Dyer Fellowship Program
The Edgar Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy brings together a group of Coastal Carolina students from all colleges and degree programs to participate in the 2017 Policy Fellowship Program.
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The Edgar Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy engages students in active learning opportunities where they gain knowledge in various areas of policy research. Students connect academic theory to practice, becoming engaged civic-minded citizens.
Dyer Fellows receive a monthly stipend and their expenses paid for a spring trip to Washington, D.C. They also meet regularly with a dedicated faculty adviser to guide their research throughout the semester.
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Meet the 2018 Dyer Fellows
Alexandria Putman is a Coastal Carolina University student from Tega Cay, S.C. She studies political science and communication. Her interests include public opinion, the bureaucracy, as well as campaigns and elections. As part of her fellowship with the Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, Alexandria will examine the United States Postal Service as an institution within the bureaucracy. The USPS has increasingly become considered one of the most ineffective institutions in the U.S. today, as it loses a significant amount of capital per year. She hopes to find solutions to the problems in the postal service, such as its low public opinion and inefficiency. Upon graduating, Alexandria hopes to attend graduate school to study political science with a focus on political behavior and public opinion.
- Research topic: The inefficiencies and shortfalls of the United States Postal Service – examining the institution within the bureaucracy
John Quinn is a Coastal Carolina student from Long Island, N.Y., who studies political science, marine science and sustainability. As part of his fellowship with the Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, John will be conducting his research on sea level rise in Georgetown County. With this research, he hopes to educate the public on the necessary policy changes that are vital in community resiliency in the face of sea rise threat.
- Research topic: Sea level rise in Georgetown County
Allie Sheets is a Coastal Carolina University student from King, N.C., who studies political science with a concentration on domestic politics. She is interested in the inequalities in the criminal justice system. As part of her fellowship with the Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, Allie will investigate the cash bail system. Her research will examine the role of bail in the criminal justice system, inequalities that arise from it and policy solutions for reform. Upon graduation, Allie plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in political science with a focus on political theory.
- Research topic: The inequality driven by the cash bail system
Nicholas D. Smith is a Coastal Carolina University student from Charleston, S.C. Nicholas is an intelligence and national security studies major with minors in global information systems (GIS) and philosophy. He is passionate about ethics and how they relate to public policy, specifically the ethics of artificial intelligence. As part of his fellowship with the Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, Nicholas will focus on how autonomous computing systems violate the privacy rights of American citizens. He hopes convey the importance of this issue to the public in attempt to help bring forth the realization that privacy does not exist in the digital world.
- Research topic: Privacy rights in the digital age of autonomous computing systems
Emily Taylor is a Coastal Carolina University student from Andrews, S.C., who is majoring in public health and minoring in biology and psychology. She is interested in health policy and health disparities locally, nationally and globally. As part of her fellowship with the Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, Emily will research pedestrian safety across Highway 544, which flanks a major portion of the CCU campus. She will examine the use of school zones for college campuses. Emily aspires to earn a master’s degree in physician assistant studies and will focus on preventative health for underprivileged populations.
- Research topic: Pedestrian safety and the need for school zones on college campuses