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School of Public and Environmental AffairsAbout SPEA About SPEAThe School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) is a professional school dedicated to applied, interdisciplinary learning combining the study of public affairs and environmental sciences. The interests of the faculty and professional staff typically fall into one or more of the following areas: criminal justice The school’s faculty, staff, and students work individually and jointly to solve problems that require SPEA’s unique combination of in-depth knowledge in the natural, behavioral, social, and administrative sciences. SPEA, because of its broad program base, offers scientific and technical assistance to Indiana communities from any of the eight Indiana University campuses. The School maintains a wide network of relations with a large number of public agencies at all levels of government. The degree programs offered by the School of Public and Environmental Affairs range from the associate degree, offered primarily on the regional campuses, to the Ph.D. The school offers four professional master’s degrees for individuals interested in achieving leadership positions in public, private, and voluntary organizations: Master of Public Affairs (M.P.A.) The M.P.A. is a professional degree structured around concepts and skills essential to public management, policy, and planning activities in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. The M.S.E.S. provides students with a strong background in environmental sciences while emphasizing the applied aspects of environmental research and management. The M.H.A. provides a broad, balanced foundation of theoretical and practical knowledge and technical skills needed to succeed in health administration and health policy and planning. The M.Pl. is a professional degree that prepares students to address social, physical, and economic problems in a systematic and creative way. Additionally, SPEA’s master’s degrees may be pursued in combination with degrees in law, nursing, library science, biology, information science, journalism, geological sciences, Central Eurasian Studies, and Russian and East European Studies. At the doctoral level, SPEA offers: The Ph.D. in public policy is jointly delivered with the Department of Political Science. The Ph.D. in environmental science is delivered by SPEA with the cooperation of the departments of biology, chemistry, geography, geological sciences, and others. SPEA Alumni Association Alpha Phi Sigma Indiana Health Student Association Pi Alpha Alpha SPEA graduate students can qualify for membership by being in the top 20 percent of their M.H.A., M.P.A., M.Pl., or M.S.E.S. class, with a minimum overall grade point average of 3.5, a 3.7 in at least 50 percent of all required courses, and by having completed 50 percent of the required course work (i.e., 24 to 30 credit hours). Doctoral students who have successfully passed their qualifying examinations are eligible. Alumni are eligible if they meet all the requirements of student membership but graduate before induction by the Indiana chapter. Any full-time faculty member of a NASPAA-member institution that offers course work in a public affairs or administration degree program and at which a Pi Alpha Alpha chapter is located is eligible for membership. Honorary membership is available to any person who has achieved distinction in public administration and who has the qualities that Pi Alpha Alpha fosters. SPEA Centers, Institutes, Programs, and ServicesThe School of Public and Environmental Affairs encompasses public service activities that complement innovative academic programs. The school provides a wide variety of services to an equally broad range of federal, state, and local agencies. The Bowen Research Center, based in Indianapolis, is a joint effort of the Department of Family Medicine, the IU School of Medicine, and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Named for Governor Otis Bowen, M.D., the former director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Bowen Research Center is the university’s leader in health policy and health services research. The Center’s multimillion-dollar research program provides important research opportunities for faculty, staff, and students. The Center’s research focuses on primary health care service among rural and underserved populations and promotes health, disease prevention, and reduction of the untimely loss of life through research on lifestyle changes. The Center also develops methods to control health care costs and improve the effectiveness, efficiency, humaneness, and appropriateness of health services. The Bowen Research Center can be reached at (317) 278-0312 or www.bowenresearchcenter.iupui.edu. The Business–SPEA Library is a Bloomington branch of the Indiana University Libraries system. It fulfills the research and study needs of the School of Business and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The library has extensive electronic and traditional resources. Detailed information about the Business–SPEA Library can be found at its Web site at www.indiana.edu/~bslib/index.html. The Community Research Institute (CRI), located on the Fort Wayne campus, provides research and assistance for the economic, social, and public sector development of northeast Indiana. Additional information about CRI can be found at www.ipfw.edu/cri/cri.htm. The goals of the Environmental Science Research Center are to promote excellence in environmental science research and to foster increased interdisciplinary collaboration among environmental science faculty on the Indiana University Bloomington campus. The center has no degree programs. The Center can be listed as an affiliation of the associated faculty in publications and in correspondence. In this way, the visibility of the environmental sciences at IU Bloomington will be enhanced. Activities of the center include seminars, discussion groups, proposal preparation workshops, etc. The center director is Distinguished Professor Ronald A. Hites. The Executive Education Program is one of the most prestigious leadership programs in the nation. Offered through the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, the Executive Education program works with the government, nonprofit agencies, and the private sector to prepare leaders and managers to meet today’s challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s opportunities. The Executive Education Program offers graduate-level programs at four sites nationally— Washington, D.C.; Seattle, Washington; Indianapolis, Indiana, for the United States Navy; and Louisville, Kentucky, for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Graduate programs include the Master of Public Affairs (M.P.A.), the Public Management Certificate, and the Environmental Management Certificate. The Executive Education Program has formed a partnership with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Together, they have created two institutes to challenge and educate transportation managers and leaders. The National Transportation Management Institute and the Graduate Leadership/Management Institute are two of the most influential programs for transportation management. The Executive Education Program’s partnership with the Indiana Hospital and Health Association (IHHA) created a 10-course management institute for health care officials in Indiana to help them lead their organizations through the continually changing health care industry. SPEA’s Executive Education Program also offers customized leadership and management programs for local and national clients. The Great Lakes Center for Public Affairs and Administration is a unit of the Division of Public and Environmental Affairs on the IU Northwest campus. The center conducts research and provides technical services to units of government and other institutions in northwest Indiana. The center also focuses on issues in public affairs and administration in the Great Lakes region. The Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute (ICRI) has a three-fold mission: teaching, research, and