Congratulations to the first-place winners of the 2015 AICP* Student Project Award! The Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs team was recognized in the category of Contribution of Planning to Contemporary Issues for their planning project submission entitled: Irishtown Greenway: A Strategic Plan for the Flats West Bank.
The team earned the top ranking in a very competitive environment. American Planning Association’s (APA) Director of Emerging Professionals, Monica Groh, reported that the Cleveland State University students faced a record number of submissions this year- the largest pool since 2008. The student team rose above 13 other teams in this category including UCLA, University of Michigan and Georgia Tech.
The Levin College project team members, enrolled in the Master of Urban Planning, Design and Development program, included Juleian Curtis, Nikki Glazer, Dion Harris, Dean Ibsen, Kyle Krewson, Andrew Lang, Shiqi Lu, Darrick Matthews, Michael Mears, Matthew Moss, Caylen Payne, Scott Schirg, Steve Sump, and Ann Thompson, along with Faculty Advisors: Dr. Wendy Kellogg, Associate Dean of the Levin College, and Mr. Jim Kastelic, College Fellow. The award will be presented at the APA/AICP Meeting and Leadership Honors Ceremony at the National Planning Conference in Seattle. Mears, student chair of the project steering committee, and Thompson will accept the award on behalf of their colleagues and the Levin College.
The project involved more than four months of planning and collaboration both in class and outside of class with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the client for the project, and other stakeholder external organizations. Course instructors Kastelic and Kellogg shared that after years of competing successfully at the state level this was the first time MUPDD students were nominated at the APA national level. Dr. Kellogg added, “These students are the next generation of planners in Northeast Ohio, and we are very lucky to have had them in the Master of Urban Planning, Design and Development program. We are very proud of their accomplishment.”
Each year, the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) recognizes three outstanding class projects or papers by a student or group of students by Planning Accreditation Board-accredited planning programs that contribute to advances in the field of planning. This awards program is intended to recognize exceptional work by students. Faculty instructors and advisers nominate student projects, documenting the project focus, methods and results. In addition to the Levin College recognition in the Contribution of Planning to Contemporary Issues category, awards will also be presented in the categories of Application of the Planning Process (to Harvard University) and Applied Research (to University of Texas at Austin).
Click here to link to the students' Irishtown Project website to view their final report and presentation. For more information about the award, and the nomination materials, view the AICP Student Award Page.
Additional information about the Levin College of Urban Affairs’ Master’s Degree in Urban Planning, Design and Development may be found here.
*AICP is APA's professional institute, leading the way in requirements for certification of professional planners, ethics, professional development, planning education, and the standards of practice.
MUDPP project team members pictured above: Ann Thompson, Michael Mears, Nikki Glazer, Juleian Curtis, Matthew Moss, Dean Ibsen, and Kyle Krewson. (Not pictured: Dion Harris, Andrew Lang, Shiqi Lu, Darrick Matthews, Caylen Payne, Scott Shirg, and Steve Sump.)