Mission, Principles and Program Objectives

Mission Statement

The Department of Planning, Public Policy & Management prepares future public leaders, creates and disseminates new knowledge, and assists communities and organizations. PPPM's faculty, staff, and students seek to understand and improve economic, environmental, and social conditions through our teaching, scholarship, and public service.

Guiding Principles

In pursuing our mission, PPPM is guided by:

• dedication to the highest standards of scholarship by our students and faculty;
• informed theory and empirical evidence;
• a commitment to engage the civic community - public, private, and non-profit - in democratic processes addressing economic, environmental, and social issues;
• an eagerness to seek good ideas and approaches from around the world and test their transferability from one area of the globe to another;
• an approach that builds on the existing strengths of communities and organizations - to increase their capacity to take advantage of opportunities and respond effectively to challenges;
• an interest in work that ranges from local to regional to national to international; and
• a commitment to ecological, social, and economic sustainability.  

The objectives of the Master of Public Administration Program are to:

1. utilize a cohort structure, rigorous coursework, and extensive real world applications to prepare students for outstanding careers in government and nonprofit service.
2. promote evidence-based decision making in the government and nonprofit sectors by emphasizing an active and influential research agenda among faculty and students.
3. incorporate service to public and nonprofit agencies into the curriculum to provide a rigorous career preparation for students while serving the involved agencies. This dual purpose informs our research and benefits the region, the state, and the profession.
    

The objectives of the Master's Program in Community and Regional Planning are to:

1. prepare policy-oriented planners to assume generalist planning and planning-related positions, with emphasis on issues of significance to the Northwestern U.S. and the pacific basin region;
2. advance the state of knowledge in the field of planning by engaging in planning-related research, the results of which are shared with others through public presentations, journal articles, professional reports and meetings, and other appropriate media and fora; and
3. provide planning assistance to Oregon communities and rural areas, emphasizing the integration of planning process, methods, and theory with other substantive planning knowledge in actual applications of community and regional plan making and policy analysis.

The objective of the Bachelor's Degree Program in Planning, Public Policy & Management is to provide students with a broad professional background as well as a sound basis for graduate study in fields such as planning, public policy and management, business, law, journalism, and social welfare. In addition, graduates are prepared for entry-level positions in a variety of public service agencies and organizations.

Organizational Chart  (PDF)

Strategic Planning

Current Draft, November 2011

This page updated July 2, 2012