Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs

The Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers-Camden. program focused on community development.

Building knowledge for policy and practice through community-focused research in & for South Jersey. Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs (WRI) at Rutgers University-Camden addresses public policy issues impacting southern New Jersey through applied research, community engagement, and organizational development. Founded in 2000 under the leadership of Dr. Richard Harris, WRI was organ

ized to honor Senator Rand’s legacy of public service to southern New Jersey and to his hometown of Camden. Launched with a legislative appropriation from the State of New Jersey and matching funds from Rutgers University, WRI serves as a research and public service center for Rutgers-Camden, the southern campus of the state’s land grant university. The unflagging support of Provost Roger Dennis and Dean Margaret Marsh were instrumental in assuring the success of WRI as resource for the campus and for the community. Through their efforts, the Institute has been established with a strong, ongoing commitment of resources and is tied closely to the Department of Public Policy and Administration which provides the Director of WRI from the ranks of its senior faculty. The Institute also benefits from the guidance and support of its external Advisory Board which organizes an annual event to honor three South Jerseyans of the Year and to raise scholarship support for students working on WRI projects. Providing high-quality research and evaluation, as well as a venue for public, private and nonprofit leaders to engage constructively on challenging issues, WRI has tackled an array of policy problems including social service delivery, local government capacity, release and re-entry of violent offenders, civic engagement, housing affordability, and regional development. WRI projects have connected scores of Rutgers students with exciting opportunities to enhance their education with invaluable experience in the real-world of public affairs. Since its inception, the Walter Rand Institute has pursued its mission of engaging Rutgers-Camden faculty and students with public administrators, elected officials, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders to address the real world challenges that shape the lives of citizens in southern New Jersey and beyond. It is this record of achievement that led the University to designate WRI as the research center for a new Public Affairs Ph.D. With the addition of doctoral fellows, WRI looks forward to building an even stronger record of research and public service.

Operating as usual

03/03/2025

It's International and ! 💡

SEL stands for Social-Emotional Learning and we're celebrating by sharing findings from year 3 of our five year evaluation of the hashtag – which is a look into the Clayton Public School District and their Child Connection Centers (CCC) that provide universal, trauma-informed, school-based social-emotional learning (SEL) programs provided by SEL Specialists in elementary schools in Southern New Jersey.

➡️ In Year 3, the became more embedded in school processes and had greater impacts on students, teachers, and caregivers than
prior years of implementation.

➡️ The program’s flexible implementation, collaboration with school stakeholders and systems, and focus on SEL skill development contribute to its success as a needed resource to address school, student, and school-wide social, emotional, and mental wellbeing challenges.

Read more: https://lnkd.in/g4qKBBj4

Photos from Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs's post

02/27/2025

This week we held our final session of the Public Engagement Writing Seminar! ✅ Our first cohort – consisting of 8 Rutgers University—Camden students – completed the seminar with mock presentations to community providers and legislators about their research.

Throughout the course, students heard from staff and guest panelists consisting of faculty and staff, our partners from Inspira Health, AtlantiCare, Southern New Jersey Development Council, and key legislators in the region for best practices for not only conducting community-facing research in but translating that research for public audiences.

The program consisted of five sessions, each focusing on a different content area when it comes to conducting community-facing research in and for South Jersey and disseminating the research to different stakeholder groups such as legislators and community partners.

Congratulations to our students! 🎉

NJ Transit looks to expand access in South Jersey | Video | NJ Spotlight News

02/25/2025

Thank you to NJ Spotlight News for highlighting our recent in conjunction with Kris Kolluri's remarks about the Glassboro Camden Line and what's to come for NJ TRANSIT. 🚃

ICYMI: Our recently released report shared community feedback on what people in appreciate about their public transit options and what solutions could improve their access and experience.

