FAQ

How is NEED defining “development”?

Very broadly. Public health, environment, governance, and migration certainly all count. Our student population is more focused on international development than U.S.-based local development so we will lean into international elements, though many of the resources and learnings should be transferrable.

What if I think a narrow focus on quantitative “evidence” misses the point?

NEED benefits from all viewpoints. We could imagine an insightful discussion group about the pitfalls of the sector’s strong preference for quantitative tools, run by students with experience in this space. We can learn from each other.

Is NEED truly a cross-school initiative if it is being run primarily by Yale students?

All orgs start somewhere, and coordinating folks from different schools for a brand-new initiative is impractical at the outset. It is our intention that NEED leadership will shift to being cross-institutional in coming years. In the meantime, that is partly why we hope to establish cross-school planning groups.

Many master’s students are international. Can they still benefit from NEED?

Yes. In brainstorming this initiative with your classmates, this is the #1 question we received. NEED will facilitate recruitment for roles both inside and outside the U.S. We will especially be on the lookout for resources aimed at international students and will ask recruiters to clarify their visa policy up-front. NEED could also be a useful forum for info-sharing about immigration policy.

What about students from other schools or non-policy programs?

We are definitely interested in expanding our membership scope in future years. It seems especially logical to integrate Master’s in Economics students. There are also many students from other policy schools, where dev is perhaps less of an emphasis, that would be great future additions!

What if I have an idea of my own?

Great! Feel free to give your input (bottom of homepage), or else reach out directly to bailey.marsheck@yale.edu. If it isn’t something we have capacity for as an organization, you can likely spearhead it yourself under the NEED institutional umbrella.