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Our programs 
Territory Acknowledgement
We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. (Video with Songhees Elder Elmer George)
Our vision
The School of Public Administration develops creative thinkers and professionals who contribute a positive impact on the different orders of government, nonprofit organizations, and communities in British Columbia, in Canada, and around the world.
We work across disciplines and through our research, teaching, and engagement, and we contribute to collective action and democratic governance for a healthier and more sustainable world.
Our mission
Teaching: The School is dedicated to the training of public sector and community leaders. The School builds on its values, research, and interdisciplinary expertise to offer high quality education to its students. Our students are able to navigate complex settings and are capable of assessing whether and how programs and policies add value to society in a way that respects the broader public interest and ethics of their profession. We prepare our students to work with diverse parties in a challenging and rapidly evolving environment. We train inquisitive students to strategically speak truth to power with ethics and integrity. We offer transformative learning, knowledge, and experience.
Contribution to knowledge: The School contributes to cutting edge knowledge and is a resource to communities and to all orders of government. Our faculty members, who have different disciplinary backgrounds, are engaged in applied research relevant for analyzing and solving challenges of policy, management, government, and community. We are committed to a mutually supportive research culture and knowledge mobilization that includes collaboration with a broad range of actors including students, other universities, and practitioners.
Engagement: As engaged scholars, we develop and offer creative and even disruptive knowledge to better serve society. We work with communities, governments, and the nonprofit sector to advance connections, relationships, and meaningful action. We like to work on important contemporary challenges with diverse partners and beyond disciplinary boundaries. We value reciprocity in our work.
Our values
Integrity: We value all beings and the land, reciprocity, democracy, fairness, openness, honesty, accessibility, participation, accountability, and transparency.
Engaged and courageous scholarship: We value transformative and disruptive thinking, innovation, creativity, social justice, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration.
Sustainability: We value the building of healthy and sustainable communities and societies where each person has access to an environment that will support and sustain health and biodiversity.
Inclusivity: We value human rights, equity, and diversity, and a respectful and inclusive work, research, and teaching environment. Our work is grounded in the values of listening and honouring Indigenous cultures, knowledge and perspectives. We value different knowledge systems and ways of being.