New Directions Courses

Upcoming Courses - Spring 2025

Gentrification and Social Equity (3 credits)

Professor: Dr. Tony Robinson

Local Government and Affordable Housing (3 credits)

Lecturer: Robin Kniech, J.D. 

TBD: A course focused on workers/jobs/the economy (3 credits)

Current Courses - Fall 2024

PSCI 4914 Community Organizing and Community Development  (3 Credits)  

Lecturer: Dr. Joyce Luján Martínez

The theory and practice of community organizing strategies and community development innovations. How can social activists build power at the grassroots to build equitable, sustainable, and healthy communities? This is one of two courses required for a Master's degree from the New Directions program.

This course examines diverse community development and community organizing practices engaged in by various governmental, civic and community-based organizations as well as differing strategies and outcomes associated with these various efforts. The overall goal of the class is to help students lay a foundation for a broader theoretical and practical understanding of community development and community organizing, both historically and current practice. 

 

Psci 5008 Special Topics - Public-Private Partnerships: The Process And The People (3 credits)

Lecturer: Kat Correll

A public–private partnership is an arrangement often focused on financing projects that support the public vision. These partnerships can support  a broad range of efforts and allow for a creative dialogue around synergizing benefits for both the public and private sector. Public private partnerships or P3s generally consider how the private sector can contribute to solving community challenges. This course will explore the process for identifying potential partnerships and the people that will keep them successful and sustainable. It will cover a number of interrelated topics aimed at developing a solid understanding of why public-private partnerships are needed, the factors to consider in developing a partnership strategy, the tools used to assess partners, and the processes for developing agreements and evaluating success.  

A primary goal of this course is to consider why challenges in the public realm might need private assistance for resolution, to explore the types of partners and partnerships to address different issues, and to understand the process for considering the feasibility of different partners or tools for different cases.  

How to Register for New Directions Courses

Visit: https://passport.ucdenver.edu/login.php and sign-in using your University username and password.

  1. Click UCD Access to proceed to the student portal.

  2. Click “Register” to view the drop-down menu. Then click “Register for Classes.”

  3. Select the registration term and continue to class search.

  4. Under the “Advanced Search” heading, click “Search.”

  5. Verify that you have selected the correct registration term, and proceed to course search by clicking “Extended Studies” under the “Campus” heading and “Political Science” under the “Subject” section. Hit “Search” at the bottom of the screen to browse the course list.

  6. Select your course by clicking on the arrow near the class name. Then hit “Select.”

  7. Your New Directions selected course(s) will now appear in your Shopping Cart and will be available when you are ready to enroll.

    If you encounter any difficulties during the registration process, call the Registrar’s Office at 303-724-8059. Please note that unpaid University balances may impact the ability to register. All billing questions should be directed to the Bursar’s Office at 303-315-1800.

Frequently Used Forms

Find a Form

The following are examples of the most frequent forms used by New Directions students. 

CU Denver Special Processing Form: This form must be submitted to the CLAS Dean for all independent study and thesis/project proposals.

Transfer Credit Review Form: This form will initiate the faculty review of transfer course(s). The results from this review will be added to a student's transfer record on the student information system (SIS) and will be applied towards the appropriate degree requirement(s). Please contact your advisor to discuss the use of this form in more detail.

Name and Record Update Request: Use this form to let the Registrar's Office know of a name change or if the information on your student record is incorrect.