2004-06 IUPUI Campus Bulletin

Master of Planning (M.Pl.)

The Master of Planning (M.Pl.) is a professional degree program that prepares students for professional careers in planning and related fields. The program emphasizes the development of professional skills to enable graduates to develop successful careers in planning. The emphasis is always on gaining the knowledge and tools to provide the foundation for professional practice. The program is hands-on, applied, and professional. Students in the planning workshop focus on real planning problems for outside clients, developing their ability to function as effective professionals.

Indianapolis is nationally recognized for its achievements in urban development. Students in the Master of Planning program have the opportunity to use this major metropolitan area as a laboratory to learn planning. The planning faculty bring their experience working in Indianapolis and central Indiana to the classrooms, integrating this practical knowledge into the learning experience.

The School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the faculty of the Master of Planning program are associated with the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment. The center consults with public, nonprofit, and private clients and is engaged in a major effort to enhance policy discussions in the central Indiana region. The wide-ranging studies of the region include a focus on understanding and improving the planning process and the development of a large-scale computer simulation model of urban development in the region. Students in the Master of Planning program have the opportunity to participate in and learn from the innovative research under way at the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment.

The Master of Planning program is offered within the largest school of public affairs in the United States. Students in the program have the opportunity to draw upon the school's strengths in public management and policy, environmental science and policy, and health administration.

Mid-Career Credit Option

Students in the Master of Planning Program can receive Mid-Career credit for work experience obtained up through the end of the semester in which they complete 24 credits toward the Master of Planning degree. Decisions on the credits to be awarded for work experience are made by the Master of Planning Admissions Committee. The guidelines for eligibility for credit are as follows: 3 credit hours - for at least one year of work experience in planning or a related field such as policy analysis or public management.

6 credit hours - for two to four years of work experience in planning or a related field that includes primary responsibility for the preparation of plans, or similar levels of responsibility in related fields.

9 credit hours - for four or more years of work experience in planning or a related field that includes responsibility for the organization of the planning process and the supervision of other planners in the preparation of plans, or similar levels of responsibility in related fields.

12 credit hours - for eight or more years of work experience in planning or a related field that includes overall responsibility for the planning function in a major organization, or similar levels of responsibility in related fields.

Admissions

In addition to the general requirements for admission to graduate study in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, students entering the Graduate Program in Planning are expected to have completed introductory undergraduate courses in statistics and microeconomics at an accredited institution with a minimum grade of B in each course. Students lacking this preparation may be admitted with deficiencies. These students are expected to remedy any deficiencies before taking courses in which this background is required.

Degree Requirements--(48 credit hours)

The Graduate Program in Planning requires a minimum of 48 graduate credit hours and the completion of:

1. the core requirement,
2. the concentration requirement,
3. the experiential requirement

The core requirement consists of 22 credit hours of work in nine courses and is required of all students pursuing the M.Pl. degree. Each student must complete the requirements of one concentration, which consists of 11-15 credit hours of course work, depending on the concentration and courses selected. The experiential requirement ensures that each graduate of the M.Pl. program has gained relevant professional planning practice outside the classroom. This experience may or may not involve the accumulation of credit hours toward the degree. The remaining credit hours necessary for graduation are general electives that can be used to add breadth to a student's program, to further explore a field of concentration, or to enhance skills in quantitative tools or other techniques.

Core Requirement--(22 credit hours)

The core requirement in the Graduate Program in Planning ensures that each student acquires an understanding of the field of planning and its practice, of the environment in which planning takes place, and of the analytical methods necessary for the practice of planning. The core requirement also provides for the integration of learning and professional practice in workshop and seminar settings.

SPEA P500	Foundations of Planning	(3 cr.)
SPEA P510	Social and Economic Aspects of Human Settlement	(2 cr.)
SPEA P515	Physical Systems Development and Infrastructure	(3 cr.)
SPEA P520	Methods for Planning and Policy Analysis	(2 cr.)
SPEA P525	Geographic Information Systems for Planning	(2 cr.)
SPEA P600	Portfolio Assessment	(1 cr.)
SPEA P610	Planning Workshop	(3 cr.)
SPEA V506	Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making	(3 cr.)

