UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs

Today is the Online MPA Fall Application Deadline! Advance your career by applying today. Apply:

Apply Now | Online Master of Public Administration | University of Illinois Chicago Steps to apply for UIC's Online Master of Public Administration Information program

THIS THURSDAY! UIC CUPPA Alumni Association's Summer Social for a fun-filled evening of networking and reconnecting! Students, alumni, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend.

What: UIC CUPPA Alumni Association Summer Social
Date: Thursday, August 15, 2024
Time: 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Location: Dugan's - back room (128 S Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60661

Free registration here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uic-cuppa-alumni-association-summer-social-tickets-980525707787?aff=oddtdtcreator

Questions: Nicole Langert, CUPPA-AA President at [email protected] or [email protected]

UIC Public Policy, Management and Analytics Department of Urban Planning and Policy at UIC Student Planning Organization at UIUC UIC Urban Public Policy Fellowship Program (UPPF)

UIC CUPPA Alumni Association Summer Social! Join us for a fun-filled summer social event for the UIC CUPPA Alumni Association - reconnect, network, and have a great time!

Read our latest faculty spotlight article featuring UIC Assistant Professor, Dr. Kate Albrecht! Learn more about her online MPA Strategic Management course. Read more: go.uic.edu/MPAArticleAlbrecht

Next week! Join us Tuesday, July 16 at noon CT at the Information Session: Application Workshop to learn more about UIC’s Online MPA program and application process. Bring your questions and application materials! RSVP: go.uic.edu/MPAInfoSessionJuly16

The Online MPA program is designed to prepare students for leadership roles in the public and nonprofit sectors. Visit our website to learn more: go.uic.edu/MPAOverview

Learn about the Online MPA program at the Information Session: Program Overview on June 13 at noon CT. Bring any questions you have for Program Director Dr. Allyson Holbrook and our enrollment specialists. RSVP: go.uic.edu/MPAInfoSession_June13

Join the Backward River Festival: Damen Silo City June 8th, between 2-6 PM and view our UPP556 Spring semester work, a South Branch Chicago Riverpath Regeneration Plan, informed by the community, created in partnership with McKinley Park Development Council (MPDC), and Living Habitats landscape architecture firm!
We look forward to seeing you at our tent!

Come for the music, arts, food, and academics!!🙂

The summer application deadline is next week! Take the next step toward advancing your career. Apply now: go.uic.edu/MPA-Apply

Hello UIC Undergraduate Students!

The Urban Public Policy Fellowship (UPPF) application deadline has been extended until Friday, May 31st!

The UPPF program is a leadership development program designed to expose historically underrepresented minority undergraduate students at UIC to key public policy issues. The program provides Fellows with seminars offering a solid introduction to theory and practice in the areas of public policy making, advocacy, community development, and service provision along with a valuable internship experience.

Follow this link to learn more and apply today! https://ipce.uic.edu/uppf-application/

Lares UIC African American Academic Network -UIC

There’s one month left before the summer application deadline on June 5. The Online Master of Public Administration (MPA) program provides graduates with the skills and core knowledge needed by leaders of public organizations. Apply now: go.uic.edu/MPA-Apply

CUPPA Grads are awesome!

Join us on Wednesday, May 8, at noon CT for an application workshop via Zoom! Meet the MPA program director to learn about the online program and application process. RSVP: go.uic.edu/MPAInfoSession_May8

Are you interested in advancing your career, but not sure which degree is right for you? Read our new article explaining the key differences between a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and a Master of Business Administration. Read More: go.uic.edu/MPAvsMBA

“As the longest NASPAA accredited MPA program in Chicagoland, we have attracted cohorts of talented and diligent young people who are eager to pursue management careers in public and nonprofit sectors.” Read our latest faculty spotlight article to learn more about UIC Professor Dr. Yonghong Wu and his online Economics for Management and Policy course. Read Now: go.uic.edu/MPAArticleWu

