SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH
UCLA
3250 Public Policy Building
Box 951656
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656
(310) 206-7568
http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu
Established in 1994, the School of Public Policy and Social Research is a leader in redefining policy education, research, and outreach to solve major problems in an era defined by rapid change, increasing complexity, and remarkable diversity. The school's distinctive approach emphasizes solving problems across boundaries, particularly at the growing intersection of the public, private, and nongovernmental sectors.
The school combines three academic departments--Policy Studies, Social Welfare, and Urban Planning--and faculty members from such diverse disciplines as economics, geography, history, law, management, and political science. The school trains policy professionals, planners, and social workers for public, private, and nongovernment service, conducts research on significant regional, national, and international issues with a strong interdisciplinary and cross-cultural focus, and acts as a convener and catalyst for public dialogue on important issues.
School of Public Policy and Social Research graduate programs lead to the following degrees:
Social Welfare (M.S.W., Ph.D.)
In addition, seven concurrent degree programs allow students to fulfill the requirements of two graduate degrees simultaneously: M.A.-Urban Planning/J.D., M.P.P./J.D., and M.S.W./J.D. with the School of Law, M.A.-Urban Planning/M.A.-Latin American Studies, M.S.W./M.A.-Asian American Studies, M.A.-Urban Planning/M.B.A. with the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, and M.A.-Urban Planning/M.Arch. I with the Department of Architecture and Urban Design. Details about these programs are in the Curricula and Courses section of this catalog. Obtain brochures about the school's programs from the Office of Academic and Student Services, 3371 Public Policy Building.
The school also offers an undergraduate minor in Public Policy and a wide array of undergraduate courses in policy studies, social welfare, and urban planning. Enrollment in these courses is open to all undergraduate students.
In addition to requiring that applicants hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree or professional title from an international institution, each department in the school has limitations and additional requirements. Individuals interested in concurrent degrees must be admitted to both programs. Detailed information can be found in the departmental listings in the Curricula and Courses section of this catalog.
For information on the proficiency in English requirements for international graduate students, refer to Graduate Admission in the Graduate Study section of this catalog.
Requirements to fulfill each degree objective vary according to the degree and the department. See the Curricula and Courses section of this catalog for introductory information and procedures. For complete degree requirements, see Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees at http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/publications.html .
The school houses 12 research centers where faculty from across the campus pursue issues of mutual interest. In addition to their focus on practical policy problems, the research centers also provide opportunities for student financial aid in the form of research assistant positions, grants, and fellowships.
California Census Research Data Center
The California Census Research Data Center is a partnership between the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the University of California. With laboratories at the School of Public Policy and Social Research and at UC Berkeley, the center fosters applied research, much of it California-specific, on a wide range of important economic and public policy issues. It provides researchers, on a project-by-project basis, with confidential data from the Census Bureau's business and household data programs. It is the first such center to be established west of Pittsburgh. See http://www.ccrdc.ucla.edu .
Center for Child and Family Policy Research
The Center for Child and Family Policy Research was established in 1984 to conduct and promote research, training, and community service programs to inform policy and develop needed programs for children and families. The center has a distinguished history of policy analysis, applied research, and program development in such areas as child abuse and neglect, income maintenance, and services for high-risk teenagers and disabled populations. Major policy research projects include a study of methods of preparing youths in foster care for emancipation and studies of social support and health care use among Korean Americans and Mexican American elderly. See http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/res_ctrs/family.htm.
Center for Communication Policy
The Center for Communication Policy was established in 1993 as a forum for the discussion and development of policy alternatives addressing the leading issues in media and communication. The center conducts and facilitates research, courses, seminars, working groups, and conferences designed to have a major impact on policy at the local, national, and international levels. The center has launched a groundbreaking new study of the social, political, and economic effects of computer technology and the Internet. Conferences include the Superhighway Summit with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Religion and Prime Time Television with the American Cinema Foundation, and an annual national media conference with Children Now and Stanford University. See http://ccp.ucla.edu.
Center for Globalization and Policy Research
The Center for Globalization and Policy Research acts as a focal point in the School of Public Policy and Social Research and in the UCLA community at large for critical investigations of global policy issues. The center serves as a clearinghouse for both individual and joint research projects and hosts public lectures and occasional conferences on globalization and its effects. The center's work focuses on five main areas of social inquiry and policy making, including the organization and structure of economic systems; processes of migration and social mobility; systems of cultural expression and conflict; the natural and built environments; and structures of governance. See http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/cgpr.