One of the following:

SPEA V517	Public Management Economics	(3 cr.)
SPEA V541	Benefit-Cost Analysis of Public and Environmental Policies	(3 cr.)

Students in the health planning concentration may elect to substitute SPEA H514 Health Economics (3 cr.) for the above requirement.

All students are required to assemble a portfolio of work completed in various courses taken as a part of the degree program. Students will evaluate this work and present their evaluations to the faculty in P600 Portfolio Assessment.

Especially well-prepared applicants may petition the director of the Graduate Program in Planning to waive one or more of the core requirements on the basis of advanced course work done elsewhere. Students may be exempted on the basis of satisfactory course work or by examination. Credit hours waived from the core increase the number of electives a student may take. Students requesting course waivers should contact the program director for requirements and guidelines.

Concentration Requirements--(11-15 credit hours)

The concentrations are designed to give the student the opportunity to focus on study in a specialized area of planning. Concentration requirements may be waived on the same basis as core requirements. The concentrations available in the Graduate Program in Planning are as follows:

Environmental Planning Concentration--(11-12 credit hours)

The environmental planning concentration is intended for students interested in planning that deals with the problems of the natural environment.

The following course:

SPEA E549

Environmental Planning

(3 cr.)

One of the following courses:

SPEA P530	Land Use Law	(3 cr.)
SPEA V645	Environmental Law	(3 cr.)

Two of the following courses:

SPEA E431	Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment	(3 cr.)
SPEA E510	Hazardous Materials Regulation	(3 cr.)
SPEA E515	Fundamentals of Air Pollution	(3 cr.)
SPEA E520	Environmental Toxicology	(3 cr.)
SPEA E542	Hazardous Materials Control	(3 cr.)
SPEA E552	Environmental Engineering	(3 cr.)
SPEA E554	Groundwater Flow Modeling	(3 cr.)
SPEA E560	Environmental Risk Analysis	(3 cr.)
SPEA E562	Solid and Hazardous Waste Management	(3 cr.)
SPEA P527	Planning Applications of Geographic Information Systems	(2 cr.)

Health Planning Concentration--(15 credit hours)

The health planning concentration is intended for students interested in planning that deals with the problems of the health care system and the provision of health services. The requirements for the concentration are as follows:

SPEA H501	U.S. Health Care: Systems, Policies, and Ethical Challenges	(3 cr.)
SPEA H502	Developing Strategic Capability	(3 cr.)
SPEA H514	Health Economics	(3 cr.)
SPEA H516	Health Services Delivery and the Law	(3 cr.)

One of the following courses:

SPEA H515	Seminar in Health Policy: Special Topics	(3 cr.)
SPEA H615	Health Care Outcomes and Decision Making	(3 cr.)

Students in the health planning concentration who elect to take SPEA H514 Health Economics to satisfy the requirement in the core shall be required to take one additional health planning-related course, to be selected in consultation with their advisor.

Urban Development Planning Concentration--(11-12 credit hours)

The urban development planning concentration is for students interested in planning that deals with the problems of urban areas, including general urban planning, neighborhood and community development, housing, and economic development. The following three courses:

SPEA P530	Land Use Law	(3 cr.)
SPEA V560	Public Finance and Budgeting	(3 cr.)
SPEA V597	Land Use Planning	(3 cr.)

One of the following courses:

SPEA P527	Planning Applications of Geographic Information Systems	(2 cr.)
SPEA P532	Site Planning and Urban Design	(3 cr.)
SPEA P540	Community and Neighborhood Development Planning	(3 cr.)
SPEA P550	Topics in Planning (urban topics only)	(3 cr.)
SPEA P630	Strategic Planning	(3 cr.)
SPEA V564	Urban Management	(3 cr.)
SPEA V622	Seminar in Urban Economic Development	(3 cr.)

Specialized Concentration in Planning and Public Policy--(14-15 credit hours)

Students with professional interests and goals that are not met by the preceding concentrations may choose to develop a customized concentration with the approval of their faculty advisors.

Experiential Requirement

In addition to the course requirements listed above, students must demonstrate professionally relevant experience through approved internships, approved independent study projects, or other field experience approved by the director of the Graduate Program in Planning.

General Elective Courses

General elective courses are used to complete the overall degree requirement of 49 graduate credit hours.