About News News Subscribe Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics Leadership Democracy Education Advocacy Racial Justice and Equity Research and Commentary Ethics Facet Area of Focus - News Ian H. Solomon Brian N. Williams Christine Mahoney Benjamin Castleman Kirsten Gelsdorf Gerald Warburg Gabrielle Adams Philip Potter Daphna Bassok Jay Shimshack Lucy Bassett John Holbein David Leblang Allan Stam Raymond C. Scheppach Sarah Turner Sophie Trawalter Christopher J. Ruhm Timothy L. Davis Bala Mulloth Benjamin Converse Sebastian Tello Trillo Eileen Chou Jeanine Braithwaite Jennifer Lawless Jill Rockwell Todd S. Sechser Alexander Bick James H. Wyckoff Paul S. Martin Peter Johannessen Steve Hiss Daniel W. Player Gerard Robinson Laura Toscano Michael D. Williams Noah Myung William Shobe Brooke Lehmann Harry Harding James R. Detert Jazmin Brown-Iannuzzi Jeff Chidester Kyle S. H. 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The annual awards honor UVA faculty members who demonstrate exceptional dedication, passion, creativity, and equity in their contributions to the University’s teaching mission. Learn more Sep 10, 2024 Pennock Shares Insight on Leadership with Georgia Mayors Professor Andy Pennock was invited to be a plenary speaker at the inaugural Georgia Mayors Leadership Academy where he provided an immersive learning experience about how to cultivate relationships, respond effectively during crises, advance community engagement and more. Learn more Jun 21, 2024 UVA | Batten Faculty Excellence Award Winners Each year, Batten’s Executive Committee selects the Batten Faculty Awards Winners in four areas of review -- research, teaching, service and engagement -- in recognition for the faculty members’ contributions throughout the previous year. We congratulate this year's winners: Ashley Jardina, Andy Pennock, Dan Player and Daphna Bassok. Learn more Jun 10, 2024 How Effective are America’s State Legislators? Domestic Policy & Politics Political Science The Center for Effective Lawmaking has compiled a massive database to measure the effectiveness of nearly every state legislator in the U.S. Based on the center's trusted methodology developed a decade ago to rank the effectiveness of members of Congress, the project is the first to collect this kind of data at the state level in a comprehensive fashion. Learn more Jun 06, 2024 Batten Hosts Back-to-Back Political Science Conferences Domestic Policy & Politics The UVA Batten School is excited to co-host the national State Politics and Policy Conference this weekend, bringing together some 140 political science researchers from across the country to share their recent findings on a wide range of topics. Immediately following, Batten hosts the annual conference of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint project with Vanderbilt University. Learn more Feb 11, 2024 Effective Lawmaking in Virginia: Past, Present and Future This week’s Batten Hour featured Bill Howell, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, and David Toscano, former House Minority Leader, in a discussion about how the legislature is addressing past, present and future policy challenges. Their discussion was moderated by Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Learn more Jul 25, 2023 Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff Domestic Policy & Politics In an op-ed published in The Messenger, Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman of the Center for Effective Lawmaking write that without proper career training for congressional staffers, expertise gaps on Capitol Hill will continue to be problematic. Learn more May 31, 2023 Bipartisanship the “secret sauce” for effective lawmaking, despite rising polarization in Congress Domestic Policy & Politics Democracy Despite perceptions that Congress is dominated by partisan interests, a new study from the Center for Effective Lawmaking -- co-directed by Batten professor Craig Volden -- finds that legislators who draw in cosponsors from both sides of the aisle are more effective. Learn more May 08, 2023 Batten Professor Andy Pennock has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award Education Batten Professor Andy Pennock has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in leadership education to Slovenia for the 2023-2024 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Learn more Mar 20, 2023 Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores Reps. Gerald Connolly, D-VA, and Don Bacon, R-NE, and Sens. Gary Peters, D-MI, and John Cornyn, R-TX, top their respective lists of the most effective Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the recently completed 117th Congress (2021–23), according to the latest round of legislative effectiveness scores compiled by the Center for Effective Lawmaking released March 20. Learn More Feb 02, 2023 Faculty Members Weigh How To Enter the Brave New World of AI Batten School professor Andrew Pennock spoke with UVA Today about the opportunity for faculty to work with students to consider both the benefits and limits of AI applications like ChatGPT. Read in UVA Today Jan 21, 2023 George Santos' college education is a myth. Is he the only one lying? We checked. How often are the educational backgrounds of Congressional