Two students from the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas have earned a spot on the global stage, securing third place in the 2026 NASPAA Student Simulation Competition.
First-year Master of Public Service (MPS) students Alejandro Jorge and Pashion Israel competed as part of a high-performing inter-university team that navigated a complex wildfire crisis simulation.
After winning their regional round in March, their team’s policy proposal was evaluated by a global panel of judges against winning teams from 12 international host sites, ultimately placing them among the top three teams worldwide.
The Challenge: The Westmount Wildfire Simulation
The competition, a collaboration between the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) and Forio, tasked students with creating a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for “Westmount,” a fictional high-risk mountain community.
Students were assigned specific stakeholder roles, such as Mayor, Water Manager, and Fire Marshal. Teams worked together to negotiate competing interests in public safety, economic development, and conservation under intense time pressure.
“The NASPAA simulation is a premier example of applied public service,” said Dr. Meagan Jordan, Associate Dean at the Clinton School. “It challenges our students to move beyond the theoretical and navigate the fast-paced realities of interagency collaboration. We are incredibly proud of Alejandro and Pashion for demonstrating the leadership and skills necessary to succeed at this global level.”
Applying the Clinton School Toolkit
The students credited their success to the foundational skills built in the Clinton School classroom, specifically citing courses in communication, program design, and project management.
For Jorge, a native of Washington, D.C. who served as a Water Authority Manager, the competition emphasized the importance of consensus-building.
“Dr. Robert Richards’ communications class was the most helpful in helping us come to a consensus,” Jorge said. “The Program Design class was also very useful because we had to create our own Gantt charts as part of our wildfire mitigation plan, and that project management tool helped us visually map out our fire mitigation schedule. It was a fun day of crisis management roleplay.”
Meanwhile, Pashion Israel, who stepped into the role of Mayor, navigated the difficult balance of meeting constituent needs while managing a municipal budget.
“It was really exciting,” said Israel, who is from Boiling Springs, South Carolina. “I didn’t go in with the mindset of winning. I just wanted the experience. Winning is a big bonus that lets us know we performed well in a high-pressure environment.”
Rachel Norris, Director of Domestic Programs at the Clinton School, served as the on-site simulation coordinator and witnessed the students’ dedication firsthand.
“Watching our students collaborate with peers from across the country to solve such a complex, data-driven crisis was truly inspiring,” Norris said. “Serving as a host site for the second year in a row allowed us to exhibit the talent at the Clinton School. Alejandro and Pashion placing globally is not only an example of this but also showcases the strength of our experiential learning model.”
Jorge and Israel were joined on their winning team with teammates Anna Blalock of Southern Utah University, Jodi Murphy of Rutgers University-Newark, and Dylan Bonner from the University of New Mexico. For placing third, the team received a $750 award. Beyond the prize, the students walked away with sharpened crisis management skills and an expanded professional network within the global public policy community.
About NASPAA: The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) is the global standard in public service education. It is the membership organization of graduate education programs in public policy, public affairs, public administration, and public & nonprofit management. NASPAA is the recognized global accreditor of master’s degree programs in MPA, MPP, and MPA fields.