Academic Information

1. Make sure you have completed the Student IT Checklist (set up your UVA email and 2-step login) before trying to log into the Student Information System (SIS).
    
2. Course selection in the Student Information System (SIS) – the SIS student FAQ webpage has directions with sample screens and a video that show you how to build a schedule as well as how to Add/Drop classes in SIS. This QUICK GUIDE to course selection may be helpful as well. Note: your courses are limited to the five core MPP courses for the fall. [review Fall 2020 MPP core course advising information for details.]
    
3. Please log into SIS by the week of June 22 and search for classes to add to the shopping cart or schedule builder. Email Kristine Nelson with any registration questions. For best results, create a favorite schedule as well as plan a back-up option or two prior to July 1.
    
4. Registration opens Wednesday, July 1 at 12:00am EDT. If you need a particular lecture or discussion section of a course, please log into SIS and enroll as soon as you are able on July 1. 

First year MPP students take the following 5 core courses:

1. LPPP 6001 Foundational Skills Workshop, 1 credit, 9 weeks – select one of the following:

• Section 001 [course number 12751] – Tuesday 3:30-4:45pm
• Section 002 [course number 12752] – Tuesday 5-6:15pm
• Section 003 [course number 12782] – Wednesday 12-1:15pm

2. LPPA 6100 Economics of Public Policy I – select one of the following combinations:

• Section 100 [12698] Mon/Wed 2-3:15pm - Discussion 101 [12699] Monday 1pm-1:50pm
• Section 100 [12698] Mon/Wed 2-3:15pm - Discussion 102 [12721] Thursday 5pm-5:50pm
• Section 200 [12694] Mon/Wed 3:30-4:45pm - Discussion 201 [12695] Monday 5-5:50pm
• Section 200 [12694] Mon/Wed 3:30-4:45pm - Discussion 202 [12722] Wednesday 2-2:50pm
  [Note: discussions are associated with a lecture, therefore discussions 101 and 102 are only open to lecture section 100, etc.]

3. LPPA 6150 Research Methods & Data Analysis I – select one of the following combinations:

• Section 100 [12700] Tu/Th 9:30-10:45am – Discussion 101 [12701] Wednesday 5-5:50pm
• Section 100 [12700] Tu/Th 9:30-10:45am – Discussion 102 [12723] Thursday 11-11:50am
• Section 200 [12696] Tu/Th 11am-12:15pm – Discussion 201 [12697] Wednesday 6-6:50pm
• Section 200 [12696] Tu/Th 11am-12:15pm – Discussion 202 [12724] Thursday 4-4:50pm
  [Note: discussions are associated with a lecture, therefore discussions 101 and 102 are only open to lecture section 100, etc.]

4. LPPP 6350 Politics of Public Policy – select one of the following:

• Section 001 [12739] Tu/Th 12:30pm-1:45pm
• Section 002 [12762] Tu/Th 2pm-3:15pm

5. LPPL 7410 Psychology for Leadership – select one of the following:

• Section 001 [19309] Monday 9am-11:30am
• Section 002 [19310] Wednesday 9am-11:30am 

MPP students who substitute test out of LPPA 6100 and/or LPPA 6150 may enroll in one or more Batten elective course(s). Please see lists of 3-credit Electives, 2-credit Policy Clinics and 1-credit Short Courses below.

FALL 2020 MPP ELECTIVES (3-credit)

LPPP 5559-001: (New course) Introduction to Global Policy Drivers from China’s Expansion
Prof Tayyab Safdar

LPPP 5559-002: Policy Design and Statecraft
Prof. Philip Zelikow
This seminar orients students to the professional world of statecraft by working through historical case studies. Breaking down critical episodes step by step, analyzing the perspectives, information, and choices of different participants, students gain more lifelike education and insight. Applying templates for policy design and assessment, they get more experience working on public problems and learning a lot of history along the way.

