Note from Emily: It’s a new semester, which means we have new program assistants with us in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. For those of you who spent the last year with Julia, Kier, Dylan, Samantha, and Niara, fret not — they’re all employed and working on exciting things around the world. Maybe you’ll see them at a SIPA recruiting or alumni event.

Until then, please meet the first of our new program assistants, Stuart Caudill. Our other new PAs – George-Ann Ryan, Nabila Hassan, and Steven Reid – will introduce themselves the rest of this week.

Stuart is a second-year MIA student concentrating in International Security Policy and specializing in Technology, Media, and Communications. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2013 with a B.S. in International Relations and Arabic. After graduating from West Point, Stuart served as a U.S. Army intelligence officer for over five years. After SIPA, Stuart plans to pursue a career in cybersecurity.

What were you doing before you came to SIPA?

After graduating from West Point, I spent over five years leading intelligence operations for the U.S. Army. I served as an intelligence officer for a Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan, led intelligence soldiers providing direct support to the initial operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and coordinated offensive cyber operations in support of U.S. Cyber Command. These experiences sparked my interest in cyber policy and led to my desire to pursue graduate study in international affairs.

What attracted you to SIPA and Columbia University?

First, I was drawn to the interdisciplinary and flexible MIA curriculum, especially the ISP concentration that benefits from the significant number of political science faculty focused on security issues.

Second, I was particularly attracted to SIPA’s increasing focus on the intersection of technology and policy, with its Tech & Policy @ SIPA initiative and other efforts.

Third, I wanted to have access to the resources of a large, top-tier university. The opportunity to take courses across almost all of the schools and departments at Columbia is an incredible benefit for SIPA students.

Lastly, I had always wanted to live in New York City. Columbia students have access to world-class museums, theater, restaurants, and nightlife that in my opinion is unmatched by any other city.

Is there a particular SIPA experience that stands out?

In November 2018, I competed in the New York Cyber 9/12 strategy competition sponsored by the Atlantic Council. The competition is held at SIPA every year and is organized by the student Digital and Cyber Group. The competition drew almost 30 teams from top universities, and the program also included speakers and demonstrations by a wide variety of people working in the cybersecurity industry and in government. This included speakers from the Department of Homeland Security, Morgan Stanley, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Flashpoint. The competition was a great experience, and it significantly increased my knowledge of cyber policy while also providing an opportunity to practice public speaking and presentation skills.

How did you find the core curriculum at SIPA?

The core curriculum provides a common experience (and a dose of common suffering) that really helps first-year students bond. In many of the core courses we complete problem sets and projects in small groups, and that was a great way to meet fellow students from other concentrations who I otherwise wouldn’t interact with at SIPA. I also found that the core curriculum exposed me to important aspects of public policy and international affairs that I would have otherwise overlooked. For example, the two course economics sequence gave me an in-depth understanding of international economics that has broadened my perspective, and I’ve noticed its usefulness even in daily life as I’m able to better understand current economic events when I read the newspaper. While the core curriculum is relatively quantitative, I found that the math refresher that SIPA provides during orientation really prepared me for the economics and quantitative analysis courses.

Do you feel like you have gotten to know some of the faculty members?

I definitely do! While some of the core courses are large, almost all of my other courses have been small seminars. Even in my large core courses, the professors had extensive office hours to meet with students. I’ve also met faculty members at a lot of events such as networking happy hours and concentration-specific retreats. The International Security Policy concentration, for example, goes on a weekend retreat to a park outside New York City every fall and several professors, including Dr. Richard Betts, attend every year to get to know students. This year I’m also working as a research assistant for a professor, and that’s a great opportunity to work with faculty members closely and get involved in research projects relevant to your specific interests.

What advice do you have for current applicants?

One of the most useful things I did when I was applying was to make a proposed class schedule. I put all of the mandatory courses on a spreadsheet and then filled in the electives I wanted to take from the course listings available on the SIPA website. This is a great way to compare different schools you may be considering. You’ll be able to get a holistic view of what your graduate program will be like and what specific skills you’ll develop. This is also really helpful as you write your statement of purpose as you’ll be able to explain in more detail why SIPA is the right fit for you.