News List
Wolff and Lewis Pen Chapter on PSD and Trauma-Informed Care
This chapter provides a blueprint that recognizes the reluctance of the correctional system to address trauma, the lack of funding and staffing expertise to support and sustain a therapeutically sensible response to trauma, and the superseding public health imperative to treat and rehabilitate trauma in cost-effective ways.
EJB Talks: Alumnus Helps Rethink Jersey City’s Public Spaces
Dean Stuart Shapiro talks to alumnus Barkha Patel, MCRP ’15 this week on EJB Talks. She reflects on how the planning school fundamentals and communication skills she learned still form the basis for her work, and concludes with encouraging emerging planners to adopt an action-oriented mindset by becoming a person who figures things out and gets things done, even when they feel out of their depth.
New work requirements for SNAP recipients take effect
“Many individuals would prefer to be working,” Hetling said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “Often they’re experiencing some type of challenge, whether that’s kind of a long-lived or a short-lived one, that prevents them from fully engaging in the labor market right now.”
NJSPL Report: Equity Initiatives in the United States
In New Jersey, the state government proactively advances equity through the Office of Equity within the Office of the Governor, as well as through various programs and budget initiatives intended to support New Jerseyans. To enhance these efforts, researchers recommend incorporating equity measures into department/agency performance assessments to ensure equity is engrained within the ongoing routines of the government.
TECH UPDATES: Essential Technology Questions (and Answers) for Decision-Makers
Marc Pfeiffer discusses practical technology guidance to improve digital services, manage IT infrastructure, comply with regulations, and adopt emerging technologies responsibly.
Decision on major contract for Route 17 project shrouded in mystery
“We are a political machine state. Our citizens pay a corruption tax because when there is a lack of transparency and accountability it encourages, it opens the path to potential corruption and that is expensive for people,” Sass Rubin said.
Adrian Ponichtera is recipient of Ververides Scholarship
Adrian Ponichtera (MCRP ’26) is the recipient of the New Jersey County Planners Association’s George Ververides Honorary Scholarship. The scholarship is open to New Jersey residents entering their third or fourth year of undergraduate study or advanced degrees at a New Jersey institution of higher learning, with a major in City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning, or a planning-related field with a plan to pursue professional planning as a career.
Bhuyan & Broom Publish New Healthcare Management Textbook
Soumitra Bhuyan, Executive Director of Health Administration Programs and Associate Professor at Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, is the co-author of a new textbook Fundamentals of Healthcare Management: Theory and Practice.
BEAT Students Participate in PATH Track Tunnel Tour
Graduate and undergraduate students who are part of the student group Bloustein Enthusiasts and Advocates for Transportation (BEAT) took part in an exclusive after-hours PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) tour on Thursday, November 20 through Friday, November 21.
Marc Pfeiffer Ranked 47 in Insider NJ’s Top 100 Power List
Marc Pfeiffer was ranked #47 and Policy Fellow Bob Gordon was ranked #94 in the Insider 100 Power List for 2025. The InsiderNJ.com list reflects the backbone of government and political power in the state of New Jersey, minus judges, former governors, and current elected officials.
Van Horn, Foglio MCRP ’86 Named to Gov-Elect’s Transition Actions Team
Carl Van Horn, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at the Bloustein School and Director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and Christiana R. Foglio, MCRP ’86, Founder & CEO of Community Investment Strategies, Inc. were named to two of governor-elect Sherrill’s transition teams.
The Rise and Fall of the H-1B Visa
Alum Austin Lee MCRP ’10 Publishes New Memoir
Austin Lee MCRP ’10 recently self-published Attraversare: The Travels of Life, a deeply personal, immediate, and honest memoir. It captures a period of upheaval and transition through moments of grief, uncertainty, and change, as well as those minor, stubborn victories that keep life moving forward.
Alum Renée Sieber, Ph.D. ’97 to Present Meck Memorial Lecture
“Work Trends RU” Podcast with Aaron Fichtner, Ph.D.
Listen to the latest episode of the Heldrich Center’s Work Trends RU podcast, featuring featuring Aaron Fichtner, Ph.D., President of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. Dr. Fichtner discusses the role New Jersey’s 18 community colleges play in expanding access to higher education, developing a skilled workforce, and meeting the evolving needs of students, employers, and local communities.
