MASTER of SCIENCE in PLANNING

Program Description

The Master of Science in Planning has a 49-unit course curriculum, including a required three-unit Internship. The course curriculum is divided into core, concentration, and focus areas.

Internship (Planning 693)
is most commonly achieved during the summer between the first and second years. However, a practical internship may be taken during the two academic semesters. Students may be paid or unpaid during his/her internship, which may be done in Tucson or in another locality. In all cases, a Planning supervisor must agree to direct the student's internship experience and submit the intention to do so in writing to the Planning Internship Coordinator. The paperwork for the internship must be completed before the student may sign up for the class.

Concentration Classes
are drawn from three areas, one of which each student selects: 1) Land Use and Community Development, 2) International/Borderlands Planning, or 3) Environmental/Healthy Cities Planning. Each of these concentrations has required and elective courses.

Master's Report or Thesis
is required for graduation. The topic selected for the Master's Report or Thesis normally follows the student's interest, with approval of the student's three-member graduate committee. Tenure-track faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher must direct the student's graduate committee. Faculty members on Research, Adjunct or Affiliate appointment and faculty members from outside the Planning Program may serve on Graduate Committees with the Planning Program and Graduate College approval.


Advising

The Coordinator of the Planning Degree Program advises each incoming Planning student. Before registering the student must meet with the Coordinator to plan their course of study. During the first semester of study, the student should become familiar with the research interests of the Planning Program faculty and adjunct faculty and meet individually with faculty whose research is in the area of the student's interest in order for the student to select their committee chair. The chair will assist in advising the student and in selecting the remainder of the student' s committee.


COURSEWORK REQUIREMENTS

General Requirements
All coursework (including transfer work and work done for the Master's degree) must be completed within a six-year period. Forty-three (43) units must be completed at The University of Arizona. One-half (1/2) of the total coursework units must be graded A or B. Required graduate units are at 500-level or above. Students must complete a Petition form to extend the time to complete a course or extend the time to complete their degree. This form must include a letter of justification from the student's advisor and must be approved by the Planning Program and the Graduate College. Any student who fails to achieve a GPA of 3.0 for two consecutive semesters is deemed to be in serious academic trouble. The Program Director and Graduate advisor of such a student should meet at the earliest possible time to determine whether the student should continue or withdraw from the Program.

Enrollment
Regular Graduate Status in a degree program is maintained by registering for a minimum of three (3) units of graduate-level course work each semester during the academic year. Graduate students need not register for graduate units during summer sessions unless they will make use of University facilities or faculty time.

Maximum course load for a full-time graduate student is sixteen units; minimum course load is three (3) units. The maximum course load for Graduate Assistants in Teaching and Research depends on their assignment's percentage of time; the minimum course load is six (6) units.

Minimum Residence Requirements
Students must spend two regular semesters of essentially full-time work (nine units of graduate course work or research) in the major field in actual residence at The University of Arizona and at least forty-three units of graduate credit must be completed at The University of Arizona. Graduate Assistants can discharge the minimum residence requirement by registering for six or more units for four semesters.

Supplemental Registration
Students who have completed their coursework and thesis units may register for Planning 930 (Supplemental Registration) in order to maintain their status in the Planning Program.

Leave of Absence
Graduate students may, with the approval of their major advisor and the Planning Coordinator, be granted a leave of absence for up to one academic year for medical emergencies ONLY. A Graduate Student Leave of Absence form must be completed and approved by the Planning Program and the Graduate College. Graduate students who are absent beyond the end of the approved leave of absence will be required to apply for readmission. The granting of a leave of absence does not extend the six-year time limitation for graduate students.

Courses in Other Departments
Students are not limited to courses in the Planning Degree Program. Electives from other departments are encouraged.

Requisites for Graduation
Students must take in their first two semesters in the Planning Program any of the following courses that represent deficiencies when they entered Planning. " One semester of college level Statistics " One semester of college level Urban Studies " One semester of English proficiency class, if international student fails the English Speak Test Students must take during their tenure in the Planning Program the following course hours to graduate: 1.) 22 credit hours of required CORE Courses. 2.) 12 credit hours of CONCENTRATION Courses. 3.) 15 credit hours in a FOCUS Area. 4.) 49 TOTAL credit hours are required to graduate.


