When UC San Diego's Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) was founded in 1986, its chief mandate was to train experts to address political, economic, and management issues facing the Pacific Rim.

The school is now expanding its mandate by focusing on new areas that include global climate change and other environmental concerns, nongovernmental organizations, and telecommunications policy and regulation. IR/PS also continues to forge strategic alliances with UC San Diego partners and the greater University of California system.

One example of these partnerships is the UC Revelle Program (UCRP) on Climate Science and Policy, which now involves UC's systemwide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and IR/PS. SIO is the world leader in research on climate science and the role of the oceans in the earth system; IGCC draws on science and social science experts to build bridges between the academic and policy communities; and IR/PS provides graduate education and research in international environmental and economic policy issues related to climate change.

A second new IR/PS initiative involves nongovernmental organizations, which are becoming equal partners with the private sector and government in many arenas. As graduates seek to learn how to manage these organizations, IR/PS is adding related courses and looking into creating a new career concentration in this field. Plans are also on the drawing board to expand IR/PS's offerings in the telecommunications and information technologies arenas, two of the most important engines of growth in the world economy.

Such initiatives keep IR/PS relevant to new opportunities as they arise, but the school's ultimate mission remains the same: to be first in the minds of world leaders and decision makers when important international questions arise and Pacific Rim experts are needed to answer them.