Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Organization and Structure

IPR has six research programs and two working groups. Thirty-two faculty fellows are supported by IPR either quarter time (releasing them from one fourth of their teaching load) or half time (releasing them from half of their course load), and there are 41 faculty associates. These faculty members represent 16 departments in eight of the university's nine schools. They collaborate with research associates, visiting scholars, graduate students, and undergraduates on research projects and participate in conferences, a weekly colloquia series, and workshops. These activities are supported by the university, grants from local and national foundations, government agencies, corporations, and other gifts.

In 2003, 73 research projects were externally funded by government agencies and foundations. Major funders included foundations such as the Chicago Community Trust, Ford Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation, and federal agencies such as the National Institute of Justice, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dissemination

To fulfill its mission of both stimulating and disseminating research, IPR sponsors or cosponsors conferences, policy briefings, a colloquium series, and lectures throughout the year. These events help the institute to bridge the gap between the academic and the policy-making worlds. Recent conferences have examined health policy and the underserved, state fiscal crises, welfare reform reauthorization, welfare to work, and Chicago public housing.

Through its annual Distinguished Public Policy Lecture Series, established in 1994, IPR has hosted lectures by such figures as the then-secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala; former U.S. Senator Paul Simon (D-IL); former U.S. Representative John Porter (R-IL); and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).

During the academic year, the institute also organizes weekly colloquia that are open to the public. The institute's policy briefings on current topics such as state fiscal crises and welfare reform give policymakers and others access to nonpartisan and unbiased data by leading researchers. IPR also disseminates its faculty research through a working paper series, brochures, and its Web site (http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr).

Ipr's Research Programs

With Chicago as its laboratory, IPR's earliest research projects dealt with such issues as high school dropouts, redlining, determinants of urban health, citizen responses to environmental concerns, delivery of city services, and the labor market experiences of migrants. Some of these initial studies were the seeds of major themes that have distinguished IPR research throughout its history and remain dominant today: racism, poverty, community development, and criminal justice reform.

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