The Wisconsin Policy Forum is seeking applications for the Norman N. Gill and Todd A. Berry fellowships for the 2025-2026 academic year. Our fellows engage in research on key policy issues confronting state and local governments in Wisconsin. The positions are named in honor of Norman Gill and Todd Berry for their long-term commitment to improving government decision making and quality of life in our state. Norman Gill was executive director of the Milwaukee-based Citizens Government Research Bureau (later the Public Policy Forum) for over 40 years, while Todd Berry headed the Madison-based Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance for more than 20 years. Those two organizations merged as the Wisconsin Policy Forum in 2018.
What We Are Looking For
We seek to support two students enrolled in graduate degree programs at any Wisconsin public or private institution. Past fellows have pursued degrees in public policy, public administration, urban planning, law, economics, political science, education, and urban studies, though we also encourage students in additional fields of study who have an interest in public policy to apply.
The Gill fellow will engage in a research project on a timely and topical policy or governance issue impacting Milwaukee and/or southeastern Wisconsin. The Berry fellow will engage in a research project on a timely and topical policy or governance issue impacting the state of Wisconsin or local governments or school districts throughout the state. The results of both projects will be disseminated broadly to the public, the media, and policymakers, including at least one presentation.
The fellows will be supervised and guided by senior staff and are invited to be members of the Forum team, with opportunities to attend staff meetings and Forum events and draw upon the organization’s network of expertise. The fellows are expected to work approximately 10 hours per week on their projects, including some in-office hours in Milwaukee (Gill fellowship) or Madison (Berry fellowship) as class schedules permit. The fellowships pay a stipend of $8,500 for the nine-month period, which corresponds with the 2025-2026 academic year.
The Forum values candidates with diverse backgrounds and encourages all to apply.
Application Process
Applying for a fellowship is a two-step process. The first step is to complete the application form below and submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), which must identify the policy issue to be studied (please see list of potential research topics below) and briefly describe your initial thoughts on the research methods and data sources you could use, the potential impact of the research, and a description of how your academic and career goals would be supported by participation in this fellowship program. The LOI should not be more than two pages. A resume or curriculum vitae must accompany the LOI. The deadline for submitting a LOI is February 28, 2025.
From those who submit LOIs, finalists will be selected and notified by March 14, 2025. Finalists will be invited to complete full applications, which must include a more detailed description of the research, (official or unofficial) transcripts of undergraduate and graduate studies, one academic or professional letter of support, and a writing sample. Full applications will be due by March 31, 2025. A telephone or video call also may be scheduled. The fellows will be chosen and notified by April 11, 2025. (Note: the final choice of candidates will require the final approval of the Forum’s Fellowship Committee, and the availability of committee members may shift our deadline slightly.)
Applicants are invited to propose a research topic of their own design or to choose from the list of possible topics below. Proposals that address one of our core research areas – economic development, education, government finance, or social services – are strongly preferred.
- Open enrollment – Multiple Wisconsin programs allow K-12 students to attend a school other than their neighborhood public school. While the state’s charter and private choice programs receive the most political attention, the largest “school choice” program in the state is actually Open Enrollment, through which students can enroll in a public school district other than the one in which they reside. This project would examine Open Enrollment participation levels, its fiscal impact as a program, and its policy implications for the state’s K-12 landscape.
- Affordable housing – In 2023, the state of Wisconsin created several programs intended to boost the supply of affordable housing, which were subsequently supported with $525 million through the 2023-2025 state budget. Administered by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), each of those programs has now been operating for at least one year. This study would examine their use to date, including the types and locations of projects they have supported and the amount of funding that has been distributed. It will also explore the impacts of these programs so far, any challenges that may have arisen, and whether changes to the programs may be needed.
- Tax incremental financing (TIF) is a tool used by local governments to support development projects that meet certain criteria. The Forum has previously explored the use of TIF in Wisconsin and its effects, but our last analysis was prior to the pandemic in 2019. We would like to update our previous body of work by analyzing the recent use of TIF throughout Wisconsin, changes that have occurred since 2019, and the impacts this economic development tool is having in local communities.
- Drunk Driving – Our analysis of state corrections data has revealed a rapid increase since 2020 in the number of individuals in state prisons for operating while intoxicated (OWI) offenses. This study would take a closer look at recent and long-term trends in OWI offenses in Wisconsin and examine how state policy changes have influenced them. It will also compare Wisconsin’s OWI policies and its OWI offense and incarceration numbers with those of other states.
- Law enforcement – Wisconsin ranks among the highest states in the nation for per capita law enforcement spending at the local level, particularly by municipalities, while ranking dead last in state level spending on police. Why is that? What law enforcement functions are being done at the local level in Wisconsin that are more often handled by state agencies outside Wisconsin? Are there opportunities for Wisconsin to reform its approach to provide better service or save money by shifting to a state model?
- Service sharing and consolidation – Wisconsin is unusual for having a large number of local governments and for assigning them greater responsibility for services such as police, libraries, and parks than is the case in other states. Those characteristics make it potentially more beneficial for local governments to work together to deliver services. The Forum has been a leader in examining potential service sharing opportunities at the local level. This project could build on that work by examining ways that state leaders could encourage service sharing, either by removing disincentives and barriers in current law or by providing incentives to local governments to collaborate. The project could also look at the early impacts of a new state innovation fund meant to incentivize collaboration at the local level.
- Severe weather preparedness — Extreme heat and cold events, floods, and other climate-related natural disasters have become more commonplace in recent years, raising questions about the readiness and capacity of local governments in Wisconsin to address such emergencies when they occur here. This project would select a representative sample of local governments from across the state and explore the state of their extreme weather-related emergency planning, including efforts to assess their readiness by comparing them to each other, national best practices, and state and federal guidelines.
- Media coverage of public policy issues – With continued buyouts and layoffs across the news media, how have diminished media resources affected coverage of state and local governments and school districts in Wisconsin? How many journalists cover those subjects now compared with 10, 20, or 30 years ago? How has the volume and depth of media coverage for state and local policy issues changed over that period?
Questions? Please email WPF Research Director Joe Peterangelo at jpeterangelo@wispolicyforum.org.
