Center Orientation and History
Overview
The Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies at the City College of New York (CCNY) is a nonpartisan policy research center named for one of CCNY’s most distinguished graduates. Established in 1997 through a generous grant from the May and Samuel Rudin Foundation, the Center combines policy-related research and events with efforts to involve students directly in its programs and activities. The Colin Powell Center's mission is to develop a new generation of publicly engaged leaders from populations previously underrepresented in policy circles and to bridge the academic and policymaking spheres through research and programming.
Student-Centered Approach
Distinctive among think tanks, the Colin Powell Center is devoted to a student-focused approach to its work. Students take an active role in all of the Center's core initiatives (see below). In particular, students develop and lead portions of the Center's programming, research, and events. As a result students don't merely assist, they produce substantive work themselves.
Scholarships and Related Programming
The Center's scholarship programs provide unique resources to a diverse, select group of outstanding CCNY students. Through the programs, the Center supports participating students with tuition assistance, internships, service opportunities, seminars, and events that offer them an active role in one or more of the Center's initiatives. The students, who represent a wide range of majors, develop both their leadership potential and public policy expertise. Read more
Core Research Initiatives
The Center's research activities are directed toward questions of current practical relevance and to ensuring that the real-world concerns of policymakers and practitioners inform the Center's research goals. The research activities are focused on three levels: locally in CCNY's Harlem community, nationally with regard to domestic policymaking, and internationally with regard to foreign policy-making processes and institutions. Initiative programs are selected to engage analysts and practitioners along with CCNY students and the campus community on matters of pressing policy concern. Read more
Through its service-learning programs, the Colin Powell Center also supports educational innovation on the part of CCNY faculty. Service learning is a research-supported educational approach that encourages a synergy between classroom and community-based learning. Faculty trained in service-learning methodology incorporate community service into a course design as an essential part of the curriculum. Targeted service placements enable students to apply classroom lessons in practical settings. Simultaneously, the students' experiences in community-based service projects augment and enrich the classroom discussion. Read more
