Urban Affairs and Public Policy (MA)

Program Educational Goals:

M.A. in Urban Affairs & Public Policy (UAPP) Program Educational Goals

The fundamental learning goals of the M.A. UAPP program are the development of skills in critical thinking, concept integration, rigorous examination of the conditions of society, articulation of the consequences and implications of changes to public policy, and effective communication of findings to the policy world.

Learning goals:

Graduates of the MA program in Urban Affairs & Public Policy will be able to:

Apply critical thinking to understand the issues of urban society;
Engage with the communities that comprise urban society;
Integrate concepts from multiple disciplines in relation to urban society and policy;
Rigorously examine the conditions of urban society;
Articulate the consequences and the implications for changes to public policy to policy makers and to the public;
Effectively communicate the results of their work to communities and to the policy world.

Program Policy Document:

Please see the Program Policy Document for more information.

Requirements for the Degree:

Students must complete 36 credit hours of graduate work. All students are required to attain a grade of B- or better in all courses counted towards the degree. In accordance with University policy, students must also maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0.

Core:

24 credits.

UAPP 613 - Planning Theory and Urban Policy Credit(s): 3
UAPP 649 - Civil Rights Law and Policy Credit(s): 3
UAPP 691 - Quantitative Analysis in Public and Nonprofit Sectors Credit(s): 3
UAPP 693 - Economics in Public & Nonprofit Sectors Credit(s): 3
UAPP 701 - Public Policymaking Credit(s): 3
UAPP 702 - Research Methods in Urban and Public Policy Credit(s): 3
UAPP 703 - Urban Society and Public Policy Credit(s): 3
UAPP 707 - Public Policy Analysis Credit(s): 3

Area of Research:

Student take six credits of coursework in their area of interest. Faculty will pre-define several areas that the School has strength in, but students are also free to develop their own area of focus with the advice and consent of their academic advisor.

Thesis:

Under circumstances deemed appropriate for the student, with approval of the student’s advisor and the appropriate program committee director, a thesis (6-credits) must be submitted as a capstone project. The thesis is to be written under the supervision of a three-person faculty committee chaired by the student’s principal advisor and defended in an oral examination before this three-person faculty committee. The thesis committee should provide guidance throughout the process of topic selection, research, writing, and evaluation. Successful oral defense of the thesis, as certified by the student’s advisor to the M.A. program director enables a recommendation to be made that the Master of Arts degree be conferred upon the student. General guidelines and regulations governing the format, development, and presentation of the thesis must conform to the University requirements reflected in the Graduate College Thesis Manual.

UAPP 869 - Master’s Thesis Credit(s): 1-6

Historic Preservation Certificate Student Requirements:

Students enrolled in the Historic Preservation Certificate will replace the Area of Research and the Thesis requirements with the following 12 credits:

UAPP 629 - Historic Preservation Theory and Practice Credit(s): 3
UAPP 630 - Methods in Historic Preservation Credit(s): 3
UAPP 700 - Certificate Capstone Studio Credit(s): 3
Three (3) credits of electives drawn from the approved list for the Historic Preservation Certificate .

Urban Data Science Certificate Student Requirements:

Students enrolled in the Urban Data Science Certificate will replace the Area of Research and the Thesis requirements with the following 12 credits:

SPPA 721 - Data Science Tools for Evidence-based Policy Credit(s): 3
SPPA 722 - Machine Learning for Public Policy Credit(s): 3
UAPP 700 - Certificate Capstone Studio Credit(s): 3
Three (3) credits of electives drawn from the approved list for the Urban Data Science Certificate .