UCSD - The Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies

Mission Statement

Founded in the mid-1980s in response to the needs of California businesses, the University of California's only Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies has became a new blueprint for international affairs and international management education.

Today's professionals operate in a global context and therefore need to know how management, public policy and international interaction shape strategic decision making. Courses offered at IR/PS are designed to foster interdisciplinary understanding with special attention to the Pacific region (the Americas and Asia). IR/PS offers a Master of Pacific International Affairs (MPIA) degree and a Ph.D. degree in economics and international affairs. In addition, IR/PS offers the International Career Associates Program (ICAP), an executive program designed for working professionals seeking additional exposure to the fields of international relations and management, and comparative public policy in the Pacific Region.

After less than two decades, IR/PS is recognized internationally for its innovative programs, superb faculty and outstanding students. It now stands among the world's top graduate schools of international relations and is the established leader in its focus on the Pacific Region. Since its founding, IR/PS has trained more than 1,500 global students who now hold positions of leadership in business, government and nonprofits throughout the world.

Our Vision and Mission
Collectively, the nations of the Pacific Rim are the largest population and economic centers, the largest center for advanced technology, and the largest center in natural resources and agriculture in the world. The region is also the center of many of the world's political and economic challenges. Our vision is to mold the forces of economic growth, technological innovation, and
environmental and security challenges in the Pacific Rim into positive instruments of peace, prosperity and democracy. The mission of IR/PS is to help build a Pacific community by creating ideas, training leaders and providing networks. These are lofty goals, and we do not underestimate the challenges inherent in transforming our vision into reality.

Our Program
Why is IR/PS unique? We believe that the educational program should reflect our larger mission while adhering to strong scholarly values. IR/PS strives to 1) deliver a unique education dedicated to training new generations of leaders equipped with skills in management and public policy to address the challenges of the Pacific Rim and the globe; 2) conduct research to create new ideas to organize this community's common interests and cope with its conflicts; and 3) use the reputation, strengths and scope of the UC system to support the creation of new networks to link people of goodwill throughout the region.

Our Plan
Like any great university, we will build for the century, not just for the season or the year. The first goals are 1) to strengthen our foundation in research and teaching while growing large enough to
make a decisive impact and 2) to effectively relate our insights to the communities we study and serve. We have to be big enough to make an impact, and we need new ways to take our insights and connect them to the Pacific community more effectively.

Our Objectives

Increase the size of participants in our MPIA, Ph.D. and ICAP programs from the current 300 to 400 students per year to reach a mature size. This growth will strengthen our powerful network of alumni with skills to implement positive change throughout the Pacific community. In order to achieve this objective, we seek to grow our student fellowship and internship programs in order to ensure educational opportunity, compete successfully with our peer institutions, and attract the highest caliber of student
Grow and refocus our research capabilities. Ours is a great university faculty and its intellectual dynamism will always yield a diversity of research interests, but a distinctive focus is important if we are to have an impact on the Pacific community. IR/PS will develop two new centers. The first will focus on assessing economic policy performance in the Pacific Rim, the second on international environmental policy issues. In addition, our faculty provide the leadership for UC's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies. IGCC is a multi-campus research unit that studies the causes of international conflict and works on options for resolution. The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies focuses on public policy and the U.S.-Mexico relationship. [Goal: $4 million for two research centers]
Support faculty, recruit visiting scholars and experts, expand our programs, and ultimately
enhance networking and community development capabilities. In addition to growing the number of endowed chairs for our faculty, we are developing a new Pacific Fellows program to bring senior fellows with a variety of expertise and backgrounds from Pacific Rim countries to teach, conduct research and share their expertise. This initiative demonstrates our commitment to join scholars, alumni and students in a new community of learning and mentoring.
Expand our many beneficial relationships within the University of California and UCSD. As IR/PS broadens and deepens its existing capabilities, it will offer interdisciplinary opportunities and influence the campus to seek out new initiatives with Pacific applications. IR/PS's leadership will open doors and create opportunities. IR/PS is already developing a teaching partnership with the new Rady School of Management to provide global management and policy training for the private sector.

IR/PS is embarking on a major initiative to increase its leverage at the local, national and international levels and to expand community outreach and education. We are launching an unprecedented effort to attract and invite new financial and academic resources to affirm IR/PS's standing among the world's top graduate schools of international relations and as an established leader throughout the region. We invite you to visit IR/PS, meet our faculty, professional staff and committed students, and discover first-hand the opportunities IR/PS offers in the enormously dynamic and increasingly integrated Pacific Rim.