Frank Batten's vision was to create an institution that "focused on developing leaders who understand the responsibilities and opportunities of public life and have a bias for action.

An alumnus of Yale Law School and former legislative counselor to then-Senator Barack Obama, Solomon has experience in local, national, and international politics; Dean Solomon lives in Pavilion X on the Lawn where he frequently hosts students, faculty, staff, and guests of the Batten School.

MPP students often pursue summer internships at various public-sector consulting and contracting firms, as well as in federal, state, and local governments or NGO/nonprofit organizations.

BattenX is a series of programs that serve as a convening place to explore new, innovative, and difficult topics in leadership and public policy.

Previous course topics include leadership, Congressional gridlock, procedural policing, and data impacts on policy.

[15] The Batten School and the University of Virginia offer two annual Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant awards, given at the end of the academic year.

The Center aims to draw scholars from the University of Virginia and from around the state to conduct research and data development on educational policy.

The aim of the center is to hold Congress accountable to real results by evaluating the effectiveness with which they achieve their legislative agendas.

Collectively, the two groups work to address early childhood development, migration and displacement, and humanitarian advocacy and operational effectiveness.

Positioned at UVA and only 100 miles from Washington, D.C., the center is equipped to access policymakers in order to gain strategic clarity that will lead to successful US foreign policy.

[21] The subject of social entrepreneurship is a fairly new development in public policy curriculum, in 2013 Batten Professor Christine Mahoney and two students received a grant from the Jefferson Trust to fund classes, competitions, field work, and faculty.

SE @ UVA's projects are located in countries across the world, including Brazil, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, and the Philippines.

The Judgement and Decisions Experimental Lab looks at behavioral regulators to examine the organizational, social and psychological forces that influence the decision-making process.

The Public Engagement in Governance: Looking, Listening, and Learning Laboratory seeks to engineer change by expanding policymaking conversations to include not only those who create and administer policies, but those who live them.

Both the undergraduate and graduate programs have a council of student leaders who are elected to run community outreach, events, professional development activities, and head external, internal, and social committees.

[26][27] Batten Builds is a group that brings students, faculty, and staff together to support nonprofits in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area.

The students apply their policy analysis skills to their clients' real world problems and provide the necessary knowledge and support to the organizations so they can carry out their core mission.