CEU’s School of Public Policy Recruits Inaugural Class

Dec. 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Central European University’s School of Public Policy, established in September 2011, is now recruiting future leaders and change-makers from across the globe to join its inaugural Master of Public Administration class in September 2013.

Building on CEU’s rich tradition of diversity and promotion of open societies worldwide, SPP offers a two-year professional Master of Public Administration (MPA) program in a dynamic and rigorous interdisciplinary environment where ideas are not only exchanged but—more importantly—put into practice. In the words of its founder, George Soros, SPP aspires to become a “new kind of global institution dealing with global problems.”

“Our new School will promote a sense of agency and instill in our graduates what we deem a simple truth: leadership matters and so does its absence,” says SPP founding Dean Wolfgang Reinicke, who brings superb credentials to the challenging task of building a cutting-edge, policy-oriented educational institution. Reinicke, who holds a PhD in political science from Yale University, has held senior posts with the Brookings Institution, the World Bank, and is the co-founder of the Berlin-based Global Public Policy Institute.

SPP has spent its founding year developing the MPA curriculum, recruiting top-notch faculty from around the globe, forming partnerships with institutions such as the Migration Policy Institute, the Revenue Watch Institute and the Natural Resource Charter, and OSF's Global Drug Policy Program, as well as hosting events at CEU with prominent speakers.

These partnerships have laid a solid groundwork for the first class of MPA degree candidates, providing students with extraordinary opportunities to learn from professionals in the field, and to conduct policy-relevant research with experts. From fall 2013, SPP students will have the opportunity to explore the above issues, as well as regional and global governance, human security and development policy, global communication in the age of new media and technologies and other public policy challenges. They will benefit from innovative teaching and reflect on the future of open societies in an increasingly interlinked world, preparing for careers for the public good within, among others, governments, civil society organizations (whether NGOs or think tanks), consulting firms, or international organizations.

One of the hallmarks of the MPA program is the “passion project" (http://spp.ceu.hu/passion-project). Closely aligned with the mission of the School, the passion project is a two-year effort to bridge classroom and experiential learning, encourage both reflection and action, and contextualize knowledge. It involves a student-designed, policy-oriented component that culminates in a high-quality product prepared for an external client organization, a relevant summer internship, and a series of skills for impact modules embedded into the curriculum, on topics such as leadership, negotiation and decision-making, facilitation, and project management.

“We need leaders true to the ideals of public service, who are inspired by a sense of purpose beyond power,” says Obiageli Ezekwesili, who leads the Africa Economic Development Policy initiative at the Open Society Foundations and serves on SPP's advisory board. “These are the kind of graduates I expect CEU’s School of Public Policy to educate.”

SPP is recruiting students from diverse backgrounds who share a commitment to working across sectoral boundaries to effectively address and improve public policy worldwide. It seeks individuals with a passion to challenge conventional thinking with an open mind, and who are prone to creative risk-taking, even at the price of occasional failure. Successful applicants will demonstrate a first-class academic record, a strong interest in public policy, and high leadership potential.

For more information – including application procedures, available scholarships or how you can help identify exceptional students –  see http://spp.ceu.hu (https://spp.ceu.hu/). For more information on CEU, see www.ceu.hu.