Student Organizations

Graduate Student Council

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) serves the graduate students of Tufts University by providing social, cultural, and educational opportunities. The activities of the GSC are supported by a nominal fee that is charged to all graduate students at the beginning of the academic year.

GSC website

Intercultural Practice Group

The Tufts University Intercultural Planning Group (IPG) is a student group based out of UEP with the aim to learn to become more socially and culturally competent, to build knowledge, and bring people together to talk about questions such as "What does socially and culturally competent planning look like? How can planners engage in culturally competent practice? and How can planners promote equity in a meaningful and practical way?"

IPG website

People of Planning

People of Planning (POP) brings together students of minoritized identities from Tufts UEP as well as related departments. As a relatively new organization, our mission will continue to evolve in accordance with our members’ needs, but in general we hope to create a shared space to discuss our roles in planning and planning-adjacent fields. We also seek to promote new learning among our student members, build community across programs and schools, and help brainstorm ways to make our department and school more inclusive.

People of Planning website

Student Policy & Planning Association (SPA)

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 of the various "disciplines" housed within UEP. 

Tufts Food Systems Planning Coalition

The Tufts Food Systems Planning Coalition (established 2009) includes Tufts students from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. We are collaborating to bring awareness to Tufts about the food system as an essential network that deserves attention by planners and the role of planning in bringing healthy and sustainable food to all communities.

Tufts Food Systems Planning Coalition Facebook

Tufts New Economy

Tufts New Economy seeks to foster learning, discussion and action towards a more just and sustainable economy. The student group organizes events and regular meetings in order to tap into a deep reservoir of knowledge and history while also building connections with new economy initiatives in the Boston area and beyond. This student-led group, which is open to undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty as well as outside community members, was formed in 2013 and has continued through the efforts of consecutive cohorts of UEP students. Some notable accomplishments include a summit titled "Cultivating a New Food Economy, Putting People and Planet First," Colloquium appearances by guest speakers including Susan Witt and Neva Goodwin, and two trips to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts for the Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures. 

Tufts New Economy website Tufts New Economy Facebook