Watch here ➡️ https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/nj-transit-looks-to-expand-access-in-south-jersey/

Learn more about the report ➡️ https://rand.camden.rutgers.edu/news-and-events/updates-announcements/announcement-camden-county-transportation-report/

NJ Transit looks to expand access in South Jersey | Video | NJ Spotlight News Agency says it will expand light rail service, upgrade stations

02/06/2025

We are officially kicking off our celebrations!

turns 25 and we're celebrating by taking a look back at our history and telling our story over the last 25 years.

➡️ Read about the 's impact over the last 25 years in our latest : https://rand.camden.rutgers.edu/2025/02/04/25-years-of-wri-looking-back-and-moving-forward/

➡️ Learn more about the evolution of WRI’s research, initiatives, and partnerships on our page: https://rand.camden.rutgers.edu/about/25th-anniversary-of-walter-rand-institute/

Follow this page throughout the year – we’ll be adding even more content as we celebrate!

Rutgers University—Camden Rutgers University Alumni Association Rutgers University Foundation

01/28/2025

Coming up! ➡️

The 23rd Annual Walter and Leah Rand Awards and Scholarship Dinner will be held on Tuesday, April 29th, 2025 at the Tavistock Country Club.

Join us in honoring the 2025 South Jerseyans of the Year: Domenica Foundation, Judy Persichilli, & Liz Thomas!

The proceeds from this event support and students working on 's research and writing projects about South Jersey, through the Walter Rand Institute Research Scholarship and the endowed Graduate Scholarship for Southern New Jersey Initiatives.

Learn more about the event: https://rand.camden.rutgers.edu/news-and-events/scholarship-and-awards-dinner/

01/15/2025

NEW WRImpact Blog Post!

One year after releasing its comprehensive report, continues to drive critical conversations on public transportation access in .

The report has sparked strong public engagement across sectors, and this blog post reflects on those conversations from the last year, noting key insights around the importance of community feedback in tailoring solutions, a desire for employment-related options, and the unique challenges in addressing transportation in our rural counties.

Read the blog post → https://rand.camden.rutgers.edu/2025/01/13/transportation-in-south-jersey-what-weve-heard-a-year-later/

Check out WRI's recent transportation work here → https://mailchi.mp/wri/transportation-newsletter-jan-2025

Non Profit Development Center of Southern New Jersey NJ TRANSIT NJ.com

12/17/2024

Registration is now open! 🎉 Join us for the 23rd Annual Walter and Leah Rand Awards and Scholarship Dinner on Tuesday, April 29th, 2025 at the Tavistock Country Club.

Sponsorships, advertisements, and tickets are available for purchase here: https://go.rutgers.edu/AwardsDinner2025

We will be honoring the 2025 South Jerseyans of the Year: Domenica Foundation, Judith Persichilli, & Liz Thomas!

12/16/2024

WRI's Year in Review: 10 Highlights from 2024.

We had an exciting 2024 with new research initiatives, partnerships, staff and board members. Here are ten highlights from this past year that we’re proud to share.

Take a look ➡️ https://mailchi.mp/wri/2024-year-in-review

12/12/2024

New Report! 🎉

"Outlining the Transportation Priorities and Recommendations of Communities in Camden County" is available now! 🚉

The report outlines community opinions on and recommendations for transportation access in Camden County. We listened directly to the community and were able to uncover Camden County travelers’ improvement priorities, areas they felt were working well, and existing resources that could be leveraged to improve transportation in the region.

Learn more about the project – https://lnkd.in/eqP-xBTN

Read the report – https://lnkd.in/eViAMw-G

Thank you to the New Jersey State Policy Lab for partnering with us on this work!

Non Profit Development Center of Southern New Jersey New Jersey Department of Transportation NJ TRANSIT

12/05/2024

Registration is now open! 🎉 Join us for the 23rd Annual Walter and Leah Rand Awards and Scholarship Dinner on Tuesday, April 29th, 2025 at the Tavistock Country Club. Sponsorships, advertisements, and tickets are available for purchase here: https://lnkd.in/e5NvB8H5

We greatly appreciate the support of all those who have already committed to attending and sponsoring the event. We look forward to celebrating with you in April!