The 2024 Urban Forum is just 5 days away! As part of the Department of Urban Planning and Policy’s 50th anniversary celebration, leaders from the city’s planning, policy, nonprofit and arts communities will come together to share their bold visions for Chicago’s future. Learn more and register at https://urbanforum.uic.edu/

And don’t forget to join UPP after the forum for drinks, networking, and lively music at Lacuna Lofts! The CUPPA Alumni Association will be honoring two dynamic individuals with their prestigious Jim Marek Alumni Association Appreciation Award and the Inaugural Emerging Leader Award, presented in memory of Anna Bachman. RSVP at https://cuppa.uic.edu/events/50th-anniversary-celebration/

Interested in our graduate programs in urban planning? Consider joining the Master of Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP) Director of Graduate Studies, Master of City Design (MCD) Co-Director, and Graduate Academic Advisor for a joint virtual information session on Tues., April 9, 5:30 p.m. This session will include a MUPP & MCD program overview (credit hours required, program timeline, funding recommendations, etc.), CUPPA student organizations, an overview of our Research Centers and more. This session is recommended for MUPP and MCD applicants to learn more about the structure of a MUPP and/or MCD degree. Spread the word and RSVP here!

Master of Urban Planning & Policy (MUPP) & Master of City Design (MCD) - Spring 2024 - Joint Info Session Learn More about CUPPAs Master of Urban Planning & Policy (MUPP) and Master of City Design (MCD) programs at UIC at our joint Info Session. April 2024 Virtual Info Session April 9th @ 5:30 PM CST Via Zoom (link is provided the morning of event) Please join the MUPP Director of Graduate Studies, MCD....

Reserve a spot at the Information Session: Program Overview on Tuesday, April 9 at 12 pm CT! Meet UIC online Master of Public Administration (MPA) Professor and Program Director, Dr. Allyson Holbrook and learn more about the online program. RSVP today: go.uic.edu/MPAInfoSession_Apr9

Meet Dr. Federica Fusi, UIC Assistant Professor for the online MPA program. Check out our newest faculty spotlight article to learn more about Dr. Fusi and her Public Policy Development and Process course for the online MPA program. Read more: go.uic.edu/MPAArticleFusi

Read CUPPA's most recent Alumni Profile featuring Nicole Langert, MPA '17!

CUPPA Alumni Profile Series - Featuring Nicole Langert, MPA '17 | College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs | University of Illinois Chicago CUPPA Alumni Profile Series – Featuring Nicole Langert, MPA ’17 CUPPA alumnae Nicole Langert earned her Master's in Public Administration in May of 2017. She currently serves as the Director of Major Gifts at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and as President of the CUPP...

There is just over a month left before the 2024 Urban Forum! Online registration is now OPEN for Chicago Futures, which will feature panels and speakers addressing a wide range of questions on the challenges and opportunities our city will confront over the next 50 years. https://urbanforum.uic.edu/

Next week! Learn more about the Online Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program on Tuesday, March 12 at 12 pm CT at the Information Session: Program Overview. Don’t forget to bring questions! RSVP: go.uic.edu/MPAInfoSession_March12

Meet Jim Rohde, Associate Director of Student Recruitment and Marketing, our newest Human of CUPPA! See the Humans of CUPPA Photo Album here!

For Jim Rohde, student recruitment is nothing new. Indeed, it’s something that stretches back as far as his own undergraduate experience, when he worked as an intern in the admissions office at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, calling prospective students to ensure they knew what they might expect from the university. Rohde now brings more than a decade’s worth of experience to CUPPA, as he settles into a new role as associate director of recruitment and marketing, there to ensure existing UIC students and others not yet connected to the university know what CUPPA has to offer.

“I had a great experience with my college recruiter who had a big impact on where I went to school, and I wanted to be able to do that for others,” Rohde said. “Recognizing the need students have to obtain as much information as possible about college before making this important decision is something I can relate to and being able to do that for other students is really why I enjoy this type of work.”

