Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, often referred to as the Ford School, is a leading public policy school in the United States. Founded in 1914 as the Institute of Public Administration, it was named in 1999 after former U.S. President Gerald Ford, who is a 1935 graduate of the University of Michigan.
The Ford School offers wide-ranged research in public policy and is known for its strong quantitative capability. The school runs dual degree programs with the University of Michigan Law School, Ross School of Business, School of Information, School of Social Work, and School of Public Health, as well as the Departments of Economics and Political Science.
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[edit] History
The Ford School was founded in 1914 as the Institute for Public Administration. Consequently, it is the oldest public policy institution in the United States. It was part of the Progressive Era movement for clean government and well-trained professional civil servants. For the first half-century of its existence, the institute focused on training individuals who would serve in state and local government in the United States.
In the mid-1960s, academic work in the social sciences suggested that the analytic methods of the social sciences could be usefully applied to the understanding of public concerns. The institute, which was renamed the Institute for Public Policy Studies, redesigned its curriculum to include rigorous training in the social sciences, particularly quantitative analysis of economic, political, and organizational questions. The focus of faculty research and student training moved to national and international issues.
The University of Michigan established the institute as the School of Public Policy in 1995. Since achieving this status, the school has been expanding. In 1999, the school was officially named for Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States and a University of Michigan alumnus.
As of fall 2006, the Joan and Sanford Weill Hall became the new permanent home of the Ford School. The Weill family donated $8 million, $5 million for construction of a new $35 million building (dedicated on October of 13th of 2006), which houses classrooms, offices, and meeting space for students, faculty and staff, and $3 million to endow the position of dean of the School. The five-story structure, designed by Robert A. M. Stern, houses several research centers, a policy library, and study areas for students. At the same time, the school has begun admitting junior-level undergraduate students for two-year programs for public policy majors.
[edit] Programs of study
Three graduate degrees are currently offered:
- Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.)
- Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.)
- Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Social Science (Ph.D.)
The doctoral program is conducted jointly with the economics, sociology, or political science department. The MPP program is the largest of the three, and is generally completed in two years. The Ford School has developed dual degrees with many professional programs, which enables students to complete work on two degrees simultaneously. The most common dual degree programs include coursework in business, education, information, law, natural resources and the environment, public health, Russian and Eastern European studies, social work, or urban and regional planning.
The curriculum emphasizes analytic methods, management, and ethics. Grounded in these key areas, students specialize in a wide range of policy fields from domestic social policy and international trade to nonprofit management. Students are encouraged to participate in interdisciplinary work by incorporating graduate courses from other schools at the university. Most students choose a particular area on which to focus, generally from: U.S. Social Policy, Economics, International Development & Politics, Public & Nonprofit Management, Politics of Policymaking, or Methodologies of Policy Analysis.
Several members of the school's faculty have joint appointments in other departments, and there are visiting professors from around the U.S. and other countries. The Ford School also has a Diplomat in Residence program to provide students with firsthand access to information about the U.S. State Department.
The school is scheduled to begin an undergraduate program in Fall 2007 that will award a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in public policy. The two-year program of study will admit 50 students with junior standing into its first class.
[edit] Opportunities
The Ford School is home to or co-sponsor of a number of multi-disciplinary research centers that focus on policy concerns including:
- CLOSUP (Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy)
- International Policy Center
- National Poverty Center
- Nonprofit and Public Management Center
- Research and Training Program on Poverty & Public Policy
- Michigan Program on Poverty & Social Welfare Policy
A key component of the MPP course of study is hands-on experience, which takes the form of a required ten-week internship.
Students also have opportunities for specialized study and travel during the academic year. Currently, there are four courses which allow students to gain practical experience with policymaking and/or international exposure:
- Applied Policy Seminar - A semester-long course in which students are assigned to real-world projects for local governments, often requiring assessment of costs/benefits and implications of a policy change.
- Integrated Policy Exercise - A week-long, school-wide simulation addressing either a local or international issue.
- Distance Learning Project for Quantitative Social Science - A year-long course that trains students in social science techniques for policymaking and partners them with social scientists in South Africa via the web and a country trip in the winter term.
- International Economic Development Program - A semester-long course in which students, in conjunction with a faculty member, study the economic, political, and social development of a developing country, culminating in a visit over the winter break.
[edit] Gallery
 Joan Sanford and Weill Hall, the new home of the Ford School |
[edit] External links
| The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