Dr. O’Brien-Richardson Wins Cultural Impact and Empowerment Award
The Trauma Recovery and Prevention Alliance held their 1st Annual “Unmask the Silence” Fundraising Masquerade Gala at the end of October to pay tribute to those who turn pain into purpose and advocacy into action. This year’s award recipients included Dr. Patti O’Brien-Richardson, selected for her passionate advocacy in health equity, women’s empowerment, and cultural wellness, inspiring others to live with intention and purpose.
EJB Talks: Uncovering Inequality Through Design
Assistant Professor Carmelo Ignaccolo explains how, in both his research and teaching, he has focused on how design has had the power to shape inequality over time, showing how decisions such as highway placement or waterfront redevelopment leave long-lasting impacts on communities.
New Jersey is Now in a Recession and it May Get Worse, Moody’s Analyst Says
“We may start seeing signs of a recession, but that doesn’t mean we’re in a recession. The economy is constantly flowing, changing. I don’t see us at the moment being in recession. But there clearly is potential for that,” Pfeiffer said.
Report: New Jersey’s Rising Seas and Changing Coastal Storms
The STAP was charged with identifying, evaluating, and summarizing the most current science on sea-level change (i.e., historic sea-level rise and projections of future sea-level rise) and changing coastal storms. The 17 expert members of the STAP convened between November 2024 and September 2025 to draft this report and revise it in response to independent review by four peer experts and feedback on its usability from a panel of practitioners.
Stamato Commentary: Smart Governing in a Divided StateSmart Governing in a Divided State
Process matters. And the results produced are more likely to attract the support and the investment that are needed to carry the best ideas forward when those who are asked, or volunteer to participate, trust the process. The governor has her work cut out for her. And so do we.
Does America Have a Talent Shortage?
Hal Salzman, an expert in workforce development at Rutgers University, said he found Trump’s statements “puzzling” given his administration’s efforts to make temporary visas for both workers and students more exclusive, but said there was “no evidence of a talent shortage” in the U.S.
Ralph: Public Support for Automated Speed Enforcement
A survey experiment reveals that a brief safety message increases support among those who initially underestimated the dangers of speed. Scholars should employ relative scales and practitioners should emphasize the risks of speed.
Bhuyan: Congress must extend the ACA subsidies or expect a crisis in N.J.
“New Jersey has spent years building a promise: all its residents should have access to affordable healthcare, regardless of income or zip code. That promise depends on Congress extending the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies.”
Bloustein School Joins National Service to Service Initiative
The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University–New Brunswick is pleased to announce its participation in Service to Service, a national initiative led by the Volcker Alliance and We the Veterans and Military Families. The program connects veterans and military families with public service education pathways, helping them transition into impactful careers in public leadership.
Katie Brennan (MCRP ’12) Wins LD-32 Election for Jersey City
Katie Brennan (MCRP ’12) Wins LD-32 Election for Jersey City
Passaic County was key to Mikie Sherrill’s NJ landslide. How Dems won it back from Trump
Democrats learned from 2024’s stumbles and engaged with voters across the state, he said. The party carried all five New Jersey counties that Trump won last year.
“They figured it out,” Pfeiffer said. “They set their strategy and then executed it.”
NJSPL Report: Health Insurance Literacy Initiatives
Researchers with Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in collaboration with the New Jersey State Policy Lab, have developed a report which is intended to serve as the first comprehensive state-by-state guide of health insurance literacy educational resources and/or interventions available across the U.S.
Deonarine (PH/MPH ’26) & Hemphill (MHA ’22, DHA ’27) Win ACHE-NJ Awards
The American College of Healthcare Executives recognizes outstanding healthcare leaders who have made a significant impact on our community. This year, two of our students received the ACHE-NJ Early Careerist Award – Justin Deonarine (PH/MPH ’26) and Jack Hemphill (MHA ’22, DHA ’27).
Energy prices jolt Democratic victories
Some analysts cautioned against overstating the importance of electricity issues. Expressing discontent with President Donald Trump was a major factor in Tuesday’s results, said Clint Andrews, director of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University.