Before coming to CUPPA, Rohde worked for more than a decade at DePaul University, serving as both admissions counselor and as assistant director of transfer recruitment and admission. There are a lot of overlapping qualities at both universities that Rohde knows well, particularly the special feeling that students often feel when attending college right in the heart of the city. Rodhe is excited to bring that extensive knowledge to CUPPA and says there’s lots of novel opportunities the college presents that allow him to go further in this work.

With an undergraduate population close to 22,000 students at UIC and many of those undecided in their major, Rohde also sees great chances to communicate with students already within the university who may not know of the opportunities that CUPPA has to offer. Rohde is eager to help students learn more about the college’s accelerated master’s degree programs, with many undergrads ready and eager to pursue post-secondary education and able to do so without leaving UIC. One way he plans to reach these students is through a series called Majors, Minors, and Movies, where CUPPA undergrads will mix and mingle with other students while watching a film. The series began with a screening of the 2020 film The Trial of the Chicago 7. As the only UIC college north of Interstate 290, Rohde knows that students might need that extra push to venture somewhere on campus they haven’t seen before, but is optimistic that students will fall in love with the college once they know what it offers.

Rohde says that CUPPA has plenty to offer students who are curious about the robust research centers that allow students to connect to faculty making tangible changes in their fields. More than anything else, UIC’s lower cost of admission, placing it in the top ten universities nationwide in terms of value, according to Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, is something that Rohde is excited to share with students.

“I greatly appreciate UIC’s commitment to accessible education and how many ways there are to help finance your education here,” Rohde said. “I think many of us that have worked in higher ed for a while know there are things about this process that we wish we had known when we were going through that process, so I want to help make sure students I work with have those answers.”

As an undergraduate, Rohde studied political science, and had the opportunity to intern in Washington D.C. with Wisconsin Congressman Steve Kagen. That experience is one that’s helped him appreciate what programs that CUPPA offers, knowing that a degree in public policy is one that could have a tremendous impact on many students’ future career pathways. His other intern experiences during his undergraduate experience, working closely with the college’s admissions department, have also placed him on a longstanding journey to bring others into different university spaces, a passion that carried over into his work at DePaul and now to UIC.

After graduating from St. Norbert’s, Rohde also spent several years in the U.S. Army, including a stint deployed as a platoon leader in Iraq. Doing a lot of work with veterans at DePaul, Rohde often encouraged these students to enroll as transfer students, seeking out people who might not have known about the university and bringing them into opportunities they might not have had otherwise. It’s a mentality that he’s eager to continue at UIC, knowing that there are countless people in the world whose lives might be transformed by a CUPPA degree who don’t even know that the college is already here, waiting for them to enroll.

“I am very much aware of how [different policy areas] intersect, their importance, as well as the need for the best, most committed, and most engaged people to work in these fields as future leaders,” Rohde said. “My hope is that I can find students who are looking to make an impact on their communities and the world by realizing how, even if we don’t recognize it, people in these fields are leaders who make a tremendous impact on our daily lives.”

Schedule an appointment with Jim to learn about CUPPA's degrees!

Congratulations to CUPPA Dean Stacey White and MPA Student Daniel Kumapayi on a second place finish at the 2024 UIC Challenge of the Deans basketball competition!

Read the latest faculty spotlight featuring Dr. Jiaqi Liang, Associate Professor for the Online Master of Public Administration program. Learn more about Dr. Liang’s distinguished research and her Public Management Practices course. Read more: go.uic.edu/MPAArticleLiang

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wjaw8WZGG1c

Seems like this can only help on a Tuesday!

UIC Halstead Blue Noise *blue noise 💙

Read our interview with Ivis Garcia on CUPPA's website at https://cuppa.uic.edu/careers/cuppa-alumni-association/cuppa-alumni-profile-series/

The Spring application deadline is tomorrow! Take the next step toward advancing your career with an online MPA degree. Apply Now: go.uic.edu/MPAApplyNow