LPPP 5559-003: Race, Equity and Leadership
Dean Ian Solomon
This course will investigate the concepts of race and equity in American history, law, politics, policy, culture, education, and society. Students will be asked to grapple with these issues from a public policy leadership perspective in which they explore underlying values and objectives, analyze historic and contemporary challenges, evaluate public and private policy solutions, and develop skills for constructive conversations with others.

LPPS 6080: Education Policy
Prof. Beth Schueler
An introductory course in which principles of assessing educational policies are applied to the evidence currently available across a range of policies. Areas of education policy may include early childhood education, charter schools, accountability, teacher recruitment, retention and assessment, and bridging from K-12 to high education. Discussions focus on linking policies to outcomes for students.

LPPS 6710: Congress 101: Leadership Strategies
Prof. Gerry Warburg
This course will provide a solid foundation of insights into how Congress works, essential for aspiring public policy advocates. Topics investigated include historical precedents for policymaking, the process of Congressional decision-making, and power dynamics in Congress. We will also identify and develop the leadership skills and tactics of successful advocates, placing recent controversies and public policy issues in an historical context.

LPPS 6715: Leadership in US Foreign Policymaking
Prof. Gerry Warburg
This course will provide a solid foundation of insights into how Congress works, essential for aspiring public policy advocates. Topics investigated include historical precedents for policymaking, the process of Congressional decision-making, and power dynamics in Congress. We will also identify and develop the leadership skills and tactics of successful advocates, placing recent controversies and public policy issues in an historical context.

LPPS 6752: Sustainability Policy Design and Evaluation
Prof. Molly Lipscomb
We will discuss how to measure and evaluate the trade-offs related to different environmental policy choices. We will discuss benefit-cost analysis, the impact of decentralization of policies impacting multiple jurisdictions, command and control policies versus tradeable permits, and sustainable development. We will evaluate policies designed to reduce water use and pollution, improve air quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

LPPS 6765: Federal and State Budgeting
Prof. Ray Scheppach
Course will cover the fundamental processes of government budgeting, discussing the role of the office of management and budget and the congressional budget office including how long and short run budget projections and cost estimates of pending legislation are done. We will also address the role of the budget committees, and the congressional budget process including reconciliation. Similar issues at the state level will be covered.

LPPS 6810: Virginia Politics and Policy
Prof. Andy Pennock
What are the most pressing policy problems facing Virginia and how can they be addressed? Students will learn how the broad historical forces of Virginia's past, her current political institutions, and changing social divisions shape public policy in Virginia today. Student projects will focus on current and future challenges facing the Commonwealth and develop strategies to address them.

LPPA 7035: Benefit-Cost Analysis
Prof. William Shobe
This course teaches 1) quantitative estimation of the benefits and costs of policy interventions, 2) the identification of deficiencies in published benefit-cost analyses (BCA), and 3) recognition of policy arenas where BCA may be problematic. The course covers the theory and historical use of BCA, and techniques to address uncertainty, benefits in the distant future, interventions that both raise and lower risks, and distributional impacts.

LPPS 7050: The National Security Process
Prof. Phil Potter
This seminar will cover the national security process in the US from the passage of the National Security Act of 1947 to the present. It will cover important national security movements and moments such as containment of the Soviet Union after the Kennan "Long Telegram," the onset of CIA-mounted covert action, the passage of the National Security Act Amendment of 1949, the Bay of Pigs, and Osama bin Laden and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

LPPA 7220: Advance Topics in Impact Evaluation
Prof. Sally Hudson
Explores practical choices researchers face conducting quasi-experimental impact evaluations. Students replicate findings from prominent policy research using range of empirical techniques, i.e.: matching; regression; propensity score weighting; instrumental variables; discontinuity designs; & panel data methods. Lectures emphasize tradeoffs between empirical methods, techniques for assessing robustness & strategies for effectively reporting result.

