Simulation challenges graduate students to lead during COVID-19 pandemic

What’s it like to lead and create policies for a country during COVID-19? Four graduate students at Binghamton University found out by participating in the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) simulation competition.

The students who competed were Aaron Schwartz, Aubrey Baranowski, Christopher Wen — all Master of Public Administration students — and Jhon Cotrina Alfaro, who is receiving his Master in Sustainable Communities. 

“They are placed in a fictional, high-stakes situation that is based in reality,” said Cory Rusin, director of recruitment and internship placement for the program. “In this case, they were public administrators handling a pandemic and seeing the consequences of their choices as administrators in real time.”

The students were placed in teams with other graduate students from around the world. Each team was given a fictional country to lead, and was tasked with creating policies and saving the lives of its citizens. Because of the pandemic, the students used Zoom to communicate with teammates.

“It's tough, because normally this would be an in-person event where you're feeding off of the energy of your team,” Rusin said. “Instead, the students had to spend all day on Zoom tackling really tough problems with an international team, which is incredibly exciting and draining all at once. I'm proud of all of our students who competed.”

Baranowski explained that the policies that were put into place for the fictional countries mirrored actual policies stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Some of the policies that were in the simulation were mask mandates, fines for not wearing a mask, stimulus bills, restaurant restrictions,” said Baranowski. “You could put in a state of emergency, and obviously closing the border, vaccine production and testing. Things we have seen with COVID, we were able to implement.”

Only the top five teams were announced at the end of the competition, with Schwartz and his team placing fifth out of nearly 400 students. “It was fascinating to see what consequences actions would have,” he said. 

To participate in the competition, students had to be in a master’s program and nominated by a dean or professor. 

When she learned from Rusin that she was to be nominated, Baranowski thought it was “so cool!”

“I was nervous because it’s a national competition, but being able to have this experience with students from across the world -- that’s really enlightening,” she said. 

“I was delighted,” Schwartz said. “It was fascinating to see how idiosyncratic pieces of legislation and policy can have such profound impacts.”

Baranowski said that one of the most valuable lessons she learned from the simulation was the importance of communication. “Not only communication to your constituents and entire population, but also communication with your fellow countries, being able to coordinate well with others and respecting your neighbor,” she said.

“It made me think about the fact that, from a public administration and public policy standpoint, it can’t just be all about the numbers,” Schwartz said. “As we saw during our own pandemic in real life, it doesn’t matter how many scientists, actuators, mathematicians and statisticians point out that this will actively save lives; people won’t do it unless you market it to them effectively.”

The students were able to use knowledge gained from their Master of Public Administration program to succeed in the competition. 

“One of the MPA competencies is leading and managing, and the public interest and this simulation definitely relates to that,” Baranowski said. “We were put in positions of these huge executive roles, pretty much running a country and seeing how that plays out in real time within the simulation limits.”

“The simulation competition gives students the chance to test their knowledge in an environment where the only risk is losing the competition, which I think is a valuable learning experience,” said Rusin. “Learning to work with different personalities, to act as a leader and compromise when necessary are invaluable skills they will use throughout their careers and lives in general.”