Medicaid Work Requirements Set to Leave Millions Without Insurance
Cantor pointed out that state Medicaid agencies are feeling more stress than before, as offices are already low on resources for their current work without adding more paperwork each year, and more reach out to those who need to prove their employment.
Andrews: NJ race could shift climate, clean energy plans
“My sense of RGGI is that it is something that Republicans like to cut and Democrats like to keep. So, if she follows the historical pattern, then she would keep it,” Andrews said.
When the System Fails Its Smallest Patients
Between 2008 and 2022, U.S. hospitals closed nearly 30 percent of pediatric inpatient units. While those reductions are often framed as a response to declining admissions, they have an unintended cost, the loss of shared capacity that once sustained rare and complex care.
Listing candidates twice on NYC ballot is part of fusion voting
Any votes for a candidate, regardless of the party line the vote is cast under, counts toward that candidate’s total. “Although candidates may appear on more than one party’s line, voters can only vote for them once,” said Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers University public policy professor.
It’s Election Day: Here’s what to expect, from California to Virginia
“If Ciattarelli wins, it means that local New Jersey issues were prevalent because that’s how he’s running,” says Julia Sass Rubin, director of the public policy program at Rutgers-New Brunswick. If Ms. Sherrill wins, it would reflect “her success in making it a national race.”
EJB Talks: Lifelong Learning and Leadership in Healthcare
With nearly four decades of healthcare administrative experience, William Tuttle explains how his journey began with his decision to shift from medicine to hospital management. He talks about his 38 years with Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, where he advanced through multiple roles from managing service departments to leading a rural hospital and later overseeing physician recruitment and large construction projects.
MHA Students win Seton Hall Case Study Challenge
The Bloustein School’s Master of Health Education team, whose members included Parth Shah, BHMS, MHA, CLSSGB, Julianna Baldwin and Sheno John, won the 2025 Hybrid Graduate Case Study Challenge hosted by Seton Hall University
NJSPL: Surveying Sentencing Reform in New Jersey
The New Jersey Sentencing Commission proposed a program to allow eligible incarcerated individuals to seek resentencing by demonstrating that they have been successfully rehabilitated. Researchers recently surveyed 1,529 New Jerseyans to better understand their support for or against four areas of prison sentencing reform, including examples of this rehabilitative sentencing program.
Addressing Cell Phone Use in Schools: A National Landscape of Policies and Practices
The purpose of this report is to provide data-driven findings to help inform the regulation of cellphone use in schools. This research was conducted from January to May 2025 by graduate students at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University as part of a semester-long practicum led by Dr. Carl Van Horn, Director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.
N.J. gubernatorial hopefuls rely on a small slice of the state for cash
Julia Sass Rubin, the director of Rutgers University’s public policy program, said the trend is consistent with donations to nonpolitical nonprofits: fewer people making larger donations.
Rimshah Jawad (MPI ’26) Featured for National Student Parent Month
Rimshah notes that the student services staff at Bloustein— Dean Weston, Courtney, Greg, and Andrea— have been an incredible source of support. “From the very beginning, they welcomed me and guided me whenever I felt unsure. My advisor, Professor Clint, who invited me to his family picnic when he first met me with my kids, which meant so much. And my program director, Professor Jim Samuel, has always encouraged and appreciated me in ways that keep me motivated.”
How NJ’s top watchdog lost its bite amid conflicts and chaos
“There’s an expectation that when you have significant changes in a public organization, the public should be able to find out about it,” said Marc Pfeiffer, associate director of the Bloustein Local Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
Jared Aisenberg (MCRP ’23) Receives MTA Accessibility Award
Jared Aisenberg (MCRP ’23) said, “While I never thought my efforts in ensuring accessible alternatives for all passengers during planned service changes would land me this achievement, I’m humbled that I’ve been recognized.”
Pfeiffer: Why do property taxes vary so widely among NJ towns so close to each other
Heldrich: Two New Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative Reports
Texas finds billions in funding to fight never-ending highway congestion
In his recently-released analysis of 22 U.S. cities, Robert Noland of Rutgers University detailed the environmental impact of urban sprawl, citing Houston in particular.
