GSPM News

WASHINGTON - POLITICO, the ground-breaking political website and newspaper, has joined the partnership that produces the nationally recognized, bipartisan George Washington University Battleground Poll. Renamed the “POLITICO-George Washington University Battleground Poll,” the joint venture will launch with a series of three surveys this fall related to the midterm elections. Three additional polls will be conducted in 2011. Results of the first poll will be released Thursday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m. during a public press conference in GW’s Jack Morton Auditorium.

"This agreement will provide George Washington students and faculty with additional opportunities to work alongside some of the leading practitioners in the field," said GW President Steven Knapp.

“The Battleground Poll has proven to accurately measure the political attitudes of Americans for many, many years,” said Jim VandeHei, executive editor and co-founder of POLITICO. “We are thrilled to work with a bipartisan stable of pollsters - and GW - to regularly take the pulse of voters on the defining issues of politics."

The POLITICO-George Washington University Battleground Poll is conducted by Republican pollster Ed Goeas of The Tarrance Group and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners. It distinguishes itself from other surveys by presenting separate analyses from these top pollsters representing both sides of the aisle. The George Washington University became a sponsor of the Battleground Poll in 2004. GW also houses the data archive of the survey results dating back more than two decades.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring the Battleground Poll to POLITICO and forge this exciting new relationship,” said Ed Goeas, president and CEO of The Tarrance Group. “POLITICO is on the cutting edge and a leader in its field, making it a wonderful partner for the Battleground Poll, one of the most respected and historically accurate public opinion predictors in survey research."

“We’re thrilled to add POLITICO to this existing partnership with the Tarrance Group and the George Washington University,” said Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners. “We take a lot of pride in having our finger on the pulse of the nation, and the Battleground Poll has been a critical part of that. Since 1991, it has been one of the only polls out there that gives the perspective and analysis from two pollsters on different sides of the aisle, making it especially unique. The George Washington University has been an invaluable partner, bringing a long-term systematic perspective to this poll. And now, we’re especially glad to have one of the most prominent and insightful political partners on board as well.”

As the 2010 congressional elections near, the POLITICO-George Washington University Battleground Poll results will be a valuable tool in anticipating the outcome and gauging voter attitudes and concerns. POLITICO’s team of well-respected editors and reporters will help design each poll. In addition, POLITICO will offer analysis and post the full poll results on POLITICO.com. The results also will be posted on www.gwu.edu.

The GW Global Media Institute, affiliated with both the Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) and the School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), will serve as the university’s administrative home for the partnership. GW’s participation will be led by Institute Executive Director and Professor of Media and Public Affairs Michael Freedman and Professor of Political Management and Institute Research Fellow Christopher Arterton.

In the heart of the nation's capital with additional programs in Virginia, the George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the District of Columbia. The university offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study, as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 130 countries.

POLITICO is a Washington, D.C.-based political journalism organization that distributes its content via the internet, newspaper, television and radio. Its coverage includes Congress, Washington lobbying and the 2008 presidential election. POLITICO and POLITICO.com launched in January, 2007 with the mission of covering politics with enterprise, style and impact. POLITICO is a publication of Capitol News Company, LLC.

The Tarrance Group is one of the most widely respected and successful Republican strategic research and polling firms in the nation. The firm is run by Edward A. Goeas III, who serves as president and CEO. Our total commitment to quality has helped elect more than 80 Republican Governors, U.S. Senators and Members of Congress, as well as numerous state legislative candidates. Goeas, with partners Brian Tringali and Dave Sackett, have built a team with diverse political experience. Members of the group work together through the developmental, analytical and strategic planning stages of survey research.

Lake Research Partners is a national public opinion and political strategy research firm founded by Celinda Lake in 1995. The firm quickly expanded to become Lake Snell Perry Mermin and Associates, and in 2005 continued to grow through a merger with Decision Research. Our principals are leading information and political campaign strategists, serving as tacticians and senior advisors to a wide range of advocacy groups, labor unions, non-profits, government agencies, companies and foundations, as well as dozens of elected officials at all levels of the electoral process. The firm is national in scope, with offices in Washington, D.C., New York and California and senior staff located in Washington, Oregon and Virginia.

