The Institute focuses its efforts on fostering ethical conduct in government, opportunity and fair treatment for citizens in America and throughout the world, and responsible citizenship for all Americans—particularly young Americans.

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute determines its potential to make a real difference in society by evaluating projects based on two important questions:

• Can anything be accomplished by our taking on this project?
• Is our involvement differentiated from other organizations’ work
  on this subject?

“Do Tank” Accomplishments
The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute’s accomplishments, in keeping with its mission to be a “do tank,” ultimately have served the old and the young, healthcare and the environment, local and state government, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale itself. For example, the Institute led pioneering efforts to create a model program aimed at combating smoking among college-age women on Southern’s campus. The project resulted in reducing the number of smokers on campus and creating new university smoking policies.

The Institute also:

• Spearheaded efforts to create a dental clinic on the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus serving disadvantaged children and low-income families who otherwise would not receive dental care.
• Played a pivotal role in fashioning bipartisan legislation that contained the most substantial campaign finance reform Illinois has enacted in nearly a quarter of a century.
• Succeeded in including a provision to a bill that provides retired physicians immunity from civil damages, including when making home visits and
  when volunteering under the auspices of a free medical clinic.
• Piloted a rural healthcare symposium resulting in the Illinois General Assembly’s establishing a state task force to review, report, and recommend ways to improve healthcare in rural communities.
• Advanced dialogue and spurred action on the global crisis on water during a symposium focused on fostering Middle East peace through water desalination. As a result, the Institute produced “Running Dry,” a documentary film being shown to international audiences in hopes of building awareness and stimulating activity on the issue.

Support for the Institute
As part of the Opportunity Through Excellence Campaign for Southern, an unprecedented $100 million effort through the SIU Foundation, the Institute seeks to raise $3 million for the following purposes:

Commitment to Academic Excellence
$2.5 million

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute will create a special endowment for visiting professors. The endowment will allow leaders in government, politics, business, foreign and domestic policy, social sciences, journalism, entertainment, and other fields to spend a week or a month on campus, providing invaluable inspiration for diverse audiences.

Commitment to Students
$500,000

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute will select students from a wide variety of majors to participate in summer or semester internship programs in Springfield or Washington, D.C. The Institute will partner with the state legislature, members of Congress, and others so that students can get hands-on experience with the inner workings of state and national government.