A day in the life of the College of Public Service and Community Solutions

After 35 years, the College of Public Programs changed its name to the College of Public Service and Community Solutions. The new name better reflects the students the College serves and the evidence-based research it performs.

The College is home to four schools: Community Resources and Development, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Public Affairs and Social Work. It’s also home to 17 research centers and institutions that work on some of the most pressing matters our communities face today. One way to get a better feel for what the College is about is to look at a day in the life of its professors and students. The stories below do just that.

Professor Michael White, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Tuesday, January 13
9:30 a.m. 
Michael White takes a seat behind a table at the Burton Barr Central Library. He was asked by the Phoenix city manager to serve on the First Responder Traumatic Incident Support and Response Task Force as a police practices expert. White is a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. He serves on the panel with psychologists and psychiatrists. The Task Force was formed after a fired police officer with post traumatic stress disorder committed suicide. The officer had struggled with PTSD after killing a suspect armed with a bat. He was arrested for drunk driving and was terminated under a zero tolerance policy.

Associate Professor Dave White, School of Community Resources and Development

Thursday, January 15
8 a.m.
Mornings are important to Dave White, an associate professor in the School of Community Resources and Development in downtown Phoenix. It’s his opportunity to spend quality time with his seven-year old daughter Fern. They eat breakfast together, walk the dogs, and then ride their bikes to Fern’s nearby school.   White then bikes to an office in Tempe or to a light rail station where he will catch a train that takes him to his office in downtown Phoenix.

Associate Professor Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, School of Social Work

Friday, January 16
Noon
Controlled chaos could best describe the whirlwind of activity in and around the office of Dominique Roe-Sepowitz. She’s an associate professor in the School of Social Work and director of the Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research. She calmly directs students and staff amid a flurry of phone calls, emails, texts and interruptions.

Associate Professor Chris Herbst, School of Public Affairs

Wednesday, January 22
2 p.m.
Chris Herbst turns on his cell phone to check email as he arrives in the Atlanta airport on his way to Washington D.C. His inbox has more than the usual number of emails, many from reporters. One from NPR correspondent Jennifer Ludden. Another from an NPR magazine program. There is even a request from a Spanish language news organization. They all want to talk to Herbst about his research on government subsidized preschool. And for good reason.

Undergraduate student Nancy Diaz, College of Community Resources and Development

Thursday, January 22
9:00 a.m.
After spending an hour in traffic, Nancy Diaz is taking part in an orientation for volunteers at the Sojourner Center domestic violence shelter in Phoenix. She’s a junior majoring in Nonprofit Leadership and Management in the School of Community Resources and Development. Diaz also works two jobs and volunteers at another nonprofit.