Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management
School of Architecture & Allied Arts

Undergraduate degree: B.A. or B.S.
Undergraduate minor

Consciously Creating Communities

Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) is concerned with the ways governments, non-profit organizations, and other institutions address public problems. It explores the environmental, economic, and social characteristics of communities and regions, and how systems of governance can be more effectively used to advance the public's collective goals.

The PPPM curriculum emphasizes problem-oriented courses, field-based learning, and interdisciplinary study. Students actively assist communities and public organizations in their quest to improve economic, social, and environmental conditions.

PPPM is highly multidisciplinary. In addition to planners and public managers, the faculty includes people with training in economics, sociology, public health, social ecology, and biology. Many of them are internationally recognized scholars. The Journal of Planning Education and Research, one of the leading scholarly publications in the planning field, has been edited in PPPM for the past four years. Moreover, many of the faculty are deeply involved in public issues across the Pacific Northwest and internationally.

The Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management offers an undergraduate major and minor, as well as a minor for students interested in a career in nonprofit administration. The objective of the undergraduate program is to provide you with a broad liberal arts 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, you will be prepared for in a variety of public service agencies and organizations.

Sample Courses

• Introduction to Planning, Public Policy and Management covers theories in planning and management relevant to the effective management of large and small organizations that deliver service to the public
• Healthy Communities focuses on historical relationships of public policy, planning, and public health; how public policies can promote health; and the relationship of planning and policies to inequalities in health outcomes
• Land Use and Growth Management covers planning in urban, rural, and connecting environments. Topics include functions, distribution, and relationships of land uses; social, economic, fiscal, physical consequences of alternative land use development patterns