MSU URP Planning Program Alumni Board hosts first alumni gathering
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EmailOn Thursday, March 20 about two dozen current MSU Urban & Regional Planning (URP) Program faculty and students, both graduate and undergrad, as well as alumni and local planning professionals met in East Lansing.
On Thursday, March 20 about two dozen current MSU Urban & Regional Planning (URP) Program faculty and students, both graduate and undergrad, as well as alumni and local planning professionals met at East Lansing’s Beggars’ Banquet to discuss the current planning field from their diverse perspectives. It was a casual evening hosted by the newly formed URP Planning Program Alumni Board, filled with food, fun and great ideas.
Some of the alumni and professionals that were present included Jennifer Rigterink from Pure Michigan; Holly Madill from the MSU Land Policy Institute and the Planning & Zoning Center; Tim Schmitt from the City of East Lansing Planning Department; David Haywood, the Zoning and Development Director of the City of Mason; Ben Glendening, Energy Advisor of Consumers Energy; and Suzanne Schulz from the City of Grand Rapids Planning Department.
As the evening went on, the discussions ranged from first-hand, first-time experiences in the planning field, like the ever-so-daunting first job interview, to discussions of how to further improve the URP program itself, through new or different courses and student participation.
Up until the end of the four-hour event, grads, undergrads, faculty and alumni were busily engaged in constructive dialogue about how MSU’s Urban & Regional Planning Program can further prepare graduating students for the “real world.”
Ideas that surfaced included increasing the amount of public speaking that students would have to do throughout the course of their studies, to preparing them for leading planning or stakeholder meetings. Those already working in the field noted that having students hone their verbal and written debating skills is something that would hugely benefit them once they enter the working profession, as well as in interview settings. Furthermore, Suzanne Schulz, the Planning Director of the City of Grand Rapids, pointed out that lots of graduating students, both graduate and undergrad, lacked essential skills in the simple, nuts-and-bolts type work, such as reading zoning codes or writing ordinances, which make up much of the day-today- work that professional planners do.
The idea of hosting town hall-style meetings several times each year between students and faculty in coordination with the MSU Urban and Regional Planning Student Association (URPSA) was brought forth a way to improve communications within the program, and to create continuous constructive feedback. Through these meetings, students and faculty could have open discussions about their experiences within the program.
Further expanding URPSA to include graduate students, while also giving the organization more power and voice, would enable the organization to participate more in real-world events, and allow its members to take the initiative on more occasions in and around the URP program.
All in all, it was a terrific evening of idea sharing between people with a host of perspectives on planning. It was unanimously agreed that events like this one are tremendously important to the URP, and will likely become a regular fixture within the program.
The URP students and alumni are active on social media: Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
