2025-2026 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) provides opportunities for students interested in public issues to gain perspectives and skills from several related disciplines. SPIA is a school within the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and is comprised of the Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP), the Government and International Affairs (GIA) Program, the Urban Affairs and Planning (UAP) Program, and the SPIA Undergraduate Program that offers a B.A. in Public and Urban Affairs (PUA) and two majors in Smart and Sustainable Cities (SSC) and Environmental Policy and Planning (EPP).
SPIA also provides a Washington, D.C. Semester in Global Engagement (during the Spring semester) and a Washington, D.C. Semester in Leadership through Policy and Governance (during the summer session). Information on the SPIA Undergraduate Program can be obtained from the SPIA website. Information on graduate degrees may be obtained from the Center for Public Administration and Policy, and from the Government and International Affairs and Urban Affairs and Planning programs.
The Smart and Sustainable Cities (SSC) major is one of the first majors of its kind in the United States. In the major, students will learn the dynamics of urban change across time, space, and place. Students will gain a deep understanding of sustainable urban development and how smart technology and urban analytics can be combined to create solutions for the cities of the future.
The core of the major consists of two parallel tracks. The first track focuses on urban analytics and decision-making. In this track, students will develop modeling and data visualization skills that can be applied to understand urban and regional systems in data-driven, quantitative, and computational ways.
The second track focuses on sustainable urbanization and the future of cities. Students in this track will study the process of urbanization. Specific attention is given to the interdependence of social, economic, environmental, and technological factors and how these evolve over time.
Both of these tracks are then integrated through a course on data and the art of decision-making and a degree capstone studio where students apply their knowledge to real problems.
Promoting sustainable human interaction with the natural environment continues to be one of the critical challenges facing societies around the world. While science and technology are critical to meeting this challenge, they must be supported by policies and plans responsive to diverse political, economic, sociocultural, institutional, and regulatory contexts.
The Environmental Policy and Planning (EPP) major provides students with an interdisciplinary framework to view environmental problems. Students will obtain the knowledge and skills needed to function as policymakers and planners who can understand complex environmental issues and develop enduring solutions.
The EPP major builds on the Public and Urban Affairs (PUA) degree core that provides students with foundational knowledge in policy, planning, governance, and international affairs. The EPP major extends this knowledge through an interconnected sequence of courses that explore environmental policy and planning, land use, and environmental law. EPP students will also develop their expertise by selecting one more elective from three subject areas: Policy; Planning; and Environment and Conservation.
University policy requires that students who are making satisfactory progress toward a degree meet minimum criteria toward the General Education (Pathways) (see "Academics") and toward the degree in Public and Urban Affairs.
Satisfactory progress requirements toward the B.A. in Public and Urban Affairs can be found on the major checksheet by visiting the University Registrar website at https://www.registrar.vt.edu/graduation-multi-brief/checksheets.html.
Undergraduate Program Director: Steven Hankey
Professors: A. Ahram, R. Buehler, R. Hall, and M. Stephenson
Associate Professors: D. Bieri, M. Cowell, S. Davis, D. Giselle, S. Hankey, S. Misra, T. Schenk, D. Zahm, and Y. Zhang
Assistant Professors: C. Levinson, T. Lim, P. Wagle
Adjunct Professors: B. Anderson, S. Mastran, J. Provo, and M. E. Ridenour
Print this page.
The PDF will include all information unique to this page.