Organizations

From Cyburbian Planner By Day: Has anyone read this editorial from Planetizen? Will APA/AICP change things?

"AICP's Continuing Education Program Needs To Be Fixed
6 March 2008 - 5:00am

The new continuing education program set up by the American Planning Association's American Institute of Certified Planners is an unfair system that will prevent AICP-certified planners from getting affordable, high-quality education.

This essay is written on behalf of a growing number of planning education providers who are being harmed by the American Institute of Certified Planners' Certification Maintenance (CM) program.

From Cyburbian DecaturHawk: I just read an email from the director of the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program (BOCEP) at Rutgers about the cost to education providers of AICP's Certification Maintenance program to certify their programs. To quote Leo Vasquez:

"APA/AICP plans to charge continuing education providers a $95 annual enrollment fee, plus $50 per credit per class. This doesn't sound like much. But when you add it up, the Certification Maintenance program could wind up costing the (Bloustein) Professional Development Institute $28,000 per year. That would mean raising our fees substantially to make up for these costs.

Planners Network UK (http://www.pnuk.org.uk) is an organization seeking to establish a network to support critical thinking about the current state of planning in the UK, appealing to a broad range of practitioners, academics and activists interested in rearticulating the progressive purpose of planning. The goals of PNUK are quite similar to Planners Network in North America.

The creative city movement and recognition of the creative class is not just limited to the United States. The Creative City Network of Canada (http://www.creativecity.ca) is an organization of people employed by municipalities across Canada working on arts, culture and heritage policy, planning, development and support, with the intent of connecting people in order to be more effective in promoting cultural development of their communities.

From Cyburbian DecaturHawk: I just read an email from the director of the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program (BOCEP) at Rutgers about the cost to education providers of AICP's Certification Maintenance program to certify their programs. To quote Leo Vasquez:

Quote: "APA/AICP plans to charge continuing education providers a $95 annual enrollment fee, plus $50 per credit per class. This doesn't sound like much. But when you add it up, the Certification Maintenance program could wind up costing the (Bloustein) Professional Development Institute $28,000 per year. That would mean raising our fees substantially to make up for these costs.

Best known for working to reduce billboard and sign clutter, and other forms of visual pollution such as wireless facilities and overhead utilities, Scenic America (http://www.scenic.org) is a national nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the visual character of the United States' communities and countryside.

Planning Action (http://planningaction.org) is a Toronto-based non-profit advocacy planning organization. Planning Action works to collaboratively promote social and environmental justice by planning for affordable housing, food, public transportation, public space and accessible education and recreation; and democratize planning practice to foster greater participation and control over the creation and maintenance of the city.

From Cyburbian Senior Jefe: Now that those of us with AICP status must now maintain our certification I’m starting to think about the best way to do that. Conferences seem the easiest. You just have to set there and be “infotained”. However, it is often a gamble as to whether a session or even a whole conference will actually provide something useful that you can apply to your job. The more I attend the less value they seem to have.

I’m wondering about some of the on-line web based courses offered by Bloustein at Rutgers or through Planetizen.

AICP has not yet accredited these programs but both programs anticipate that they will be. At between $99.00 and $260.00 per course for 14 or so credits they seemed reasonably priced.

(Cyburbia Forums original post)

From Cyburbian luckless pedestrian: I spoke yesterday at the New England Chapter of the Congress for New Urbanism on how new urban-istic my town is. I noted that many of the attendees were design professionals, economic development types and developers - but not a lot of planners. Is this just one too many organizations to get involved in so many don't, or is there something else?

APA Watchdog (http://www.apawatchdog.org) is an independent site created by former APA Board and AICP Commission members. The site offers an alternative viewpoint of American Planning Association news, policies, proposals and governance, with the goal of keeping the APA open and inclusionary.

The Recent Past Preservation Network (http://www.recentpast.org) promotes public education and awareness for architecturally and culturally significant buildings from an "often misunderstood and underappreciated era of design" -- the time after World War II when modernism began to flourish.

(Cyburbia Forums original post)

From Cyburbian GB1: I've just been tasked with drafting a departmental policy regarding the payment of professional organization dues for the professional planning staff in my juriusdiction. The City itself has a "no-policy" policy that allows each department director the discretion they want--some do, some don't. The recently-retired former planning director didn't see the value in belonging to APA, and certainly not in belonging to AICP, and only grudgingly (and without a policy) paid for APA dues alone (no AICP, no ASLA, etc.)

OMG!!! Teh APA HaS a MySpAcE PrOfiLE!!!1!!! (http://profile.myspace.com/american_planning_assoc) Seriously. A search for those interested in urban planning on MySpace reveals literally thousands of profiles. The APA MySpace profile is a way to reach out to planning students, younger planners and others who might be interested in planning as a career. If you're on MySpace, add the APA as a friend!

(Cyburbia Forums original post)

From Cyburbian ssnyderjr: IMHO, I think the APA has it all wrong. The AICP test is a start, but only a start. The members of the APA need to push for stronger regulations and standards for professional planners. Altogether, what I am proposing would garner more respect (and money) for the planning profession and its professionals. This is taken from the engineering model set forth by my state:

(Cyburbia Forums original post)

From Cyburbian gkmo62u: I just received the electronic "Interact" from APA that lays out the proposed continuing education program/certification maintenance for AICP. This is a big deal and we all should provide feedback on it. I am very concerned about the additive cost it brings to each and every AICP member. There are also obvious employer implications as well. I am not sure our employers are going to pay for all of this required education. I am sure there are pros and cons here and I would like to read them.