Mi Shih Recognized with GPEIG Best Journal Article Award
Mi Shih, Ph.D., Associate Professor and director of the Urban Planning and Policy Development Program, was recognized with the Global Planning Educators’ Interest Group’s (GPEIG) 2025 award for the best journal article. The award honors outstanding, peer-reviewed journal articles that make a significant contribution to global planning. GPEIG is part of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), working to bring planning students and educators together to share, shape, and incorporate global perspectives in planning education and research.
Building Capacity to Support New Jersey Autism Professionals
The purpose of this report is to inform the organization’s advocacy efforts to maximize the capacity of services provided to individuals with autism in New Jersey. This research examines two professions within the autism professional workforce landscape – behavior analysts and psychiatrists – of New Jersey and two comparable states, selected by Autism New Jersey.
How would Ciattarelli, Sherrill handle NJ’s big economic hurdles as governor?
Some of those issues — like Trump’s tariffs and the rise of AI displacing portions of the labor market — “certainly pose challenges that would be hard to combat via state policy alone,” said Will Irving, a professor at the New Jersey State Policy Lab at Rutgers University.
Dr. Rushing Talks About AI for Sickle Cell and Beyond
Dr. Melinda Rushing recently appeared on the podcast Zora Talks. In this podcast, Dr. Rushing breaks down what sickle cell really is, why it disproportionately affects people of color, and how her team is developing a new approach called Clinically Guided AI to transform how doctors predict and manage care.
Laura Peck promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure
Dr. Peck joined the Bloustein School in September 2025 as an Associate Professor and Principal Faculty Fellow for the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. A nationally recognized expert in program evaluation, Dr. Peck specializes in designing experimental and quasi-experimental studies to measure the real-world impact of public programs.
Heldrich Report: Stability, Shortages, and Shifts in NJ Teacher Workforce
New Jersey continues to face teacher shortages in critical subjects, while overall workforce levels remain steady, according to a new report released by the Heldrich Center. The report, New Jersey’s Teacher Workforce: 2025 Legislative Report, offers a decade-long perspective on teacher supply, exits, and workforce challenges, drawing on data from the New Jersey Statewide Data System.
Electricity prices surge to the forefront of NJ governor’s race
“Schuur said PJM, the regional grid operator that is responsible for providing electricity to about a dozen states including New Jersey, “really holds the reins when it comes to bringing on new supply.”
Julia Rubin: Who Should Be the Governor of New Jersey?
NJSPL: Increasing Enrollment of Paid Family Leave
Over the last decade, many states have implemented some form of mandatory paid family leave policies to help address the lack of coverage at the national level. Researchers have been examining data related to paid family leave enrollment, and found that overall enrollment for paid leave increased for both mothers and fathers between 2000 and 2024 in the U.S., from 29% to 58% for fathers and 47% to 54% for mothers.
“Work Trends RU” Podcast with James Moore, Ph.D.
Listen to the latest episode of the Heldrich Center’s Work Trends RU podcast, featuring James Moore, Ph.D., Principal at KPMG. Dr. Moore reflects on his career and discusses the need to modernize workforce and unemployment systems, discusses the critical role of frontline staff and gaps in training for workforce professionals, and considers how AI and technology can improve services for job seekers.
Ian Lefcourte (MCRP ’14) Receives Prestigious Barbara Grace Award
Ian Lefcourte, AICP, a 2014 graduate of the Bloustein School’s Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) program, has been honored with the 2025 Barbara Grace Award.
Bloustein School Brings Policy Expertise to Second Gubernatorial Debate
In co-hosting the final debate before Election Day, Rutgers scholars worked to elevate the public policy discourse.
For the policy wonks from Bloustein, the focus will be on the candidates’ promises and how, after months of collaborating with ABC7/WABC-TV New York, 6abc/WPVI-TV Philadelphia, Noticias Univision 41, and the performing arts center, millions of New Jersey voters were better informed as a result.
NJSPL Report: The Role of Quality Ratings in Long-Term Care
Researchers evaluated the quality of nursing homes in NJ relative to national trends and analyzed data from the CMS’ Nursing Home Compare five-star public reporting system to track changes in nursing home quality and performance. The report found that while state nursing homes generally outperform the national average, their overall ratings have declined significantly since 2020.