legislators and candidates vetted, and how much do degrees matter? Craig Volden, Batten School professor and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, talked with USA Today about Congress members’ educational backgrounds and how a degree correlates to effectiveness as a legislator. Learn more Pagination Current page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Next page Next › Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Jun 10, 2025 Pennock Wins All-University Teaching Award UVA Batten associate professor of public policy Andrew Pennock has received the 2025 All-University Teaching Award from the University of Virginia. The annual awards honor UVA faculty members who demonstrate exceptional dedication, passion, creativity, and equity in their contributions to the University’s teaching mission. Learn more
Sep 10, 2024 Pennock Shares Insight on Leadership with Georgia Mayors Professor Andy Pennock was invited to be a plenary speaker at the inaugural Georgia Mayors Leadership Academy where he provided an immersive learning experience about how to cultivate relationships, respond effectively during crises, advance community engagement and more. Learn more
Jun 21, 2024 UVA | Batten Faculty Excellence Award Winners Each year, Batten’s Executive Committee selects the Batten Faculty Awards Winners in four areas of review -- research, teaching, service and engagement -- in recognition for the faculty members’ contributions throughout the previous year. We congratulate this year's winners: Ashley Jardina, Andy Pennock, Dan Player and Daphna Bassok. Learn more
Jun 10, 2024 How Effective are America’s State Legislators? Domestic Policy & Politics Political Science The Center for Effective Lawmaking has compiled a massive database to measure the effectiveness of nearly every state legislator in the U.S. Based on the center's trusted methodology developed a decade ago to rank the effectiveness of members of Congress, the project is the first to collect this kind of data at the state level in a comprehensive fashion. Learn more
Jun 06, 2024 Batten Hosts Back-to-Back Political Science Conferences Domestic Policy & Politics The UVA Batten School is excited to co-host the national State Politics and Policy Conference this weekend, bringing together some 140 political science researchers from across the country to share their recent findings on a wide range of topics. Immediately following, Batten hosts the annual conference of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint project with Vanderbilt University. Learn more
Feb 11, 2024 Effective Lawmaking in Virginia: Past, Present and Future This week’s Batten Hour featured Bill Howell, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, and David Toscano, former House Minority Leader, in a discussion about how the legislature is addressing past, present and future policy challenges. Their discussion was moderated by Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Learn more
Jul 25, 2023 Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff Domestic Policy & Politics In an op-ed published in The Messenger, Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman of the Center for Effective Lawmaking write that without proper career training for congressional staffers, expertise gaps on Capitol Hill will continue to be problematic. Learn more
May 31, 2023 Bipartisanship the “secret sauce” for effective lawmaking, despite rising polarization in Congress Domestic Policy & Politics Democracy Despite perceptions that Congress is dominated by partisan interests, a new study from the Center for Effective Lawmaking -- co-directed by Batten professor Craig Volden -- finds that legislators who draw in cosponsors from both sides of the aisle are more effective. Learn more
May 08, 2023 Batten Professor Andy Pennock has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award Education Batten Professor Andy Pennock has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in leadership education to Slovenia for the 2023-2024 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Learn more
Mar 20, 2023 Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores Reps. Gerald Connolly, D-VA, and Don Bacon, R-NE, and Sens. Gary Peters, D-MI, and John Cornyn, R-TX, top their respective lists of the most effective Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the recently completed 117th Congress (2021–23), according to the latest round of legislative effectiveness scores compiled by the Center for Effective Lawmaking released March 20. Learn More
Feb 02, 2023 Faculty Members Weigh How To Enter the Brave New World of AI Batten School professor Andrew Pennock spoke with UVA Today about the opportunity for faculty to work with students to consider both the benefits and limits of AI applications like ChatGPT. Read in UVA Today
Jan 21, 2023 George Santos' college education is a myth. Is he the only one lying? We checked. How often are the educational backgrounds of Congressional legislators and candidates vetted, and how much do degrees matter? Craig Volden, Batten School professor and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, talked with USA Today about Congress members’ educational backgrounds and how a degree correlates to effectiveness as a legislator. Learn more