Apply For The 2024 PPIA Weekend Now!
About PPIA
The PPIA Public Service Weekend is a three-day conference empowering undergraduate students and recent postgraduates who are first-generation and Pell Grant-eligible college students considering a graduate degree and careers in public service. Its primary goal is to introduce students to topics in the field of public policy through academic research and policy training. The Public Policy and International Affairs Program (PPIA) is a nonprofit that has supported efforts to increase outreach, access, and belonging in public service for more than 40 years.
Program Description
This summer, the LBJ School is excited to welcome 45 PPIA Public Service Weekend Scholars from across Texas, the South, and the Southwest to learn about emerging public policy issues and solutions for the region that also have national implications.
Throughout the weekend, our Public Service Weekend Scholars will focus on the evolving landscape of Emerging Public Policy Issues in Texas & the American South. Participants will learn from leading policy professionals from across the profession, including distinguished academics, nonprofit professionals, policymakers from the field, and community activists—many of whom are LBJ alumni, professors of the LBJ School, or currently affiliated with The University of Texas at Austin.
Benefits to Participants
- Network with current LBJ students, LBJ alumni, PPIA alumni, and other program participants as they consider graduate programs and careers in public service and public policy.
- Participate in interactive presentations and dialogues that focus on helping the next generation of changemakers bridge the polarization gap and strengthen the common good, including how to be influential in bipartisan and nonpartisan environments.
- Interact with local and national public officials and get a special LBJ Presidential Library VIP tour.
- Train in civil discourse and conflict resolution strategies for collaborative policymaking.
- Learn the fundamentals of researching, writing, and delivering compelling, fact-based oral testimony to advocate for change in their communities.
- Experience Austin, LBJ School, and The University of Texas at Austin campus with all meals, housing, and flights provided.
Contact Us
The LBJ School's 2023 PPIA Public Service Weekend is co-sponsored by the Public Policy & International Affairs Program (PPIA), the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), and generous funding by the LBJ School’s Patman Center for Civic and Political Engagement. The Patman Center for Political Engagement supports transformational experiential learning, professional training, and policy-oriented research to strengthen our nation’s democracy.
For more information about PPIA and other 2024 summer experiences, please visit: https://ppiaprogram.org/
This is a program of the LBJ School's Office of Student Affairs and Admission. If you have any questions, please reach out to G. Christopher Cutkelvin, LBJ School’s Director for Student Access and Civic Education.