Public Service Minor

Office of the Provost
Thurgood Marshall College
Administration Building

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice. Updates may be found on the Academic Senate website: http://senate.ucsd.edu/catalog-copy/approved-updates/.

Affiliated Faculty and Staff

Brian Goldfarb, Faculty Director and Professor of Communication

Luz Chung, Education Studies

Steve Erie, Political Science

Larry Palinkas, Family Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine

Joel Robbins, Anthropology

Mike Cole, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Communication

Allan Havis, Provost Thurgood Marshall College, Professor, Theatre and Dance

Kerry Ott, Staff, Academic Internship Office

Sarah Turner, College Operations Specialist, Thurgood Marshall College

Kristian Austin, Academic Adviser, Thurgood Marshall College

The Public Service Minor at UC San Diego encourages students to understand the history and practices of public service and to participate in the development of civic skills. Those skills and practices are essential cornerstones of participation in a democratic society regardless of one’s chosen profession.

The course work for the minor emphasizes the history and emergence of the nonprofit sector as a national institution distinct from the private and public sectors. The practicum aspects of the minor coupled with the traditional academic work encourage students to see the connection between the deeds of philanthropic service and the historic worth of citizen participation in the common public franchise, regardless of professional interests or gain.

The minor in public service is open to all UC San Diego students in good standing. Students are required to complete TMC 15, Public Service in America, and must choose one area of specialization from education, government, social issues, or health. A list of specific courses appropriate for these specializations is available through the Public Service Minor website noted below.

The minor requires a completion of TMC 15, three upper-division specialization courses with a 2.0 GPA or better, and three quarters of internships in public service through the Academic Internship Program (AIP). Students may submit a petition with the Marshall College Academic Advising Office to receive permission to complete a non-AIP academic service program for academic credit.

The following twenty-eight units comprise the public service minor:

For more information regarding the requirements for the minor, see the Office of the Provost, or Academic Advising, Thurgood Marshall College, TMC Administration Building, or visit the website at http://marshall.ucsd.edu/psm.