guess I feel like when I’m at the school, I’m having a hand in shaping the future.”

What trends do you see in public administration and service, in the U.S. and in other countries? Are there any differences?
“There is a vast difference because in most of the world, bureaucracy is an extension of colonialism. Bureaucracy was designed to make it difficult for people to make decisions in their own interest. They had to wait until somebody came from (another country) to tell them what to do. People are beginning to realize that bureaucracy can enslave as well as liberate. I think that what we do in AYSPS is free up bureaucracy so that it responds to current challenges and attracts private investment.

“One trend I see, unique to our school, is the forming of very creative public/private partnerships to make things happen. This is a new trend to the international students who come through AYSPS. If you go to school in many other countries, you’re probably getting the same old colonial training. I hear about (other U.S. schools) doing fancy things with computers and stuff, but I think we can hold our own in growing leaders for the 21st century.”

What has been your biggest reward, in your history and career in public service?
“I think the reward has been a meaningful and exciting life. There are very few people who’ve had the opportunities I’ve had to be in the midst of the problems and the troubles that I’ve been in. But that has taught me that crisis produces opportunity, so I’m never afraid of a crisis. I’m looking for the opportunity in every crisis.”

What thought can you leave to inspire our students?
“The latest quote I’ve heard was, interestingly enough, from Vince Lombardi. As a new coach, his greeting to the Packers was, ‘We will be constantly in search of perfection. We will become excellent trying to be perfect. I have no interest in just being good.’

“While that is a good ‘I am the captain of my fate’ sort of slogan, my own experience is that the world works much different than that. This world is orderly and meaningful and it functions almost perfectly. When it doesn’t function perfectly, it’s because man has interfered in some way with its functioning. If administrators and policy planners can bring human administration in harmony with the plan of creation, the order of the universe, it would be a very productive world for all God’s children.”

AYSPS Enrollment Statistics

From Fall semester 2001 to Fall 2002:

• Total enrollment in our programs increased 23%
• Applications to our graduate programs increased 25%
• Applications to the M.P.A. program increased 30%
• Total credit hours have shown a greater percent increase in AYSPS than in any other GSU college in the last four years
• About 30% of our graduate population is international
• Students from 20 states and 33 countries enrolled this fall in AYSPS graduate programs

For more information, go to www.andrewyoungschool.org