Carolyn Ban
The role of women in our society is changing rapidly. Major legal breakthroughs in the last two decades have broadened women's economic opportunities. But public policies have failed to deal directly with many of the issues arising from those changes such as women's continuing "double burden" as economic providers, child rearers, and housekeepers; the realities of single-parent families and displaced homemakers; the increasingly female elderly population; and the feminization of poverty.
Therefore the goals of our new program on Women and Public Policy at the University at Albany are to give women the information and skills to influence public policy affecting women, through advocacy, research, elective office, community organization, administration, or policy analysis.
The Certificate Program is a graduate-level one designed both for students who are enrolled in public policy-related graduate programs, such as public administration, public policy, political science, social welfare, education, criminal justice, and sociology, and for members of the community who wish to upgrade their skills. Thus it may be taken either as an isolated program of study or in conjunction with an existing graduate-level degree.
The program requires a minimum of 18 credit hours, including two core seminars, one course on public policy issues and their impact on women, one course on skills affecting the public policy process, one policy reading course, and a one credit-hour seminar in current research in public policy analysis. For further information and a copy of the brochure describing the program in more detail, contact Carolyn Ban, Chair of the Steering Committee, at 518-442-3850.