Program Core Courses

The curriculum of the Master of Science in Planning degree is divided into two parts: core courses and concentration courses. Concentration courses are determined by a student's choice of area of focus. The three areas of concentration are: Land Use and Community Development, International/Borderlands Planning, and Environmental/Healthy Cities Planning.

Core classes are taken by all students in the program and include:

Core Classes:

PLN 501a Introduction to Planning I (3 credits)
PLN 514 Analytic Methods (3 credits)
PLN 512 Comprehensive & Strategic Planning (3 credits)
PLN 605 Theory & Perspectives (3 credits)
PLN 611 Projects in Planning (4 credits)
PLN 624 Research in Planning (3 credits)
PLN 660 Land Use Planning (Law) (3 credits)
Total Core Hours 22
Concentration Core 12
Electives 15
TOTAL TO GRADUATE 49

Areas of Concentration
Students select an area of concentration that fits their professional aspirations. Each concentration has 4 required concentration courses and a selection of electives from focus areas. Focus area classes are only suggestions and students may take any graduate level courses approved by their advisor. Students have 5 elective courses to complete their degree program.


Land Use & Community Development Concentration
The Land Use and Community Development concentration prepares students for jobs in public and private sector agencies dealing with land use regulation, growth and land development, comprehensive planning, and other aspects of mainstream planning practice. Students may focus on the physical, economic, environmental, or social dimensions of land use and community development. The concentration emphasizes the connections among these land use dimensions and is designed to reflect the many ways in which land use and community development are linked to housing, infrastructure planning, public finance, social equity, and other planning issues.

Concentration Core:
PLN 551 Infrastructure and Community Development (3 credits)
PLN 559 Land Use and Growth Controls (3 credits)
PLN 576 Land Development Process (3 credits)
PLN 693 Internship (3 credits)
Total Concentration Core Hours 12

Focus Areas
Two or more courses for the five electives from the following list are required to fulfill the concentration in Land Use and Community Development. Courses not listed here may be taken with consent from the Program Coordinator or Thesis/Master's Report Advisor.
PLN 597V Affordable Housing and Community Development (3 credits)
PLN 597S Sustainable Development in the SW (3 credits)
PLN 596A Urban Social Issues (3 credits)
PLN 597I Interdisciplinary Studio for Community Design (3 credits)
PLN 568 Urban Transportation Planning (3 credits)
PLN 668 Transit Planning & Operations (3 credits)
PLN 580 Environmental and Healthy Cities Planning (3 credits)
HRW 520 Water Resources, Planning, Management & Rights (3 credits)
PLN 909/910 Master's Report/Thesis (3 credits)
PLN 504 Public and Policy Economics (3 credits)
PLN 564 Preservation Planning Issues (3 credits)


International / Borderlands Planning Concentration
International/Borderlands Planning prepares students to work in international planning in three different contexts: as an international planner in the system of multi-lateral organizations, nonprofits, and nongovernmental organizations which manage international development; as a planner in another society; and as a planner in borderlands regions where two systems meet. In this concentration both skills and context are important. Accordingly, students have the opportunity to study international planning, cross-national comparison of domestic planning systems, and planning in adjacent jurisdictions at reservation or international borders that have no statutory requirements to cooperate or communicate.

Concentration Core:
PLN410/510 Comparative Planning (3 credits)
PLN 551 Infrastructure and Community Development Planning (3 credits)
PLN 696d International Planning (3 credits)
PLN 693 Internship (3 credits)
Total Concentration Core Hours 12

Focus Area
Two or more courses from the following areas of focus are required. Substitutions of courses from other departments may be made with consent from the Program Coordinator or Thesis/Master's Report Advisor. Students may select an intensive focus and complete several courses in one area, e.g. housing, community development, or land use and development, or select an extensive focus and complete courses that cover several functional areas.

