The Iowa planning program facilitates and encourages student involvement with the practice of planning and with planning practitioners in a variety of ways during their two-year stay in the program. We view this involvement as an essential component of a student's preparation for a planning career.
Program Seminar in Planning Practice
A required course during the student's first semester in the program, the seminar introduces students to the practice of planning in three ways. Presentations are made by visiting professionals who discuss their jobs and illustrate how they use various skills in practice planning. Field trips are taken to planning conferences, including the American Planning Association's annual Upper Midwest Conference, and to local venues of importance to city planners. And, on occasion Planning faculty share information about their research and service activities.
Planning Internships
The program strongly encourages students to obtain an internship prior to graduation. Almost all students obtain a paid internship with a planning agency during the summer between their first and second years in the program. In addition, a number of students obtain internships during the academic year. Some of these are available through the planning program, where we have established an ongoing relationship with local planning agencies to provide and share in the cost of internship positions. Many more are available directly with local agencies, such as the Department of Planning and Community Development of the City of Iowa City and the East Central Iowa Council of Governments in Cedar Rapids. The program assists students in obtaining internships, and students desiring employment during the academic year are usually able to secure positions in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. Upon completion of a paper reflecting on the internship experience, the student receives two hours of course credit to be applied toward the planning degree.
Field Problems in Planning
The yearlong course, Field Problems in Planning I and II, is required during the second year in the program. This is a capstone experience where teams of students work on real world projects for city and regional planning agencies and nonprofit community organizations in eastern Iowa, and on occasion with state agencies in Des Moines. Each team must work with the client agency throughout the year to develop a plan or report that is presented to that agency at the end of the spring semester. Field Problems is a unique opportunity to apply the knowledge one has gained in class work to a real-world issue while drawing on faculty support, advice, and critiques to improve the quality of the work. Students find when applying for jobs that field problems reports are important as evidence of a student's ability to produce professional quality work.
Adjunct Faculty and Practice Courses
The program regularly offers two to four courses on various aspects of planning practice, taught by adjunct faculty who are professional planners from the Iowa City area with many years of experience. These have included courses on economic development, planning for natural disasters, zoning administration, grant writing, and land development.
Student Participation in Planning Conferences
The program supports student participation in state, regional, and national conferences sponsored by the American Planning Association or by other planning related professional groups. These conferences are a valuable means of learning about the diversity of issues currently engaging the planning profession.
Class Field Trips
Various courses incorporate field trips as part of the learning experience. For example, the Poverty, Planning, and Public Policy course (102:221) includes a one and one-half day trip to Chicago, where students visit neighborhood organizations involved in housing, job training, economic development, and social services.