New Directions in Politics and Public Policy

Center for New Directions in Politics & Public Policy

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How can you grow your impact or career in local government, non-profits or community?

The Center for New Directions in Politics and Public Policy has provided lifelong learning to working professionals and other non-traditional students like you for more than 30 years.

As part of the CU Denver Political Science Department, our courses deepen your understanding of political systems, as well as how race, class, gender and other inequalities shape local challenges and policy solutions.

Choose Your New Directions Pathway

Get your Master's (MA)

Take your career to the next level with a fully accredited MA in applied Political Science focused on Public, Non-profit and Community Leadership. Learn more about our vibrant in-person, weekend-intensive program.

New Directions MA

Earn a Certificate

If you'd like to advance your knowledge and skills and earn a credential to advance your career without a full degree, a certificate may be the right path for you. In just four courses you can earn a graduate or undergraduate certificate in:

Public, Non-profit and Community Leadership
Labor Leadership 

Take Courses Without A Degree or Certificate

You can take Continuing and Professional Education courses without being enrolled in a formal degree or certificate. You’ll learn from practitioners with lived expertise alongside graduate students from a wide range of backgrounds.  

  • Graduate or Undergraduate
  • For Credit or Not

Enroll as a Community Member in New Directions Courses

About Our Students

In your New Directions courses you'll be learning alongside:

  • early or mid-career municipal or community-based organization leaders seeking to up-skill or advance
  • public policy analysts, current or future candidates for state or local office, labor organizers and community activists
  • recent college graduates looking to jump-start careers in the public and non-profit sectors with a graduate degree.

Students have a wide range of demographic, occupational, and personal backgrounds—making for rich, in-person class discussions and providing opportunities for cross-sector learning.

Kevin Castillo

As I seek to advance my career in local government, New Directions is developing my research and analytical skills, expanding my ability to deliver for my city and constituents.

Kevin Costello
New Directions Graduate Student

About our Courses

New Directions courses are mostly provided in a weekend-intensive format that provide vibrant in-person learning with students from a wide array of backrounds. The curriculum balances foundational courses to develop your skills and abilities with cutting-edge courses that tackle emerging trends, such as: 

 The housing crisis 

 Gentrification and displacement

 The rise of unionization in the service and non-profit sectors 

Cooperative and social economy innovations to build wealth and counter income inequality

 

New Directions Program Director

Roin Kniech, Director New Directions, CU Denver

Robin Kniech, J.D., is the Program Director of New Directions. She has 30 years of government and non-profit experience. She was an at-large Denver City Council member and is a leader in affordable housing policy and economic justice for workers. Read more.