MPP Alumna Applies Systems Thinking to Regulation

The RSC team recently checked in with Trachtenberg School alumna Claire Garvin (MPP 2021) to learn more about her exciting career path in regulatory policy!

While working after college at Earthjustice and at the Department of Justice, Claire developed expertise in the criminal and environmental sectors. Pursuing bad actors through the legal system was important work, but being a systems-thinker, Claire was eager to be further upstream in the legal landscape. The Trachtenberg School's unique opportunity to concentrate in regulatory policy helped her make the career transition that she wanted.

Working full time at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) during her graduate program offered an insightful perspective, as well. “I was dealing firsthand with real world policy challenges on a daily basis, so I always had plenty of paper topics on my mind!”

Taking the regulatory comment clinic with Professor Susan Dudley helped Claire learn the ins and outs of solid analysis directly from a former White House ‘regulatory czar.’ Her public comment submission for the class focused on a rulemaking from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that sought to update flight policies for drone operators. “It was a really useful exercise to comment on an actual rule. The FAA did a good job of balancing risk and innovation in this case: my comment noted that an incremental approach could allow for allocating airspace fairly and also safely, while opening up options to fly drones at night and fly over people–things operators weren’t allowed to do before.” Claire continues to look for innovations in flight rules now that she recently began a new role as a regulatory analyst at FAA.

Gaining a foundation in economics was another highlight of the MPP for Claire. “I really loved applied econ and microeconomics. It’s a way of looking at the world that totally made sense to me, especially the concepts of utility and the psychological aspects of behavioral econ.” Those quantitative skills are proving valuable, as well. “I use benefit-cost analysis all the time at work. I was previously an advisor to the DOT Deputy Secretary and to the NHTSA Administrator, people who look at the rules with a high level view. It’s important to be able to kick the tires on what our assumptions are.”

She admits that the rulemaking process may not be interesting to everyone, but for a systems-minded professional, it’s definitely the place to be. “The best designed systems are ones where you don’t even notice the design at all. If a policy is well designed nobody will be questioning, ‘Why is it this way?’ Regulations are important, so we want rules to be as painless and as responsive as possible.”

We are betting that Claire’s colleagues will notice her innovative policy ideas and regulatory analysis quite a lot in the future!