LPPP 3200

This course was relatively easy, but doesn't have the most interesting material. You don't learn about specific policy areas, but focus on understanding the public policy process. Professor Johannessen is extremely kind and obviously cares deeply about his students. He's very willing to answer questions and is also very organized - he color codes all of his slides so you know what's important. In my experience, all of the TAs were also extremely kind and willing to help. They work very closely with Professor Johannessen, especially if there's a topic the class as a whole doesn't seem to understand. The grade breakdown was: weekly worksheets (5%), midterm (10%), final (26%), policy memo (26%), group presentation (16%), citizenship (16%), and course evaluation (1%). It sounds like a lot of assignments but really isn't too bad because they're spread out over the course of the semester. There is a small amount of reading, but you could literally not read a single word and be completely fine as long as you show up to lecture. The weekly worksheets only took 20-30 minutes and were graded on completion. The midterm was an in-class, open-book exam that wasn't too difficult. Professor Johannessen decided to allow the Dutch Knockout after the midterm even though the average was in the B-B+ range. The final was a take-home, open-book exam that we had over a week to complete - it was very long but not difficult. The policy memo will be challenging at first, but you turn in three drafts of the same memo and will improve over time. Most people get in the C range for the first memo, but the first draft is only worth 2% of your final grade, with each subsequent draft increasing in point value. Talking to your TA will really help for the memo. The group presentation was also not difficult (you only have to film it rather than actually present to the class). Citizenship was a combination of your discussion section performance and peer evaluations, so you should contribute to the group presentation if you want full credit there. Overall, not the most riveting material, but it is applicable and it's not too difficult to get a good grade if you put in effort.

Professor Johannessen's class is very well structured. I took this class as a requirement for Batten, but I think this course would be good to take to understand what goes into the policy process, how to solve problems, and to more critically think about solutions to issues in the world. The class consists of a public policy memo (he gives a lot of guidance on how to write it, and you should definitely get the books for this class, they were very helpful in writing the memos; the OH for TA's were helpful too, shoutout to Sophie) of which you have 3 attempts to turn it in (first two are drafts and the final counts for your memo grade), plus weekly worksheets due on Sunday that take about 30 min, and then daily readings before/ after each class. Finally, you have the group project presentation. You don't need to spend too much time on the readings, but be sure to skim since they are helpful in understanding the frameworks in class. Overall, I think this is one of the best structured classes I've taken at UVA. The professor and TA's are extremely communicative, the course schedule is accommodating, the workload is manageable, and the syllabus is very accessible. His class is interactive too, so oftentimes you will turn to a partner in class and discuss for a minute the topics of the class, which is interesting.

This is a great class! Professor Johannessen is kind and helpful and an interesting and engaging lecturer. The way he teaches is organized and easy to follow, and he takes material that could be boring (e.g. bureacracy, budgeting) and presents it in a way that feels relevant and meaningful. His grading system is transparent and fair- he actually used it as an object lesson in class for ethically assessing policies, and walked us through his thought process.
The workload is reasonable- the reading is helpful but not necessary. There are weekly worksheets, which are a bit of a pain, but really effective for learning the material. The big projects are the policy memo and a group project, which are both relatively painless as long as you're clear on the policy frameworks and how to apply them. The class is definitely geared toward people going into policy, but is accessible and interesting enough that non-policy people could get something out of it.

This course was a very interesting class on the methods of studying public policy. Each lecture would focus on a framework and then apply it to example policies. The readings for the class were largely supplemental -- they generally just added to lectures and you weren't directly quizzed on them. The course had an open-note midterm and final where you applied the frameworks to a new policy. You also write a policy memo and then revise it two times. The first draft barely counts towards your grade and the second draft still isn't worth much, so you have time to get it write. You also do a group policy presentation. My group worked well together although the timing of the project was weird because it was due a few days after Thanksgiving break. Professor Johannessen is an engaging lecturer and really responsive to student feedback. All the TAs I interacted with were also great and were very available to meet and talk about your work/grades/questions/etc.

This is a great intro class! If you are at all considering Public Policy and Batten this is a very helpful class. The class and lectures are very structured which comes in handy when studying for exams/doing projects. The grading is mostly based on writing and revising a policy memo, a midterm, a final, and a group project. This class gives a good foundation on the basics of policy and is also just good information to know for life. I thought Professor Johannessen did a great job being engaging and interactive even in a big lecture class.

The class is really interesting, but it is quite fast-paced. I definitely had some difficulty understanding certain concepts and it was not an easy-A. You need to put in work to get an A, but this class was still quite enjoyable. If you are interested in policy, I recommend you take this, but if you're not too interested I'd steer clear.

This class was one of the most well-done classes I have ever taken in my academic career. The lectures, albeit a little fast, were so brief and compact and Professor Johannessen teaches you in a way that prepares you for the midterm and final. Our grade was made up of a policy memo with three drafts of increasing weight, a group project, a midterm, and a final. All of the work is graded by a TA and if there is any chance to be in Andrew Sharpe's discussion section, do it. He was absolutely fantastic and helped WAY more than he needed to. It is a class where your grade is definitely measured by how much work you actually put in, but if you know a bit more about policy than the average person, you will be okay. I highly recommend this class for anyone, even if you aren't interested in Batten at all.

This is a good intro level class. The course is structured really well (he color codes his notes and everything) and the expectations are really clear. It is required to complete 3 policy memo drafts, midterm, group project, and final. Both the midterm and the final were open book open note. The grading is done completely by TA, so it can be a little unclear sometimes, but it is not too difficult to do well. Prof Johannessen could not be any nicer and truly wants his students to succeed. Andrew Sharpe was also a great TA. While I have taken more interesting classes within Batten, I would 100% recommend if you have any interest in public policy!

This class was very well organized and fairly structured. The grading is distributed fairly evenly among a group project, an individual policy memo (with multiple drafts), a midterm, and a final. All of the material is clearly presented and repeatedly discussed in lecture and discussion sections. This class is largely based on developing policy analysis skills, not discussing certain policy areas or issues in depth. With that being said, this class was well taught and interesting, even for someone who isn't applying to Batten. I'd recommend it to anyone with even a nominal interest in public policy.

I took this class online during COVID, and thought it was incredibly well done. The way the professor structures the lecture is extremely easy to follow, because he has an entire color coding system that signals whenever he is talking about an essential concept (called framework). This makes studying for the exams pretty easy! I always found the questions to be fair. I ended with an A- and I pretty much always studied/ did the lectures the night before—granted, this was during COVID and everything was open note, so idk what he will do for in person.

You will have to write 3 policy memos, but the amazing thing is that you don't have to write 3 separate ones—you just keep improving upon the original one for each submission. The first ones were harshly graded, but were worth essentially nothing in terms of weight—the last memo is worth far more and everyone does fairly well.

The professor is extremely accommodating, and although his voice can be a tad boring, you can tell he is extremely kind and knows the topics extremely well (I think he went to harvard and/or princeton). From what I understand the TA's were all great, and I although I didn't have her, the TA Hannah Adams seemed very very helpful in the group review sessions and I think people liked her. I had Maggie Servais who was also great, and very kind (she gave us a great grade for the final presentation which was worth a lot of points, even though we put in a moderate amount of effort). Overall I think this is a great class to take!