Nina Harris serves as the associate dean for academic programs and student services in the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. A skilled administrator with over 25 years of higher education experience, specializing in developing and administering successful undergraduate and leadership development programs at major universities, Harris provides direction to all current and developing undergraduate initiatives in the School. Additionally, she manages the School’s undergraduate course offerings in Leadership and Public Policy. Harris teaches several undergraduate leadership courses and has developed and taught a graduate course, “Ethical Dimensions of Public Leadership.”
A passionate educator who focuses on self-awareness, social and emotional intelligence, personal development, and ethics as tools to develop leaders for a pluralistic society, Harris joined the University of Maryland community in 1999. Prior to coming to Maryland, she spent 12 years at the University of Delaware, where she helped develop the University's first formal leadership education curriculum, planned leadership development programs as leadership program coordinator in the activities and programs office, and provided leadership to more than 150 registered student organizations.
Harris is a leader and a manager whose blend of academic and student affairs experience ensures a holistic approach to program design, implementation and delivery.
Her current interests include understanding the development of ethics and integrity in student leaders; and, the role involvement in co-curricular activities and organizations plays in African American students' adjustment to life during and after college.
Harris has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminal justice, a master’s degree in liberal studies, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Delaware.
Understanding pluralism and how groups and individuals coexist in society is an essential part of the public policy process. This course will examine the ways in which the diverse experiences of race, gender, ethnicity, class, orientation, identity, and religion impact the understanding of and equitable delivery of public policy. The examination of how identity development shapes our understanding of society and influences the decision-making process is central to students’ shaping policy that is truly for the people. This course will equip students with the skills needed to analyze pluralism and draw conclusions about the application of various theories to public policy issues.
Schedule of Classes
Advanced special topics focusing on an interdisciplinary topic related to Public Policy. Permission Required
Schedule of Classes
