Elizabethtown College Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Tim McDevitt recently completed the prestigious ASA/ACM/AMS/IMS/MAA/SIAM Science and Technology Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C., which he was originally awarded in April 2021.
The fellowship focuses on data science and related expertise such as machine learning, data visualization, and causal inference to meet legislative and policymaking challenges. McDevitt spent a year (Aug. 2021 to Aug. 2022) serving on the staff of Senator Tom Cotton.
He says he most enjoyed working on Capitol Hill, where he met many interesting people and got to see first-hand how the legislative process works.
“The most meaningful thing I did in D.C. was work on the American Workforce Act,” McDevitt said. “It is designed to help young people learn specialized skills that lead to high-paying jobs. I am hopeful that it will strengthen the American workforce in critical areas like cybersecurity.”
Senator Cotton recently introduced the American Workforce Act, a bill that overhauls workforce education. The legislation provides high school graduates with a 9,000-dollar workforce training voucher, used to participate in education programs designed by employers for jobs in their industry.
McDevitt is looking forward to using the experiences he had while participating in this fellowship to help his students as he continues to teach at Etown.
“The fellowship gave me a deeper insight into how data analysis and data visualization can be useful in policy analysis and in the persuasion of others,” McDevitt said.
Read the full American Workforce Act.
