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| Established | 2008 |
|---|---|
Academic affiliation | University of Calgary |
| Director | Martha Hall Findlay |
| Location | Calgary , Alberta , Canada |
| Website | http://www.policyschool.ca |
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The School of Public Policy is an institute at the University of Calgary located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 2008, The school is devoted to public policy research and education, and is led by Martha Hall Findlay. Located at the University of Calgary’s downtown campus, it is home to over 60 full-time or part-time faculty and fellows. The school is organized into four policy areas: Social Policy and Health, Fiscal and Economic Policy, Energy and Environmental Policy, and International Policy and Trade. The school offers two master's degrees, a Master of Public Policy (MPP) and a Master of Science (MSc) in Sustainable Energy Development. SPP also offers ongoing education to policy professionals and stakeholders through two Applied Policy Outreach Centres: the Extractive Resource Governance Program (ERGP) and the Simpson Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy.
History and Evolution
The School of Public Policy was founded in January 2008 as The School of Policy Studies[1] when economist Jack Mintz left the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto to become Palmer Chair in Public Policy at the University of Calgary. The chair was established through a gift of $4 million from James S. Palmer and Barbara A. Palmer intended to create a school for policy studies at the University of Calgary.
From its inception, the School of Public Policy was designed as an interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach institute that would draw on expertise from academics across the University of Calgary and beyond. At the university this has included academic staff from the University of Calgary Faculty of Arts, Kinesiology, University of Calgary Faculty of Law and University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine as well as the Cumming School of Medicine.
Within these larger units, the SPP has partnered with and seconded faculty from the departments of Community Health Sciences, Economics, Political Science, and the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. With a strong focus on outreach the school has appointed Research and Executive Fellows from private, non-governmental, regulatory, and policy organizations across Canada. These affiliated individuals publish and speak on a broad range of academic and applied forums, including the School’s own publication series which aims to offer timely, relevant, pragmatic, and peer-reviewed contributions on topics that policy stakeholders and the public are most concerned with.
The school was formally launched on May 13, 2009, at an opening dinner[2] during which former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered a keynote address. Celebrating its first decade in 2019, the School host the annual James S. Palmer Lecture, with alumni speakers including The Atlantic journalist Anne Applebaum, legal scholar Richard Pildes, Nobel Prize winner Esther Duflo, strategist David Frum, and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Research
The School’s research is organized into four policy areas: Social Policy and Health, Fiscal and Economic Policy, Energy and Environmental Policy, and International Policy and Trade. Each area consists of underlying programs devoted to more specific policy areas. Research projects are guided and approved by a Research Committee.
| Research Area | Research stream |
|---|---|
| International Policy & Trade |
Foreign Policy Defence Policy Information in a Digital Age |
| Social & Health Policy |
Homelessness and poverty Disability Caregiver supports; Primary care Pharmaceuticals Federalism Refugee and Asylum Policy |
| Energy & Environmental Policy |
Emissions and Climate Policy Northern Corridor Energy Markets and Regulation Industrial Policy and Innovation Energy and Electricity Policy Infrastructure Policy Indigenous issues Energy Transitions |
| Financial & Economic Policy |
Tax Redistribution EDI in the economy and policy Urban Policy Municipal amalgamation Citizen Engagement Revitalization Space Making |
The School follows a strict model for academic objectivity. All research is requested by an independent research committee made up of academics at The School. Then, research is reviewed by two anonymous peer reviewers. Research is then edited and subjected to a final objectivity and quality review by an independent academic area director.[3]
Research output
The school maintains its own peer-reviewed publication series. Papers focus on current public policy issues and are written by both internal and external authors. The publication series includes three different types of papers: Communiqués, Research Papers and Technical Papers. In the 2023 calendar year, the school produced 52 publications and since 2011, over 700 papers have been published.
Degrees
In September 2011, the school began offering its graduate degree program, the Master of Public Policy (MPP). The MPP is structured as a one-year program with three semesters. The first two semesters involve classroom study whereas in the final semester, students work on a capstone project for a sponsoring organization from the private or public sector. The school admits between 30 and 40 students to the program each year, including international students.
Core courses in the MPP are taught out of the school’s classroom space at the University of Calgary’s Downtown Campus with some elective courses taught at the university’s main campus. The school offers a joint Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Public Policy (MPP) program. This program is run by both the school and the Haskayne School of Business. A joint Juris Doctor, Master of Public Policy program is also offered.
Conservatism
Some commentators have argued that the School functions as a publicly funded conservative lobby group.[4]
Key people
- David Bercuson
- Martha Hall Findlay, who is currently president and CEO of the Canada West Foundation,[5]
References
- ↑ "School of Policy Studies | University of Calgary". www.ucalgary.ca. Archived from the original on 2008-03-20.
- ↑ "Condoleezza Rice gets warm reception at Calgary speech | CBC News".
- ↑ "School of Public Policy". policyschool.ucalgary.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-01-09.
- ↑ Climenhaga, David (November 13, 2015). "If We'd been Paying Attention, Perhaps We Wouldn't be so Shocked by the U of C'S Corporate-Influence Scandal". Alberta Politics. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- ↑ Duggan, Kyle (8 September 2016). "Martha Hall Findlay to head up Canada West Foundation". iPolitics. Archived from the original on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.