No, BlackRock Isn’t Buying All the Houses—Here’s What’s Really Driving Up Your Rent
Professor Eric Seymour of Rutgers University says the claims have fueled “imprecision around the issue, in part stemming from the confusion between Blackstone and BlackRock, for instance.”
New Jersey is Now in a Recession and it May Get Worse, Moody’s Analyst Says
“We may start seeing signs of a recession, but that doesn’t mean we’re in a recession. The economy is constantly flowing, changing. I don’t see us at the moment being in recession. But there clearly is potential for that,” Pfeiffer said.
Announcing the Passing of Professor Briavel Holcomb
The Bloustein School is saddened to announce the passing of Briavel Holcomb, 83, Professor Emeritus and former coordinator of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, on September 27, 2025.
Food & Energy Policy Students Visit Ironbound Farm
In his LinkedIn post, Bulger thanked Charles Rosen and everyone at the farm for arranging and helping facilitate this amazing experience. He said, “the amount of knowledge and passion over there is astounding. When learning about food systems, hands-on learning needs to be a key part of the experience.”
TECH UPDATES: Digital Tools for City/County Communications
The most effective communication is two-way collaboration, not a one-way information stream. Digital tools can help keep communication lines open and active, creating more responsive and vibrant communities where voices are heard and concerns are addressed promptly.
EJB Talks: Careful Campaigns, Big Debates
With just a month until New Jersey’s gubernatorial election, Dean Stuart Shapiro sits down with Kristoffer Shields, Director of Eagleton Institute’s Center on the American Governor, for a special pre-gubernatorial debate episode of EJB Talks. They discuss how the race between Mikie Sherrill (D) and Jack Ciattarelli (R) has so far unfolded cautiously, the slowly-growing appearance of negative ads as the election cycle has progressed, and the challenges both candidates face in breaking through the noisy national news cycle.
MCRP student receives 9/11 Memorial Program fellowship
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) / Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) September 11th Memorial Program for Regional Transportation Planning selection committee has selected Abigail Alvarez, PPP ’25/MCRP ’26 for participation in a one-year research fellowship, which will run October 2025-September 2026.
Trump’s H-1B visa crackdown could cut US jobs instead of creating them
One reason it’s not easy to offshore, Salzman said, is that in order to make operations work, employers often need roughly one-third of their workers in the US. That means it places a practical limit on the share of workers that a company could send elsewhere.
Jocelyn Crowley: The reality of a ‘grey divorce’
Divorce in later life – or grey divorce – is on the rise in New Zealand. Divorces among people over 50 sits just shy of 40 percent at last count, up 7 percent in the last decade. This echoes the upwards trending rates around the globe. Most commonly, they are initiated by women.
Jocelyn Crowley, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University in the US has researched and written Gray Divorce, She joins Jim to discuss.
Kumar, Andrews: Energy Efficiency Policies in Transition
Using a multi-disciplinary lens, we explore the underlying paradigms, dynamics, synergies, and trade-offs between different actors, institutions, and situational contexts influencing complex energy efficiency policy processes.
Study ties Portland rent control to higher property taxes, but economist questions findings
Paul, the Rutgers expert, is interested in studies examining the connection between rent control policies and property tax hikes. But he said this one isn’t up to snuff.
Rutgers, ABC7/WABC-TV NY, 6abc/WPVI-TV Phila, NBPAC to Host NJ Gov’s Debate
Studio: Decarbonizing NYC’s Low-to-Moderate-Income Buildings
To ensure that LL97 implementation does not jeopardize housing stability, this studio report recommends allowing block-level compliance in low-income areas, establishing tailored timelines for Section 321 properties, and expanding financial support for deep retrofits.
Social Determinants, Health Policy, & Public Health
Dean Stuart Shapiro and the EJB Talks podcast have returned for season 13 with assistant teaching professor Katie Pincura. Connecting her own experiences navigating health systems in Canada and the U.S. with her work fueled her interest in health policy and ultimately led her to pursue an MPH and DrPH. Since arriving at Rutgers’ Bloustein School last year, Katie has sought to integrate her students’ lived experiences into public health policy by encouraging them to critically examine the trade-offs between individual freedoms and collective well-being.