PLN 597V Affordable Housing and Community Development (3 credits)
PLN 597I Interdisciplinary Studio for Community Design (3 credits)
PLN 504 Public and Policy Economics (3 credits)
PLN 564 Preservation Planning Issues (3 credits)
ANTH 513 Ethnology of the Southwest (3 credits)
ARC 571F Introduction to the Conservation of Cultural Resources (3 credits)
ANTH 518 Southwest Land and Society (3 credits)
LAS 529 U.S.-Mexican Borderlands in Compar. Perspective (3 credits)
PLN 517 Public Policy Analysis (3 credits)
PLN 597I Interdisciplinary Studio for Community Design (3 credits)
PLN 564 Preservation Planning Issues (3 credits)
LAS 529 U.S. Mexican Borderlands in Comparative Perspective (3 credits)
PLN 559 Land Use and Growth Controls (3 credits)
PLN 500 Ecosystemology for Urban Planning (3 credits)
RNR 503 Applications of Geographic Information Systems (3 credits)
PLN 576 Land Development Process (3 credits)
PLN 580 Environmental and Healthy City Planning (3 credits)
PLN 597S New Urbanism & Sustainability in the SW (3 credits)
L/AR 631 Computer Applications in Planning
PLN 909/910 Master's Report/Thesis (3 credits)
PLN 696E Border Issues in Planning (3 credits)


Environmental/Healthy Cities Planning Concentration
Planning Environmental/Healthy Cities Planning offers a linkage between environmental planning and planning for healthy cities and communities. It focuses on the interactions between human actions and the built environment and on the management of natural resources and takes a comprehensive approach to the connections between community and individual health and the environment. Students with a social science background may prefer a social approach to these topics, while students with a natural science background may prefer to further their education in natural resource management. Students are required to take four core courses and then out of five electives take two to three additional substantive courses within planning.

Concentration Core:
PLN 500 Ecosystemology for Urban Planning (3 credits)
PLN 580 Environmental and Healthy City Planning (3 credits)
PLN 693 Internship (3 credits)
RNR 596 Controllng Private Development near Conservation Areas (3 credits)
Total Concentration Core Hours 12

Focus Area
Five courses from the following areas of focus are required. Substitutions from other departments may be made with consent from the Program Coordinator or Thesis/Master's Report Advisor. At least two courses must be chosen among the planning courses in the following list:

PLN 559 Land Use Planning & Growth Controls (3 credits)
PLN 576 Land Development Process (3 credits)
PLN 551 Planning Infrastructure & Community Facilities (3 credits)
PLN 597S Sustainable Development (3 credits)
PLN 696D International Planning (3 credits)
PLN 909/910 Master's Report/Thesis (3 credits)
PLN 696E Border Issues in Planning (3 credits)
PA 581 Environmental Policy (3 credits)
HWR 520 Water Resources, Planning, Management & Rights (3 credits)
PA 507 Negotiation & Conflict Resolution for Public Managers (3 credits)
LAW 669 Environmental Law (3 credits)
SWES 544 Applied Environmental Law (3 credits)
LAW 641 Water Law 3(3 credits)
HWR 515 Introduction to Water Resources Policy (3 credits)
CPH 542 Program Planning & Evaluation (3 credits)
CPH 502 Environmental Monitoring & Analysis 3
RNR 585 Natural Resources Management & Economics (3 credits)
GEOG 583 Geographic Applications in Remote Sensing (3 credits)
AREC 575 Economic of Natural Resource Policy (3 credits)
PLN 516B GIS for Geography and Regional Development (3 credits)
HWR 569 Spatial Analysis of Hydrology & Watershed Management (3 credits)
LAR 631 Computer Application in Planning (3 credits)
GEOG 517 GIS for Natural Resources (3 credits)
HWR 515 Introduction to Water Resources Policy (3 credits)
WSM 568 Wildland Water Quality (3 credits)
RNR 573 Spatial Analysis (3 credits)
ARL 641 Natural & Human Impacts on Arid Lands (3 credits)
ARL 642 Use & Management of Arid Lands (3 credits)
ARL 535 Water Management in Dryland Ecosystems (3 credits)
LAR 550 Landscape & Human Ecology (3 credits)





To receive information about the Planning Degree Program, please contact:

Planning Degree Program
Harvill, Room 341D
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0076
Phone: 1+ 520.621.9597
FAX: 1+ 520.621.9820
Email us: planning@u.arizona.edu