SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

http://www.spa.ucla.edu

The School of Public Affairs educates at the highest level of excellence the next generation of practitioners and academic researchers in the problem-solving professions'public policy, social welfare, and urban planning. The school provides relevant lifelong education in the form of executive education, career training, technical assistance, and public pedagogy. The school also produces outstanding basic and applied policy and practice research and provides balanced and timely policy advice to policymakers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Departments

The school combines three academic departments--Public Policy, 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, engaging people locally, nationally, and internationally.

Degrees and Programs

The school offers the following degrees, in addition to undergraduate minors in Public Affairs and in Urban and Regional Studies:

Public Policy (M.P.P.)

Social Welfare (M.S.W., Ph.D.)

Urban Planning (M.A., Ph.D.)

Concurrent Degree Programs

The school offers 10 concurrent degree programs:

Public Policy M.P.P./Law J.D.

Public Policy M.P.P./Management M.B.A.

Public Policy M.P.P./Social Welfare M.S.W.

Social Welfare M.S.W./Asian American Studies M.A.

Social Welfare M.S.W./Law J.D.

Social Welfare M.S.W./Public Health M.P.H.

Urban Planning M.A./Architecture M.Arch. I.

Urban Planning M.A./Latin American Studies M.A.

Urban Planning M.A./Law J.D.

Urban Planning M.A./Management M.B.A.

Obtain brochures about the school's programs from the department offices, 3357 Public Affairs Building.

The school also offers a wide array of undergraduate courses in public policy, social welfare, and urban planning. Enrollment in these courses is open to all undergraduate students.

Admission

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 Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees at http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/library/pgmrqintro.htm.

For information on the proficiency in English requirements for international graduate students, see Graduate Admission in the Graduate Study section of this catalog.

Degree Requirements

Requirements to fulfill each degree objective vary according to the degree and the department. For complete degree requirements, see Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees at http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/library/pgmrqintro.htm.

Research Centers

The school houses a number of research centers where faculty members 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.

Center for Civil Society

The Center for Civil Society (CCS) is the focal point for the school's programs and activities in nonprofit leadership and management, community organizations and advocacy, international nongovernmental organizations, and philanthropy. The center coordinates teaching of nonprofit and civil society aspects, conducts research, convenes meetings and seminars, offers executive education, and contributes to a policy dialogue about the current and future role of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and civil society. See http://www.spa.ucla.edu/ccs/.

Center for Globalization and Policy Research

The Center for Globalization and Policy Research acts as a focal point in the School of Public Affairs 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.spa.ucla.edu/cgpr/.

Center for Health Policy Research

Jointly sponsored by the School of Public Affairs 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, healthcare 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.spa.ucla.edu/cistcp/.

Center for Policy Research on Aging

The Center for Policy Research on Aging (CPRA) 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.spa.ucla.edu/cpra/.

Institute of Transportation Studies

The UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), one of the leading transportation policy research centers in the U.S., was created in 1993 to conduct research and provide professional education on the social, economic, environmental, and cultural aspects of transportation policy. Each year ITS faculty members, students, and research staff collaborate on a wide array of transportation policy and planning studies, ranging from an analysis of the travel trends and transportation needs of immigrants and low-income workers to the testing and evaluation of innovative fare programs to increase public transit use. See http://www.its.ucla.edu.

Ralph and Goldy 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 topics such as welfare reform, immigration, the environment, health insurance, labor and employment, and transportation. See http://lewis.spa.ucla.edu/index5.cfm.

UCLA Policy Forum

The UCLA Policy Forum bridges the academic mission of the school with the worlds of government, nonprofits, and business--in the Los Angeles region, nationally, and internationally. It serves as the school's principal outreach program by sponsoring speakers, events, and visiting fellows. Guest speakers have included former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, and Jack Kemp, former U.S. Congressman and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The forum also provides planning and analytical services customized to meet the needs of public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private firms. Services include data analysis and presentation, mapping analysis, website development, information system design, training, and conferences. The team brings to its projects an understanding of the underlying policy and planning issues that affect Los Angeles and Southern California with long-standing commitment to the topics of economic development, housing, homelessness, the environment, and community development. Key projects include Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles (NKLA), Living Independently in Los Angeles Partnership Project with the Westside Center for Independent Living (LILA), and Neighborhood Knowledge California (NKCA). See http://www.spa.ucla.edu/policyforum/.