LPPP 7559-001 (new course) Economics of Social Insurance and Welfare Programs
Prof. Adam Leive
Why is health insurance reform so difficult? Should safety net programs have work requirements? This course studies social insurance and welfare programs from an economist’s perspective. Topics include health insurance, unemployment, Social Security, food stamps, and other programs. We will use a mix of theory and econometric analysis to examine current policy debates in the United States.

Fall 2020 POLICY CLINICS (2-credit)

LPPP 5540-001: Applied Policy Clinic: Advocacy and Lobbying Clinic
Prof. Brooke Lehmann
Students in this clinic will be exposed to, and participate, in real-time advocacy and lobbying campaigns on behalf of actual clients and their various policy/legislative priorities. Through the clinic's work, students will assist clients (typically national non-profit organizations) in realizing their legislative priorities within the context of the current Congress. Throughout this 10-week clinic, students will become familiar with advocacy activities related to Congressional lobbying and policy development and will be integrated into real-time research and analyses of the efficacy of legislative practices, processes, and policies. Students will produce work that supports particular advocacy initiatives, including, for example, informative one-pagers for congressional staff briefings, grassroots training material as well as potentially drafting legislation. To every extent possible, students will have the opportunity to witness hearings/debates and other related congressional events, as well as propose policy solutions directly to participating clients. Finally, whenever feasible, a trip to Washington, D.C. will enable students to put their efforts into action. This is a very dynamic course that requires flexibility and fluidity from week to week as the actions/inactions of Congress and/or clients will drive the work. The goal of the course is to impart the requisite knowledge and skills necessary for students to become effective advocates/lobbyists moving forward.
 

LPPP 5540-002: Applied Policy Clinic: Public Interest Data Lab
Prof. Michele Claibourn
The Public Interest Data Lab is intended to provide data science experience to students in service of the public interest, with a lens of equity and justice. We have three goals: (1) Make progress on a project that speaks to the public interest, in service of a client's goals. And have a project to point to at the end, an example of your work. (2) Practice working with real data to answer real questions. This can include finding data, exploring and cleaning data, visualizing and analyzing data, and communicating to a broad audience. (3) Develop experience working on a data science team, including processes for working collaboratively, openly, inclusively, and reproducibly.

The fall 2020 client is the Department of Social Services for Albemarle County, completing work on racial disproportionality and disparity in child welfare.

Fall 2020 MPP SHORT COURSES (1-credit; all listed under LPPP 6500)

Psychological Warfare and Pop Culture [9/3-10/1]
Brad Carson

Public Speaking Workshop [9/2-9/30 also 10/7-11/4]
Denise Stewart

Data Wrangling in Exel [9/1-9/29]
Adam Felder  

History and Challenges to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regimes [10/9-11/6]
Bonnie Jenkins

GIS: Spatial Analysis for Public Policy [9/2-9/30]
Erich Purpur

Fair Trade & Beyond: Tracing Certification Regimes [9/1-9/29]
Kathryn Babineau

The Art of Digital Communication [9/4-10/2]
Matt Weber

Climate Politics: A Critical Analysis [8/31-9/28]
Daniel Reifsnyder

Multilateral Environmental Negotiations [10/5-11/9]
Daniel Reifsnyder

*This list is not final. We anticipate more elective courses being added as we approach the Fall semester.

CIBO summer programming will be asynchronous, but will follow the below schedule.

Math Track
Math Review: July 6-17
Writing Primer: July 20-August 7
Economics Primer: August 10-14

ECON Track
Economics Review: July 6-17
Writing Primer: July 20-August 7
Substitution Test: August 10-14

Keeping to this schedule will allow you to have access to synchronous office hours, and support from our faculty and 2nd year teaching assistants.

As Dean Solomon mentioned in his CIBO 2020 email on June 12th, we will begin the in-person portion of CIBO on Monday, August 17. A full detailed schedule of that week's programming will be sent in early August. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Amanda Crombie at ajcrombie@virginia.edu.