School of Public & International Affairs

Although administered within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS) at Virginia Tech, the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) has collaborative ties throughout the University. SPIA fosters interdisciplinary initiatives, first by building cooperative arrangements among units within the School and University, and second, by partnering with organizations external to the university. The School stresses innovative research for faculty and interdisciplinary instruction for students, while adding value to all academic teaching and research programs for public and international affairs within the University.

Virginia Tech has a long tradition of creating and disseminating new knowledge on issues of public concern and importance. SPIA supports these missions through its instruction, research, and public service programs. The School’s goal is to focus Virginia Tech’s excellence in government, public administration, international affairs, planning, public policy, and urban affairs to help individuals and communities across the world understand their most critical problems and most promising solutions.

SPIA’s graduate program’s are offered both in Blacksburg and at the College’s center in Old Town Alexandria, next to the nation’s capital. These two locations provide distinct educational and research environments for students and faculty and ready access to the world’s center for public and international affairs.

Perhaps one of human society’s most significant challenges in the new century is devising sustainable patterns of governance and development, providing for the economic and social needs of society while enhancing democratic processes and protecting environmental resources. Better understanding of social, economic, political, and environmental systems; new institutional and administrative arrangements; and innovative economic and policy approaches will all be needed to respond to this challenge which has local, statewide, national and global dimensions.

SPIA and its programs and institutes provide an environment for integrated instruction, research, and service to develop, disseminate, and apply new knowledge to meet society’s public challenges.

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