2013–2014 The Bulletin - USS at Tufts - Tufts University

Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning >
Use of Geographic Information Systems for
basic spatial analysis and mapping
• Communication Skills
Written, oral and graphic communication
Presentation strategies and methods
Policy and Planning in Practice—The UEP MA
program will provide the following professional
opportunities and training:
• At least 150 hours, supervised, in an
organization relevant to your interests
• Demonstrate through the Internship Agreement
and Learning Assessment that your
internship gave the opportunity for significant
learning in a field relevant to your interests and
meets at least one of your career goals
• Reflections on the role of ethics in professional
policy and planning processes, practices and
behavior
• Synthesis and application of policy and
planning content-based knowledge from
theory into practice
• Collaborative group management, problem
solving, negotiation and mediation
• Organizational management including
decision making and strategic problem solving,
human resource development, and financial
management and resource development
• Political and economic power mapping.
MASTER OF ArtS
The Master of Arts (MA) requires completion of
twelve courses plus a thesis for a total of fourteen
credits. Each semester-long course at Tufts receives
one credit. The program normally takes the
equivalent of two years of full-time study, although
it is possible to be enrolled in the program on a
part-time basis.
Degree Requirements
The requirements for the MA degree are as follows:
• Five required core courses covering theoretical
foundations of policy and planning, and the
development of relevant professional skills;
• Seven elective courses approved by student’s
advisor;
• An internship in public policy or planning;
• A master’s thesis.
Students select courses from the department’s
offerings, other Tufts departments and schools, and
Boston-area consortium universities. To receive
credit for a course, graduate students must attain a
grade of B- or better.
Core courses
A required core curriculum exposes students to
methods of policy analysis and planning and helps
them develop the competencies listed above, for
effective professional practice.
The five required core courses are:
1) Foundations of Public Policy and Planning
2) Economics for Planning and Policy Analysis
3) Quantitative Reasoning for Policy and Planning
(introductory or intermediate)
4) Field Projects: Planning and Practice
5) Cities in Space, Place and Time
Electives
In addition to the core curriculum, students choose
courses that meet their particular objectives and
provide a strong grounding in basic methods and
approaches to public policy and planning. UEP
recognizes the need for the policy and planning
specialist, the person who wants to plan for landscape,
ecological or watershed management, or
develop child and/or family or other social welfare
policies. However, UEP also recognizes the
inextricable interconnections between and across
different policy and planning areas, whether a
student’s interest is primarily environmental or
social, urban or rural, local or global. Accordingly, a
student’s choice of classes can be narrower (on the
public policy and planning challenges in one policy
or planning area) or broader (on sustainable
development which looks at these issues and their
interrelationships as a whole), depending ultimately
on the student’s goals.
At UEP, faculty and student interests and course
offerings center on the following:
• Sustainable communities
• Environmental and food justice
• Community development and housing
• Race, class, and social welfare policy
• Child and family policy
• Land use planning
• Natural resource policy and planning
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