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 Community Planning and Development Track prepares students for employment as professional planners adept at identifying and assessing community development challenges, and applying advanced techniques to the development of livable communities. Data collection, spatial information management, and graphic presentation are integral skills taught in the program. Course work also equips students with a conceptual grounding on community development and housing markets theories, spatial data analysis in planning, and site location analysis. Course work includes methods for identifying, modeling, and analyzing the spatial organization of community systems from both practical and theoretical perspectives. Students in regional planning graduate with a working knowledge of land use regulations, and housing need assessment analysis techniques. They are familiar with strategies of economic development and housing markets. They understand both the theory and ethics of planning. Students completing this track should be able to assist diverse communities and organizations in identifying and finding solutions to a wide variety of community development challenges and how transportation planning impacts land use issues.
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