About us

Our vision

The School of Public Administration develops creative thinkers and professionals who contribute a positive impact on the different orders of government, nonprofit organizations, and communities in British Columbia, in Canada and around the world.

We work across disciplines and through our research, teaching, and engagement. We contribute to collective action and democratic governance for a healthier and more sustainable world.

Our mission

Teaching

We are dedicated to the training of public sector and community leaders. We build on our values, research and interdisciplinary expertise to offer high quality education to our students.

Our students can navigate complex settings. They are capable of assessing whether and how programs and policies add value to society in a way that respects the broader public interest and ethics of their profession.

We prepare our students to work with diverse parties in a challenging and rapidly evolving environment. We train inquisitive students to strategically speak truth to power with ethics and integrity. We offer transformative learning, knowledge and experience.

Contribution to knowledge

We contribute to cutting edge knowledge and are a resource to communities and to all orders of government.

Our faculty members, who have different disciplinary backgrounds, are engaged in applied research relevant for analyzing and solving challenges of policy, management, government and community.

We are committed to a mutually supportive research culture and knowledge mobilization that includes collaboration with a broad range including students, other universities and practitioners.

Engagement

As engaged scholars, we develop and offer creative and even disruptive knowledge to better serve society. We work with communities, governments, and the nonprofit sector to advance connections, relationships, and meaningful action.

We like to work on important contemporary challenges with diverse partners and beyond disciplinary boundaries. We value reciprocity in our work.

Our values

Integrity

We value all beings and the land, reciprocity, democracy, fairness, openness, honesty, accessibility, participation, accountability and transparency.

Engaged and courageous scholarship

We value transformative and disruptive thinking, innovation, creativity, social justice, interdisciplinarity and collaboration.

Sustainability

We value the building of healthy and sustainable communities and societies where each person has access to an environment that will support and sustain health and biodiversity.

Inclusivity

We value human rights, equity, and diversity, and a respectful and inclusive work, research and teaching environment. Our work is grounded in the values of listening and honouring Indigenous cultures, knowledge and perspectives. We value different knowledge systems and ways of being.