The mission of the Regional Planning program is to provide opportunities for students, planning professionals, citizens of a diverse regional community to master fundamental and innovative planning principles. The program trains students to become professional planners through a process that emphasizes conceptual knowledge, experiential learning, innovative planning skills, and civic engagement. Students work with colleagues and planners to guide change in a way that will make communities better places to live for present and future generations.
Employment opportunities for planners are excellent. This program has prepared students to work in planning agencies at the federal, state, regional, county, and local levels as well as in the private sector with planning consulting and engineering firms. As planners, they have been trained to work with the public to guide growth and change in metropolitan regions across the country. The two tracks—Environmental Planning and Community Planning and Development—are designed to focus on the knowledge, techniques and strengths of the faculty members, as well as provide students maximum opportunity to be competitive in the planning job market. As part of their course of study, students address and solve real-world problems through class projects and intern with practicing planners who deal with these issues in a professional environment. Planners work with communities to improve the quality of life for people who live there. They take a comprehensive view of issues, listen to all citizen perspectives, endeavor to reconcile controversy, and propose alternatives that can guide community decision making in allocating finite resources to create better places to live.
The Environmental Planning Track is designed to prepare majors in regional planning for careers as environmental planners or further graduate studies. Students who select this track learn about aspects of the natural environment, methods to preserve and conserve resources, and how to plan communities where humans both benefit from the natural environment and have minimal impact on it. They are knowledgeable about environmental regulation and policy. They understand community strategies for ameliorating environmental problems and have both a theoretical and working knowledge of subdivision, land use, and zoning regulation. They are familiar with the regulation and management of flood plains and wetlands, the management of waste and storm water, and environmental impact assessment. They understand both the theory and ethics of planning. Students completing this concentration should be able to assist diverse communities and organizations in identifying and finding solutions to a wide variety of environmental issues such as wastewater treatment, water pollution, acid rain, watershed planning, carbon footprints, deforestation, and natural resource extraction.
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