Posted on March 10, 2017 at 4:27 PM, updated November 23, 2022 at 2:28 PM Print
Congratulations to Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs's student chapter of the American Planning Association, one of several winners of the American Planning Association's 2017 Outstanding Planning Student Organization (PSO) Award. This award program recognizes the exciting and creative activities carried out by Planning Student Organizations that enliven student life, contribute to their communities, and connect to APA Chapters and Divisions. These planning student organizations will be recognized at the 2017 APA National Planning Conference in New York for their accomplishments. Awards in each category will include a monetary contribution by sponsoring APA divisions to school's PSO to fund its activities.
Photo: Members of CSU-APA and Cleveland Restoration Society on a tour of Silo City, an artistic reuse of three vacant grain elevators on Buffalo's riverfront. The tour, led by owner/businessman Rick Smith, was the last stop of the three-day Buffalo Excursion in March 2016. Photo by CSU/APA President Simon Husted.
The winning Levin project entry was for the Urban Excursion Initiative, which started as an ad-hoc idea to have students travel to Buffalo for a weekend and explore planning projects and meet local planners while there. Organized by the CSU-APA's current President Simon Husted, the success of this first excursion propelled the organization to plan regular events with nearby cities in the Great Lakes region, including Cincinnati and Detroit. An especially interesting component of the excursions is that CSU-APA makes them open to members, other students and outside entities. In each of the three trips, a few "outsiders" participated, including recent graduates, practicing planners from Northeast Ohio, and/or other urban enthusiasts. The knowledge-building and networking that happens on these excursions is a terrific complement to the students' in-class experience during graduate school. Congratulations to all involved, including students Jennifer Chandler, Darren Cross, Simon Husted, Michael Rogalski, Jim Vandertill, and Susan Vincent, and nominator Stephanie Ryberg-Webster, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Program Director - Master of Urban Planning and Development at Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs. For more information see APA's Outstanding PSO Awards and Urban Excursions & Planner Exchange.