VISION: To improve the quality of decision-making and execution on matters of public concern.

MISSION: The Mission of the Department of Public Policy is to enhance both the range of ideas and knowledge about how to deal with public problems and improve the skills of those who deal with them professionally, by conducting research directed to public issues, educating public policy professionals, and partnering with public servants and the community to disseminate and apply new and existing knowledge for solving public problems.

GOALS: It is the goal of the Department of Public Policy to improve the quality of decisions made about matters of public interest through research, teaching, and service at the local, state, national and international level.

RESEARCH AIMS:

• Promote and engage the faculty’s scholarly expertise to address problems of public concern.
• Understand and improve the performance of public, non-profit, and business institutions in the United States and globally.

EDUCATIONAL AIMS:

• Enroll a talented, accomplished, and diverse group of individuals committed to careers in public service.
• Deliver a Master's-level education program that provides students with a robust set of analytic and decision-making skills that they can use to address a wide range of policy questions and that encourages students to understand policy issues from a variety of intellectual perspectives. These skills empower our graduates to tackle today's challenges as well as policy issues that emerge in the future.
• Expose undergraduate students to public policy issues and teach them basic analytic tools.
• Develop professionals who will take on leadership roles in public, non- profit, and private institutions.
• Assist students in obtaining advanced professional positions in public, non-profit, and private organization.

SERVICE AIMS:

• Collaborate with members of the greater applied research community to analyze and develop effective solutions to important public policy questions.
• Collaborate with the governmental, non-profit, and business communities to enhance the availability of skilled professionals and to address specific public policy problems.
• Collaborate with colleagues at UCLA and in the University of California system to ensure adherence to the highest standards of personnel recruitment and institutional performance.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AIMS: The Department commits to maintain a self-reflective organizational environment engaged in ongoing evaluation, assessment, and improvement.