Center for Health Policy Research
Jointly sponsored by the School of Public Policy and Social Research and the School of Public Health, the Center for Health Policy Research conducts research on the national, state, and local levels, provides testimony, and conducts seminars and forums for government leaders and policymakers both public and private. Research activities emphasize a community- and population-based perspective to improve health outcomes. Current research areas and programs touch on such issues as access to health services, managed care, health care reform, women's health, disease prevention policy, cost issues, and the health policy-making process itself. See http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu.
Center for International Science, Technology, and Cultural Policy
The Center for International Science, Technology, and Cultural Policy facilitates interdisciplinary research on the influences of government policy on the development of the arts and sciences and their commercial and noncommercial expressions, including technology, the media, fashion/design, and other uses of the nation's knowledge capital. The center's mission is to improve the basis for policy decisions by conducting and supporting solid empirical research designed to examine alternative policy models, including the comparison of systems across countries as well as across substantive areas within the same country. Rigorous policy research on these topics requires discipline-based, but also interdisciplinary, research teams that are informed by social science theory. The center promotes dissemination of policy research to governments seeking to make more empirically informed policy decisions. See http://www.sppsr.
ucla.edu/res_ctrs/cistcp.cfm.
Center for Labor Research and Education
Regarded as the flagship of all U.S. labor centers, the Center for Labor Research and Education plays a unique role as a bridge between the University and the labor community. As part of the Institute of Industrial Relations, the center is a cosponsor, with the Urban Planning Department, of the Community Scholars Program--a dynamic project that brings labor and community leaders to UCLA to study economic development. The center also serves as the West Coast coordinator for the AFL-CIO's George Meany Center, providing summer residential programs for union leaders, and regularly hosts visiting trade unionists and scholars from around the world. A vital part of the center is the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program, which provides extensive resources and training in the field of workplace safety and health. See http://labor.sppsr.ucla.edu.
Center for Policy Research on Aging
The Center for Policy Research on Aging was formed to address the significant issues of an aging society through policy analysis, dissemination of information, and technical assistance to the public and private sectors. The demographic challenges of a nation growing older and living longer force us to confront the roles of government and the private sector in serving the increasing number of elderly and their families. The center's mission is to conduct research, inform policymakers, link communities to local, state, and federal governments, and foster collaboration among UCLA faculty members. See http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/res_ctrs/cpra.html.
Institute of Industrial Relations
Established by the California Legislature in 1945, the Institute of Industrial Relations conducts research and community service programs that focus on all aspects of the modern employment relationship involving workers, management, and unions. These issues run the gamut from technological change and workforce preparedness to collective bargaining and macroeconomic policy. Community service programs are directed at the Southern California region as well as the state and nation. Because of the ongoing globalization of the economy, the institute--both in research and community service-- increasingly is focusing on international issues. See http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/res_ctrs/industri.cfm.
Institute of Transportation Studies
The Institute of Transportation Studies was created in 1993 to conduct research and provide professional education on the social, economic, environmental, and cultural aspects of transportation policy. Research projects have included measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of transit performance, particularly regional rail and bus transit systems in the Los Angeles area; the development of statistically reliable methods for estimating average vehicle occupancy from sampling in the field; and the first major study comparing the transportation-related impacts of the 1994 Northridge earthquake to the damage inflicted by the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1995 Kobe earthquakes. See http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/its.
Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
The Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies was established in 1990 with a $5-million endowment from Ralph and Goldy Lewis to promote the multidisciplinary study, understanding, and solution of regional policy issues, with special reference to Southern California. Research projects include studies on the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Latinos in the U.S., welfare and work, pollution prevention policies, transportation and parking policies, work-residence relationships in restructuring metropolitan areas, and economic development strategies for local areas. With the support of several foundations, the center also has begun a major research program on ethnic and immigration issues, one product of which is the 1996 volume Ethnic Los Angeles . See http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/lewis.
North American Integration and Development Center
The North American Integration and Development Center was created to provide technical assistance to local communities affected by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The center conducts research and offers continuing education programs in cooperation with nongovernmental organizations in selected communities to support local economic development efforts and facilitate their relationship with the North American Development Bank (NADBank). The center is developing a comprehensive online database with essential information for economic development planning and makes it available to the public online through custom-designed Internet sites. See http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu.
As the chief outreach arm of the School of Public Policy and Social Research, the UCLA Policy Forum is a leader in promoting dialogue on major issues through its Center for Public Dialogue and in providing training and other programs through the Advanced Policy Institute and the Center for Executive Policy Education. Policy Forum programs include the Senior Fellows Program, in which distinguished policy practitioners are appointed to spend a year engaged in a dialogue with UCLA scholars and in mentoring graduate students. See http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/outrch/out_pf.html.
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