In spring 2001, a group of UEP students formed the Student Planning & Policy Association (SPA, formerly SPPA). In 2012, students were interested in updating the organization and shortened the acronym to SPA to match UEP's brand.
The mission of SPA is to help broaden students' knowledge of urban and environmental planning and policy issues on a local, regional and national scale. SPA does this through organizing activities that are open to all UEP students. The group emphasizes that its goals and outreach efforts embrace all the various "disciplines" housed within UEP.
Overall, SPA seeks to provide a forum for activities that promote awareness of current trends and issues in urban and environmental policy and planning. A secondary (but very important) goal of SPA is to engage students in social events that enhance student life.
In addition to officers, there are also three committees to help organize SPA's activities and functions. The committees are Social, Professional, and New Student/Alumni Engagement.
President: LunYan Tom
Vice President: Nathan Robins
Secretary: Hannah Kohut
Treasurer: Gabrielle Gareau
More Information
For information on yearly activities, monthly meetings, upcoming events, and ways to get involved, or to contact SPA, visit the
SPA website and blog.