Transcript Program Review Discussion Unit Defined Core Questions 1) What progress has the Program made toward each one of these objectives? 1.

Program Review Discussion
Unit Defined Core Questions
1) What progress has the Program made toward each
one of these objectives?
1. Reach national prominence (top 3 US Ph.D.
planning programs).
2. Align the curriculum and structure with the
program’s intellectual focus. [We did this]
3. Create and support quality mentorship and
advising.
4. Develop an effective, accountable, and
transparent governance structure.
5. Generate and sustain necessary resources for the
long-term viability of the program.
State of the Program
Resources
We are a strong program but our resources are
primarily external. In 2013 our faculty were PI’s in
over $42 M in funding from diverse agencies of
externally funded research projects. 22% of the
total program’s resources come from the Graduate
School, and about 18% were from UDP and
contributing departments.
We need to triplicate our resources to be able to
recruit our top applicants and support our students
and faculty productive research.
Current Trajectory
Applications 2000-2013
120
99
97
100
86
79
80
63
60
56
60
53
48
40
20
0
35
38
Composition of the faculty group
15 Dept.
11 Dept.
Faculty
 48 faculty in the Interdisciplinary Group
from 15 departments;
 From 2010—Spring 2013 the
interdisciplinary faculty group of this
program published over 410 peer
reviewed articles, with 35 more in press,
forthcoming; 17 books, 6 forthcoming;
and 67 book chapters, 20 forthcoming.
Students
 Current students in the last 3 years have published 13
peer reviewed papers, 8 reports and or conference
proceedings, 1 book review, and 1 book chapter.
 Current students in the last 3 years have presented at
national and international conferences 52 times.
 Current students in the last 3 years have received 20
awards, including the Bullitt Environmental Fellowship
($100,000), the Lincoln Land Institute Doctoral
Fellowship, the Palestinian American Research Center
Fellowship, Open Society/SOROS Foundation Fellowship,
Huckabay Teaching Fellowships.
Program Interdisciplinarity
Landscape Architecture
Geography
Architecture
ESS
Statistics
CEE
Anthropology
CSS
UDP
Ocean & Fish Sciences
Public Affairs
Forest Resources
Epidemiology
Pediatrics
Environmental Health
Graduates
All of the graduates of the program continue to “be
leaders in the international community of researchers,
educators, and practitioners who focus on improving
the quality of life and environment in metropolitan
regions,” per our mission statement.
 Graduates in the last four years occupy academic
positions in North America at the University of
Pennsylvania; SUNY Buffalo; and University of
Vermont, Portland State University, and University of
Washington.
 Internationally, our graduates hold positions at
Birzeit University, Palestine; Royal Institute of
Technology, Sweden; Yonsei University, Seoul
National University, Korea; University of Glasgow,
Scotland, and other universities in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates, Korea, and Thailand.
Program Resources: Student Support Distribution
80
70
60
50
Quarters of Support
UW-other
40
External
URBDP/CBE
Grad School
30
20
10
0
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
Creating Our Future:
Aligning the program with
our renewed identity
Review Questions
•
What challenges and opportunities do the
current structural and financial changes at UW
pose to fully achieve these objectives?
•
What challenges and opportunities do the
emerging changes in national and international
trends in urban design and planning and
doctoral education pose to achieve these
objectives?
•
What can we learn from other institutions and
PhD programs to address the challenges and
make further progress towards these
objectives?
Mapping our Future
• Define a blueprint for realigning the program
to our renewed identity
• Identify synergies and tradeoffs in realigning
course requirements (e.g., research methods)
• Develop a guide map for orienting students
through the program
Responding to the Challenge
Our Identity: New Clusters
 Urban Development Processes
 Urban Ecology and Wellbeing
 Urban Environment and Transportation
Pedagogy
• Revised Curriculum to align with emerging
challenges and new clusters
• Provide a road map to help students navigate
through program requirements and clusters
Emerging Definitions
Research Clusters
The intellectual focus of the Ph.D. program centers around three unique research clusters bringing together
interdisciplinary perspectives from the social and natural sciences, humanities, design, and planning
disciplines. Each cluster applies the research to the formation and evaluation of urban and environmental
plans and policies.
