Grad’s research driven by kids’ COVID-19 schooling

When the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic moved many schools across the country to close their doors, Corbyn Baggett, a recent UNMC graduate, assumed a demanding parent-teacher role almost overnight.

For Baggett, these duties included advocating for the educational needs of her youngest son, who has Down syndrome. It was “an overwhelming experience that shaped how I look at policy and its implementation,” said Baggett, who earned a Master of Public Health in Public Health Administration and Policy from the UNMC College of Public Health in December.

“I decided to look at special education policy and Medicaid Children’s Health Insurance Program policy (as they pay for the services provided) empirically, to see how other special education students were impacted,” she said of the inspiration for her capstone, titled “The Merit of Inclusion: A Policy Review Examining the Convergence of Special Education and Inclusions Policies with Compensatory Medicaid Policies in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

“The research is new, but ultimately, I found that because of how these policies are written, interpreted and executed, they served as a determinant for special education students,” she said.

Like 63% of students in the College of Public Health, Baggett completed her degree entirely online. This allowed her family to move during the program from North Carolina to Georgia to Hawaii, where they currently reside.

Even with the busy schedule of a mom and online graduate student, Baggett earned academic honors with distinction. Upon learning of her achievement, she said, her children and their friends excitedly danced around to Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time.”

Rachel Lookadoo, JD, an assistant professor in the College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, taught Public Health Law — one of the Baggett’s favorite UNMC courses. Lookadoo said she admired Baggett’s ability to be “fully invested” in her education while simultaneously serving her children.

“I was always amazed at how engaged she was during my course, all while balancing the demands of work-life and being a mother. … I have no doubt that her curiosity and quest for a deeper understanding will serve her well in her public health career,” Lookadoo said.

Before graduating, Baggett accepted a position at the Hawaii Department of Health as a Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resiliency Program Management Specialist in the Department of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Her advice for future UNMC graduates reflected her own apparent tenacity: “Be bold in this adventure and never forget how far you’ve come.”