Bloustein Graduate Students are 2026 Eagleton Fellows
This year, nine Bloustein graduate students and one Bloustein alumnus were selected for the 2026 fellowship.
NJSPL Report: Crash Data Availability and Best Practices
Researchers interviewed an array of subject matter experts, including state DOT staff, transportation advocates, and public health professionals to identify their best practices and show how crash data is made available across the nation.
Heldrich Report: Voices of the Family Child Care Workforce in NJ
In 2024, the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development launched a statewide survey of registered family child care (FCC) providers in New Jersey as part of the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative, an initiative focused on child care in the state. The survey asked individuals who provide child care in their homes to share their voices and experiences — from what inspires them to enter and stay in the field, to the challenges they face in their daily work, and their ideas for making child care a more sustainable and rewarding profession.
‘Was it all smoke and mirrors?’: How adult children are affected by grey divorce
“Women are basically the social directors of family life still in 2025, and when that goes away men become like islands in the sea,” says Crowley.
Prof. Cantor Receives Chancellor’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Professor Joel Cantor received the 2025 Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award from Rutgers Health Office of the Chancellor.
Does new NJ law allow school districts to bypass voter approval on capital projects?
Pfeiffer said voters go to the polls and reject measures for a number of reasons, depending on other conditions. They may be voting no because they don’t like the way their municipality is run, or because of economic conditions or other factors, without regard to what is going on with its schools and their needs, he said.
Assessing Pedestrian Stress with Biometrics & Surveys
We investigate the association between pedestrians’ sensor-measured stress and survey-reported stress, as well as the temporal sensitivity of sensor metrics across varying time intervals.
Intelligent Informatics @ Bloustein: AI AGENTS to the Rescue!? An Overview of the Opportunities, Risks and Economics of Agentic AI
NJ job market ‘stalled’ by layoffs, weak hiring
The job market so far this year in New Jersey has been “a mixed bag — overall, relatively weak,” said Will Irving with the Rutgers University New Jersey State Policy Lab. “We are through July down about 7,800 jobs, net, and that reflects losses in both a number of private-sector industries and public sector, state government in particular.”
Understanding Awareness and Perceptions of Palliative Care
Conducted in partnership with the Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey (GOCCNJ) and the Rutgers Cancer Institute (CINJ), the research aims to inform patient-facing education, identify barriers to care, and support equitable implementation of New Jersey’s Medicaid palliative care initiative. D
“Work Trends RU” Podcast with Kevin Dehmer
Join the Heldrich Center for a special “Back to School” episode of the Work Trends RU podcast series, featuring New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer.
Rising Costs of Homeownership in New Jersey
In a new brief from the Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality, and Metropolitian Equity (CLiME), Assistant Director of Housing Studies Katie Nelson PhD ’22 and student research assistant Miranda Alpertstein MCRP ’25 explore the sky-high and rapidly rising costs of being a homeowner in New Jersey. This includes both mortgage and non-mortgage housing costs.
Local Agencies Look to the Right Video Storage Solution for Their Environments
A number of hardware vendors have introduced Storage as a Service elements, Pfeiffer says, which could potentially help state and local governments simplify video data administration.
“You can buy cameras, pay for them over a number of years and get storage along with it,” he says
Bloustein Awarded Second ScarletWell Connection Grant
“Wellness is critical and something that each one of us should be thinking about every day, including in our workplace,” Deoli said. “Sometimes, it is a little push from a colleague and friend, a challenge with lovely goodies and prizes or a reminder of small things we can do in our offices, even on busy days.”
Dr. Ignaccolo New Book: Small-Town Renaissance
Whether you’re a policymaker, urban planner, designer, tech innovator, or heritage advocate, this book offers fresh insights, actionable strategies, and a compelling vision for the future of rural development in the digital age.
City to Plug Budget Hole With $33M in Land Sales, Solomon is a no Vote
“It doesn’t make it a great practice, but it’s often necessary to meet competing demands,” said Pfeiffer, one being “sometimes” an interest from officials in keeping taxes low.
Wolff studies the DASS-21 with Incarcerated Men
Factor loadings indicated a dominant general distress component, with some specificity for individual subscales. These findings support the DASS-21 as a valid and robust measure of psychological distress in prison populations, highlighting its utility for mental health screening in correctional settings.
