Using Public Policy for Social Change University of Michigan · Coursera · July 2024
Verify ↗ About
Public service shaped the path. Policy gave it direction.
I'm Tessa Rouse, a U.S. Army veteran, political science graduate, and MPA candidate at Arizona State University.
My work sits at the intersection of policy analysis, public administration, organizational systems, data quality, and service delivery. I'm especially interested in what happens after a policy is adopted: how institutions interpret it, implement it, measure it, and translate it into an experience people can actually navigate.
The throughline
Systems, responsibility, and implementation.
I began my professional life in the U.S. Army as a Network Switch Systems Operator. The work centered on communications readiness, equipment accountability, operational support, and emergency preparedness—including overseas service supporting Patriot missile operations.
After leaving the Army, I worked in safety, security, emergency response, and operational-support environments. Those roles required documentation, adherence to policy and procedure, incident coordination, stakeholder communication, and the ability to make sound decisions when conditions changed quickly.
My later work in emergency response coordination added GIS-based mapping, compliance databases, data quality assurance, auditing, reporting, and process improvement. That experience helped clarify the kind of work I wanted to pursue long term: understanding public systems, finding where they break down, and helping improve how decisions are implemented.
Academic direction
From political science to public administration.
I earned a B.A. in Political Science, with a concentration in American Government, from American Military University in February 2026, graduating Cum Laude.
I am now completing a Master of Public Administration at Arizona State University, where my graduate work has focused on policy analysis, governance, ethics, organizational management, research methods, statistics, implementation, and public service.
The shift from political science to public administration was deliberate. Political science gave me a framework for understanding institutions and power; public administration asks the question I find even more compelling: how do we make those institutions work well in practice?
Awarded degree
B.A. Political Science · Cum Laude American Military University · February 1, 2026Additional credentials
Selected continuing education
Current focus
The work I want to keep doing.
I'm building toward policy, program, management, and administrative analysis roles where research and evidence can improve public-sector decisions and implementation.
Policy & program analysis
Researching public problems, evaluating alternatives, and translating evidence into useful analysis.
Administrative systems
Examining workflows, implementation capacity, organizational responsibility, and administrative burden.
Data & operations
Using data quality, GIS support, documentation, and process analysis to strengthen operational decision-making.
Now
What I'm working on right now.
Updated October 2026
Master of Public Administration · Arizona State University
Right now, most of my attention is split between graduate study, applied policy research, and building toward the kind of public-sector work I want to do long term.
MPA coursework progress
21 of 42 credits toward the degree
3.95 cumulative GPA · 21 graduate credits earned
Fall 2026 Session A grades posted: A in PAF 560 · Community Resilience and A− in PAF 501 · Public Service Research I. Fall term GPA: 3.83. Academic record updated October 12, 2026.
Current coursework
Fall 2026 Session B begins October 14. I'm enrolled in PAF 502 · Public Service Research II and PAF 548 · Women, Politics & Public Policy. I completed Session A with an A in PAF 560 · Community Resilience and an A− in PAF 501 · Public Service Research I.
Academic runway
I'm enrolled for Spring 2027 in Public Budgeting and Finance and Microeconomics of Public Policy I. My planned summer coursework includes Public Management and Community Conflict Resolution, followed by the Public Affairs Capstone in Fall 2027.
Researching
I'm especially interested in veterans policy, health policy, administrative capacity, organizational change, and the gap between formal policy and the experience people have when they encounter public systems.
Building toward
I'm pursuing policy, program, management, and administrative analyst work where research, operations, data quality, and public service come together to improve implementation and service delivery.
On the desk
I'm continuing to develop this portfolio as a living record of my graduate work, research, and applied projects—adding pieces when they demonstrate something new about how I analyze public problems. I'm also currently awaiting placement as a Graduate Student Assistant at Arizona State University, a potential opportunity to apply my operational, communication, and administrative experience in an academic environment. Placement has not yet been confirmed.
Outside the work
Beyond the résumé.
A few of the things that keep me curious when I'm not working or studying.
Outside of school and policy work, I'm usually somewhere near a theme park, a camera, or a game console. Photography gives me an excuse to pay attention to small details; the rest mostly gives my brain somewhere else to go. If I'm on Xbox, you can usually find me as FrauTJ.