The present School of Policy Studies is the result of the merger in 1994 of the former School of Public Administration, founded in 1970, and the School of Policy Studies, founded in 1988. The school undertakes a broad program of graduate teaching, research, conferences, and communication in the field of public policy and public management. In doing so, it continues ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ long and distinguished history of policy work and influence in Ottawa.
¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ began to lay plans for the original School of Policy Studies in the early 1980s, when the university received funding under the federal government's "Centres of Specialization" program to expand and coordinate the university's facilities for study of policy issues.
When it was founded in 1988, the school was unique among schools at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ because it was not a teaching unit. Instead, it served as an umbrella organization, promoting interdisciplinary research and conference activities in cooperation with the schools, centres, and institutes housed in the Policy Studies building (Robert Sutherland Hall).
The merger with the School of Public Administration brought teaching, research, and communication activities together under one organizational roof. The school continues to run an active research and communication program, inviting the regular participation of government, industry, and labour leaders in its conferences and seminars with the goal of creating a rich exchange between faculty, students, and Canadian opinion leaders.
It also continues to promote interdisciplinary research and conference activities among the other units in Robert Sutherland Hall, the Schools of Industrial Relations and Urban and Regional Planning, the John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy, the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, the Centre for International Relations, and the Industrial Relations Centre.
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