Heldrich Report: Defining the Care Economy in New Jersey
A new report for the New Jersey Statewide Data System, written by Ann Obadan, Ph.D., Research Project Manager at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, and Amarachi Chuka-Maduji, former Research Project Assistant at the Heldrich Center and currently at the Delaware Department of Labor, provides an overview of how states and scholars conceptualize the care economy.
Dean Shapiro: Simplifying Research Regulations & Policies
Dean Stuart Shapiro served on a committee for a report titled “Simplifying Research Regulations and Policies” for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
International Alumni Welcome New Graduate Students
Current international graduate students and recent international alumni at the Bloustein School warmly welcomed the newest cohort of international students, sharing their experiences and offering valuable advice about navigating life and academics in a new country.
Demystifying science: The more lanes we add, the more cars there are
If motorists had to pay fees to offset the costs of air pollution and climate change caused by motor vehicles, they would not take their cars to take advantage of less congestion, Mr. Noland. Additionally, “if there is space for a railway along the highway, for example, it is cheaper to transport people by public transit than to widen a highway”, he says.
Which North Jersey town is most expensive? Highest average property tax in Bergen, Passaic
But shared services often yield savings only on a case-by-case basis at the local level rather than statewide, said Rutgers’ Pfeiffer, while Ciattarelli’s proposal for an alternating property tax rate could run afoul of the state constitution.
“You can’t give some people a lower rate than other people,” Pfeiffer said. “You have to assess everybody at the same standard.”
Bloustein, Heldrich Center Welcome Laura R. Peck, Ph.D.
Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy is pleased to announce the appointment of Laura R. Peck, Ph.D., as Associate Professor, effective September 1, 2025.
Dr. Peck will also serve as a Principal Faculty Fellow at the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, housed within the Bloustein School.
Celebrating 25 Years of Alan Voorhees’ Impact on Global Transportation Planning Issues
The Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) was seeking a way to highlight Alan Voorhees’ impact on national and global transportation planning issues. The Alan M. Voorhees Legacy Project provided the path forward.
Since 1988, VTC has been a leader in informing public discussion of transportation policy issues. Committed to conducting research and finding innovative approaches to transportation problems, VTC’s research identifies and explores transportation linkages to public policy areas such as economic development, land use, political governance, finance, and social policy.
Data-Driven Future: The Evolution of Informatics
Informatics applications have long been a part of the Bloustein School’s major areas of study—transportation, environmental management, urban design, mobility, social policy, public management and operations, public health, health administration, and community engagement and empowerment.
The school went on to launch the Master of Public Informatics (MPI) in 2019 to provide a vehicle for students seeking higher-level competencies in the field of big data.
Health Administration: Leadership and Public Service
While the Bloustein School’s founding is recorded as 1992, the development of the school’s undergraduate program can trace its formation to the 1960s with the Urban Studies and Community Development (USCD) major. A growing interest in community health across the United States in the 1970s soon led Rutgers to add a new major in public health administration, with many of the original USCD faculty teaching courses in the area.
By 1980, USCD was renamed the Department of Urban Studies and Community Health (USCH) and offered two undergraduate majors: a pre-professional accredited B.S. in Public Health Administration, and a liberal arts B.A. in Urban Studies.
Evaluating Policies that Serve New Jersey
Working with more than 180 faculty members and staff, 100 students, and experts from more than 20 centers, schools, and universities across New Jersey, the New Jersey State Policy Lab has launched more than 60 research projects and published over 350 research blogs and 50 reports since 2021.
One of its key objectives has been to establish a network of scholars and research centers within New Jersey institutions of higher education to coordinate state policy research and facilitate collaboration. The NJSPL has forged connections with dozens of universities, schools, and centers within the Garden State and beyond. Its guiding mission is to identify and respond to state government and community needs for effective policy solutions through firsthand research and coordination with relevant experts across the state.
NJSPL: Breast Cancer Outcomes for Black Women
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death due to cancer in New Jersey, and recent research has determined that this form of cancer disproportionately affects the mortality outcomes for Black women, as they are 40% more likely to die due to breast cancer compared to Non-Hispanic White women.