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University
of Texas at Arlington
SUPA Planner Honored
as AICP Fellow
One
of the School of Urban and Public Affair's planning faculty has just been
selected as a 2001 Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
"This is probably the highest honor bestowed on professional
planners," said SUPA Dean Richard Cole. Nationally, only 126 people have
been selected for membership in the AICP College of Fellows through spring 2000. A
Milwaukee, Wisconsin native, honoree Robert (Bob) Wegner, Sr., joined the school
in May 1978 where he has served in the City and Regional Planning Program as
senior research associate and associate professor, graduate advisor and program
coordinator, and, more recently, as associate dean of program research and
evaluation. Educated
at Harvard University, Wegner holds a bachelor's degree in city planning, and
master's degrees both in regional planning and public administration. Among
other positions he has held, Wegner has been director of regional planning for
the North Central Texas Council of Governments and a visiting lecturer on urban
and regional planning at universities across the southwest. He began his career
as a city planner for the city of San Antonio, in 1952. Wegner
is a life member of the American Planning Association (APA) and was the national
nominating committee chair, in 1964 and 1965. As a member of the Texas Chapter
APA, he served as board chairman, from1978 to1979. Wegner
became a member of AICP in 1950, serving as Arkansas Valley Chapter president,
from 1960 to 1961. Among
the more recent awards he has won are the Midwest Section Texas APA Director's
Award for meritorious achievement to the planning profession, in 1994, the Texas
Chapter President's Award for outstanding contributions to the planning
profession, in 1990, and the Texas Chapter's Professional Development Award for
training services, in 1985. CIRP Program Celebrates
25th Anniversary SUPA's City and
Regional Planning Program (CIRP) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
The
program has graduated 188 students since its inception, in 1975, as a small
interdepartmental program in the School of Architecture, taught jointly by
Architecture faculty and faculty in SUPA's predecessor, the then nascent
Institute of Urban Studies. Its graduates work as professional planners in
leadership positions in both the public and private sectors. The positions they
hold range widely from city planner to environmental consultant to
transportation director. The
program of study for CIRP's Master of City and Regional Planning degree has
continued to evolve and today offers "design-your-own" emphasis areas
and the opportunity to participate in dual-degree programs with Architecture,
Civil Engineering, Environmental Science, Landscape Architecture, Public
Administration, Social Work, and Urban Affairs. It has also added a
transportation component and a certification program in geographical information
systems (GIS). Project-planning
classes continue to be an important part of the CIRP curriculum. In these
classes, students develop various urban plans and conduct special studies
requested by local governments and jurisdictions, including comprehensive,
strategic and economic-development plans. Student
enrollment has grown from an initial six to approximately 50 per semester. CIRP
students have won six Student Project Awards from the Midwest Section and Texas
Chapter of the American Planning Association, in the last six years. The
number of faculty who teach CIRP courses has increased from the original three
to eight, including a transportation specialist. In
1988, the program won accreditation by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)
and has been reaccredited in each subsequent five-year review. To
commemorate CIRP's anniversary, faculty and students exhibited a large display
at the annual conference of the American Planning Association, Texas Chapter,
held in downtown Dallas, in November, at the new Adams Mark Hotel. The Texas
Chapter marked the event with a special ceremony at the opening reception.
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