Photos from Rutgers University Diversity's post

11/27/2024

11/25/2024

Awards Recognize Excellence in Advancing Diversity, Inclusion and Access at Rutgers Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, who in 1997 founded a charter school that has since grown into a K-12 program providing its students the opportunity to attend Rutgers tuition-free, was recognized by the university for her life’s work serving the Camden community.

11/25/2024

Last week, we held the third session of the Public Engagement Writing Seminar! ✍️

Our cohort learned effective strategies for creating and disseminating research content for community providers. 🗣️ We also heard insights from our community partners on what works–and what doesn't–from Donald Noblett at Inspira Health, Jennifer Nelson from New Jersey State Library, and Samantha Kiley at AtlantiCare. Thank you all for sharing your valuable perspectives!

11/21/2024

🌾 Celebrating National Rural Health Day! 🌾

At , we are proud to support the health and well-being of rural communities in South Jersey. Today, we recognize the unique challenges faced by these areas and reflect on our ongoing commitment to improving rural health through dedicated community-facing research and collaboration.

We recently concluded a research project aiming to understand the impacts of family advocates on the social determinants of health in three rural South Jersey counties: Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties.

Check out our blog post which highlights the potential for family advocates to positively impact the social determinants of health: https://rand.camden.rutgers.edu/2024/10/09/sdoh-tri-county/

11/19/2024

WRI – along with our Rutgers University—Camden friends from RU Camden DICE and Rutgers School of Nursing—Camden – had the honor of accepting the Public Good Pinnacle Award last week! 🎉

This award recognizes WRI's ongoing commitment to South Jersey communities and we're proud to support the region with impactful community-facing research.

Thank you to the Rutgers Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes (CACP) for this recognition!

11/14/2024

In the , the will expand an already robust set of offerings to create a learning laboratory for that teaches & trains the next generation of professionals and leaders in community-facing research practices, writing for public audiences, and furthers students’ professional research goals and interests.

➡️ Learn more about and its strategic priorities: https://rand.camden.rutgers.edu/about/strategic-plan/

11/12/2024

WRI has been all over lately! From the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) conference in Minneapolis MN to the Southern New Jersey Development Council Luncheon in Tavistock NJ. ✈️

We have been in the field presenting findings from our evaluation of the Medical-Legal Partnership between Camden Coalition and Cooper University Healthcare in Camden City and talking development overall in South Jersey!

11/01/2024

The will foster a variety of opportunities for government officials, State & local agencies, community providers and members of the public that effectively support Camden City and all counties in sound policy and practice decision-making.

➡️ Learn more about and its strategic priorities for the next five years: https://go.rutgers.edu/mu47yll2

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Building Knowledge for Policy and Practice in South Jersey

Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs (WRI) at Rutgers University-Camden addresses public policy issues impacting southern New Jersey through applied research, community engagement, and organizational development.

Founded in 2000 under the leadership of Dr. Richard Harris, WRI was organized to honor Senator Rand’s legacy of public service to southern New Jersey and to his hometown of Camden. Launched with a legislative appropriation from the State of New Jersey and matching funds from Rutgers University, WRI serves as a research and public service center for Rutgers-Camden, the southern campus of the state’s land grant university.

The unflagging support of Provost Roger Dennis and Dean Margaret Marsh were instrumental in assuring the success of WRI as resource for the campus and for the community. Through their efforts, the Institute has been established with a strong, ongoing commitment of resources and is tied closely to the Department of Public Policy and Administration which provides the Director of WRI from the ranks of its senior faculty. The Institute also benefits from the guidance and support of its external Advisory Board which organizes an annual event to honor three South Jerseyans of the Year and to raise scholarship support for students working on WRI projects.

Providing high-quality research and evaluation, as well as a venue for public, private and nonprofit leaders to engage constructively on challenging issues, WRI has tackled an array of policy problems including social service delivery, local government capacity, release and re-entry of violent offenders, civic engagement, housing affordability, and regional development. WRI projects have connected scores of Rutgers students with exciting opportunities to enhance their education with invaluable experience in the real-world of public affairs.