The mission of the Planning, Public Policy, and Management Student Advisory Board (SAB) is to represent PPPM students, provide resources for student success, and act as a voice for students within the department. Our program areas include:

• Events: This group is designed to build community by connecting students with peers, PPPM student groups, and faculty.
• Peer Support: This program area focuses on making PPPM more accessible and supportive. Some examples include support for PPPM major applications and creating study groups in PPPM classes.
• Professional Development: This subgroup focuses on creating networking opportunities and helping to prepare students for post-grad.
• Student Liaison: All students on the board serve as a voice for students in the department and advocate for necessary changes within the department.

SAB Representatives

Roles and Expectations of Student Members

• Members are expected to participate in meetings unless there is a scheduling conflict.
• Members serve on a subcommittee and contribute in the planning and/or operations of events.
  • Subcommittees include Events, Peer Support, and Professional Development
• Members communicate feedback from PPPM-affiliated peers and act as a liaison between students and the department.
• Members are expected to support the mission statement and serve the goals of the group.
• Members who cannot meet these requirements may be asked to step back for the term.

PPPM Program Department Role and Responses

We try to respond to all of the issues raised, which may include a range of responses:

• Solve the issue: add new software to computers in our lab
• Raise issue with faculty: ask faculty to do a better job of posting regular office hours
• Find resources: increase the amount and frequency of research and travel grants
• Seek more information: to ensure inclusiveness, we may seek input from all students
• No action: we can’t always take action due to constraints such as resources, policy, law or time. We don’t like to say no, but we will try to be clear about these.

Topics not appropriate for the SAB

• Cases of harassment, discrimination, or inappropriate activity must follow UO procedures.
• Feedback about specific instructors in their classes. There are established anonymous mechanisms for providing instructor feedback.
• The actions of specific faculty or staff. Issues can be raised privately with a School Head or Program Head, but there are personnel procedures that must be followed.

Group representatives

• Each Spring there is a call for nominations and self-nominations. We aim for a cross section of majors and minors across the program. We currently have a total of twelve undergraduate Student Advisory Board members. Current members can stay on the board for additional years

Meeting times 

• 1 monthly meeting for the entire Board
• 1 monthly meeting for each Subcommittee (Events, Peer Support, and Professional Development)
• Meetings can be more or less frequent, dependent on current projects and the needs of the board/committees