Patricia Ciorici
Doctoral Candidate in Public Affairs

“Determinants of Neighborhood Satisfaction: Evidence from the North Camden Resident Satisfaction Survey.”

 Friday, September 21, 12:20pm
Armitage Faculty Lounge, Third Floor
Lunch will be provided

Patricia Ciorici will present the results of her research on neighborhood satisfaction among residents in North Camden. The study focused on neighborhood-level attributes to identify the determinants of neighborhood satisfaction. Specifically, the study analyzed the relationships between neighborhood satisfaction, on one hand, and resident perceptions of social and physical neighborhood characteristics, including perceptions of safety, neighborhood physical conditions, quality of social interactions, access to transportation, and quality of public services in the neighborhood, on the other. The extent of social networks served as an additional measure of neighborhood social interactions. The study used the data from the North Camden Resident Satisfaction Survey conducted in 2011 and employed a binary logistic regression model for analysis.    

From the “We R Rutger-Camden” web site:

Natasha O. Tursi’s life is a study in synergy. The (former) Assistant Dean of University College recently earned her Ph.D. in housing with a minor in community development from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Her research interests center on poverty and social inequality. Working in Camden, whose challenges have been well-documented, has allowed her to collect anecdotal data. The former senior counselor for the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Program, who worked with disadvantaged students, says, “The students gave me the real stories, and informed and shaped my research interests.” 

Natasha first became interested in the implications of housing policy, poverty, and social injustice on the well-being of society when she came to the United States from Germany at age twenty-two. Her positive experiences of public housing and public schools in a city setting in Germany differed from what she saw here in the United States, and it sparked her interest. While enrolled at Rutgers-Camden as an undergraduate student, she took classes in methods of urban planning, power and decision-making in urban communities, community welfare planning, and so on, and that set her on the path that she’s on today. “I received an excellent education at Rutgers-Camden,” she says. “Camden is a lovely training ground for anyone in public policy, urban studies, and political science.”

Currently, Natasha is focused on turning her dissertation, Poverty Deconcentration, Housing Mobility, and the Construction of Recent U.S. Housing Policy: A Discourse Analysis of the Policy-Making Process, into a full-length book. In addition, she and a colleague in New Brunswick plan on analyzing data later this year from the 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS), the largest, regular national housing sample survey in the U.S., which provides information on a variety of housing indicators, as well as income, housing, and neighborhood quality. Natasha and her collaborator plan on writing an article based on their findings. Natasha will also be back in the classroom this fall; she will teach a colloquium on housing policy to graduate students in the Department of Public Policy and Administration. She also was offered to teach a course in policy analysis in the Department of Political Science next spring. Natasha is not daunted by the task. “I’m excited to be back in the classroom,” she says. “I thrive in intellectual stimulation.” She hopes to motivate her students to engage in research, and would like to link her students and their research to the new Center for Urban Research Education (CURE), headed by Dr. Paul Jargowsky, Professor of Public Policy and Administration. “It is exciting to have the center (CURE) serving as a conduit for urban research for our faculty and students with the potential for getting the students’ research published,” Natasha says.

Dr. Kriste Lindenmeyer, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-Camden recently announced:

In Fall, 2012 Dr. Paul Jargowsky joined the Rutgers-Camden faculty to head the new Center for Urban Research and Education (CURE). This is an important campus center in CCAS center that reflects our commitment to community outreach, revitalization, and urban research. I am happy to share with you that Dr. Natasha Tursi is joining CURE as Associate Director. Prior to joining CURE, Dr. Tursi as a very effective Assistant Dean in the Arts and Sciences responsible for coordinating the University College’s Academic Transitions Program (ATP). 

In her new role as Associate Director of CURE, Dr. Tursi is responsible for program development, outreach and dissemination, and management of center activities. She will assist Prof. Jargowsky in identifying and pursuing strategic opportunities for research funding through foundations and government agencies. As a Ph.D. in Planning and Public Policy, she will also have the opportunity to reconnect with scholarly research through her work with the Center. Join me in congratulating Dr. Natasha Tursi on her new appointment. 

Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn joins Rutgers-Camden as an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and the latest CURE Affiliated Scholar. Adam’s interests are varied, including cross-national studies of happiness, inequality, and social welfare. He is an expert in statistical methodology and the use of complex data in social science research.

Affiliated Scholar Lori Minnite appeared on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane to discuss Voter Fraud and the State of Pennsylvania’s new voter ID requirements. You can listen to the discussion here.