service in conflict resolution and dispute resolution processes. ICRI’s teaching mission includes the development of undergraduate, graduate, continuing education, and executive education curricula to foster a deeper understanding and broader use of dispute resolution processes such as mediation facilitation, early neutral evaluation, ombudsman programs, arbitration, partnering, and related consensus-based processes. Its research mission includes evaluation of dispute resolution processes and programs in public and nonprofit organizations, with the goal of contributing to continuous improvement in both the processes, and our knowledge of their impact on participants and organizations. ICRI’s service mission is to provide information and technical assistance regarding dispute resolution for the state of Indiana. Additional information about ICRI can be found at www.spea.indiana.edu/icri. The Institute for Development Strategies, co-sponsored by the Office of Research and the University Graduate School and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, is a university-wide research program linking faculty resources from various departments and campuses. The institute examines research-related problems in the field of regional economic development at state, national, and international levels. It focuses on mobilization of regional resources for development and conducts research on the causes and consequences of regional change. Additional information can be found at www.spea.indiana.edu/ids. The Institute for Family and Social Responsibility (FASR) is a joint effort of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the School of Social Work, with its focus on social policy research and outreach activities. The institute’s mission is to bring together the resources of citizens, governments, communities, and Indiana University to better the lives of children and families. Ongoing research projects examine the impacts of welfare reforms, the adequacy of child support guidelines, community responses to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families legislation, and AIDS education for incarcerated youth. The institute serves as the National Child Support Enforcement Research Clearinghouse. It also administers a university-wide competitive student internship program in collaboration with the Indiana Family Social Services Administration. Further information concerning FASR can be found at www.spea.indiana.edu/fasr/. The Institute for the Study of Government and the Nonprofit Sector is a joint initiative of Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment, and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The purpose of the institute is to support intellectual exchange between faculty members, stimulate extramural support for faculty research, and engage students and returning practitioners in a discussion of issues involving the intersection of government and the nonprofit sector. The mission of the institute is to create and disseminate knowledge about complex linkages between government and the nonprofit sector and to develop specialized faculty expertise. The institute strives to be the preeminent national and international resource on matters related to government and the non-profit sector. The institute can be reached on the Web at isgns.spea.iupui.edu The Midwestern Regional Center for Global Environmental Change, located on the Bloomington campus, is one of six regional centers of the National Institute for Global Environmental Change. The Midwest Center, together with the other five centers, provides research support to the U.S. Department of Energy in the field of global environmental change. The other regional centers are located at Harvard University, Tulane University, the University of Alabama, the University of California, and the University of Nebraska. The center supports the mission of the National Institute for Global Environmental Change by participating in a variety of research activities that focus on energy policy issues, development of early warning systems for energy-related changes, analysis of energy-related environmental risks, training of environmental scientists, and preparation of public education programs on global warming. Additional information can be found at www.indiana.edu/~speagis/mwnigec/mwnigec.html. The Center for Urban Policy and the Environment brings analyses and decision facilitation competencies to complex societal problems, especially in central Indiana. Foundations, governments, nonprofit organizations, and businesses have supported center projects. Affiliated faculty from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis and other universities, professional staff of the center, and graduate assistants commonly form teams for projects. Illustrative clients who have engaged the center in recent projects include the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, the State of Indiana, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, the City of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, and the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. The Center is evaluating implementation of the charitable choice provisions of the welfare reform act with an award from the Ford Foundation. The Lilly Endowment has provided an award of general support to the center that is funding extensive analyses of investments by households, businesses, governments, and nonprofits in central Indiana. Center for Urban Policy and the Environment Contact The Transportation Research Center was established to coordinate and facilitate the transportation research activities of SPEA. The center’s expertise lies in the areas of transportation safety and local programs to increase compliance with Indiana traffic safety laws and to reduce alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse and gambling addiction. The center uses a staff of professional researchers in performing research projects for federal, state, and local government agencies. Placement and Internship OfficeThe Bloomington-based Placement and Internship Office provides a wide range of career and internship services. Students can take a career planning class and a workshop on career choices, as well as get help with job search strategies, obtain an alumni mentor, prepare an automated resume, include resumes in an electronic resume book available to hundreds of employers, see publications of job and internship opportunities, and receive individual career counseling. The Placement and Internship Office also has a user-friendly library containing extensive employer and job search information. The office helps students contact employers through on-campus interviews, receptions in Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis, local and regional job fairs, and an active alumni support group. An experiential component is required in both the undergraduate and graduate program, and most students fulfill that requirement with an internship. Internships offer students the opportunity to apply classroom theory and techniques to real-life experiences. They are one of the best ways students have to “test drive” a prospective career, network with professionals in the field, and get hands-on experience that will ultimately facilitate their job search. The Placement and Internship Office administers the internship program and helps students identify internship opportunities. Faculty also participate by helping to identify opportunities, and they are responsible for approving all internships. The internship can be full or part time, paid or unpaid, credit or noncredit, but must always have an advisor’s prior approval. Visit us on the Web at www.indiana.edu/~speacare. Students on any of the Indiana University campuses may seek assistance from the Placement and Internship Office located on the Bloomington campus: Bloomington Campus For answers to specific questions on other campuses, students may contact: Indianapolis Campus Fort Wayne Campus Northwest Campus South Bend Campus
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Last updated: 21 November 2024 10 11 27
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