Jim VandeHei, Celinda Lake, Ed Goeas and Christopher Arterton of GW are available for comment. For VandeHei, please contact Sara Olson at POLITICO, (202) 731-8193. For Lake, please contact Daniel Gotoff at Lake Research Partners, (202) 776-9066. For Goeas, please contact Brian Nienaber at The Tarrance Group, (703) 684-6688. For Chris Arterton, please contact Emily Cain at GW, (202) 994-3087.

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WASHINGTON - The College of Professional Studies’ Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University is delighted to announce that Dr. Dennis W. Johnson, professor of Political Management, has been awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China for the 2010-2011 academic year.

At Jinan University, Dr. Johnson will teach courses on American domestic public policy and national political institutions. Additionally, he will travel widely throughout China giving lectures on current American politics and policy.

“I am thrilled to be teaching students about American policy and politics,” said Johnson. “It will be both fascinating to teach my Chinese students and to learn from them.”

Johnson is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2010-2011, and one of nineteen awarded the Distinguished Lectureship in China.

In past years, two other faculty members from The Graduate School of Political Management have received Fulbright awards: Jeffrey A. Weinberg, adjunct professor of Legislative Affairs and Tom Coles, former adjunct professor of Political Management.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in over 155 countries worldwide. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator (and GW Alumni) J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University is the nation’s preeminent school of applied politics, offering graduate programs in political management, legislative affairs, strategic public relations and PAC management, as well as international programs in Latin America and Europe. The school seeks to improve politics by educating its students in the tools, principles and values of participatory democracy; preparing them for careers as professional, ethical and effective advocates and leaders at the international, national and local levels.

For more information about GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, visit www.gspm.gwu.edu.

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Working for America

This month, alumna Anne Rittman Rancourt begins a two-year stint as a presidential management fellow.

By Julia Parmley, GW Today

July 21, 2010

Sometimes all you need is good advice.

Although Anne Rittman Rancourt, M.P.S. ’10, enjoyed her job as a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she was looking for a bit more responsibility.

So, last fall as a graduate student in GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, Ms. Rancourt met with GSPM’s Career Services Director Mag Gottleib and, with her help, applied to the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program, a rigorous, two-year paid fellowship which provides training and rotations within various federal agencies.

“I am so grateful that Mag gave me the idea to apply,” says Ms. Rancourt, who found a position with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “It was the best career advice I've ever received.”

On July 6, Ms. Rancourt began her fellowship within the Office of the Secretary in HHS’s Office of Recovery Act Coordination, which oversees distribution of the agency’s funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“Even though I just started, I am really happy in my new position,” she says. “Working on Recovery Act coordination allows me to learn about activities across HHS, like health IT, research projects at NIH, community initiatives to combat obesity and tobacco use and help for families, children and seniors. It's challenging work and I'm looking forward to getting my feet wet.”

The PMF application process is competitive and requires transcripts, recommendations, and a test assessing an applicant’s writing and critical thinking skills.

“After I applied in October, I took the standardized test in the winter and then found out I was selected as a finalist in late March,” says Ms. Rancourt. “I was thrilled to make the cut.”

When she was looking at graduate programs, Ms. Rancourt says GW’s Strategic Public Relations program stood out because of its placement in GSPM, which offered her an opportunity “to think in-depth about how communications shape politics and policy in Washington.

“Taking political management and legislative affairs classes really added to my experience,” she says. “I met new groups of people and learned about issues from a campaign and Hill perspective, which really helped round out my educational experience.”

Ms. Rancourt says her graduate degree was “absolutely necessary” for acceptance into the PMF program. “My coursework exposed me to the full range of tasks that lay before a communications professional,” she says. “Studying public relations has given me a strong foundation from which I can build new skills, and I've learned ‘best practices’ to apply to new situations as they arise.

“I am also really happy to have built a network of communications professionals working in Washington D.C., especially those working in the public sector,” she adds. “I'm excited to join their ranks and to connect with them when I need advice or can offer help over the course of our careers.”