(1) Urban Ecology and Wellbeing
Urban Environment and Transportation
(2) This
Urban
Environment and Transportation
research cluster examines the connection between urban (built) environment and transportation at scales
ranging from neighborhood to metropolitan region. Drawing from multiple disciplines including behavioral
sciences, economics, geography, engineering, and public health, it explores ways to improve the spatial
organization of urban activities to make cities more accessible, viable, and sustainable.
(3) Urban Development Processes
Urban Ecology and Wellbeing
This research cluster focuses on the interactions between urban system dynamics, and ecosystem function,
and human wellbeing across multiple spatial and time scales. It is grounded in the sciences of coupled
human/natural systems and their interface with the theories and policies of planning and design. Human
wellbeing is grounded in theories from preventive medicine and health promotion, which address both
physical and mental health at the individual and the group levels.
Urban Development Processes
This research cluster inquires into the social, political and cultural norms and functions of planning and other
forms of spatial collective and cumulative individual actions, manifest in the community, city and region. The
cluster addresses core problems of how entities acting at these scales negotiate or contest access to urban
space, and participate in economic, housing, real estate, and community development. Concerns include
social and economic vitality of city regions; urban design as an expression of socio-political relationships;
equity in benefits and access across economic groups and geography; gentrification pressures; addressing
market failure; and assessing, apportioning, and reducing risk.
Urban Development Processes
Urban Ecology and Wellbeing
Urban Environment and Transportation
planning policies/interventions (land
value taxing, participatory planning)
coupled human-natural systems
60
50
urban form
40
methods
30
transportation
20
10
0
environment
social environment
economy
sociopolitical processes
wellbeing
information
Program Clusters
18
16
14
12
10
Students
Faculty
8
6
4
2
0
Urban Ecology & Wellbeing
Urban Development Processes
Urban Environment & Transportation
Program Clusters
30
Urban Environment & Transportation
Urban Development Processes
25
Urban Ecology & Wellbeing
20
Urban design & planning
Geography
Forest Resources
Landscape architecture
Public affairs
CEE
CSE
Anthropology
Statistics
Epidemiology
ESS & CEE
Oceanography & Fish Sciences
Pediatrics
15
10
5
0
Faculty
Students
# of Depts represented
9
5
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
Curriculum Review
1. Added curriculum requirement descriptions
to better explain core requirements and
research methods
2. Added more qualitative courses to both
phase 1 and phase 2 research methods
requirements.
3. More appropriately placed some of the
quantitative methods courses in phase 1 or
phase 2, depending on level of difficulty.
Road Map: Example of PhD Curriculum
Road Map: Example of PhD Curriculum
State of the Program: A Synthesis
With the world becoming increasingly urban our
field of knowledge and practice is becoming
increasingly central to both academia and society.
 We are continuing to make important progress in
making our program visible through our graduates,
numerous publications, and participation in
conferences.
 It is now critical that we strengthen our capacity to
perform a leading role in bringing together diverse
disciplines, integrate many points of observations,
and linking research and practice.
The Future of the Program
• Acknowledge the centrality of urban
challenge and its role beyond our field
• Build on synergies with the UW faculty
to generate new opportunities for
scholarship and education
• Partner with other programs/colleges
to generate greater efficiencies
An Urban PhD Cluster
• Create a cluster of independent PhD
Programs in different Colleges who
have a focus on urban issues
• Develop a set of shared courses,
seminars, and resources to support
students and faculty in these programs
focusing on urban scholarship
• Create open forums for exchange and
cross-fertilization in urban studies
Annual Symposium
The Study of Cities in the Anthropocene
Objective: explore the challenges and
opportunities that a new centrality of "urban
problems" pose to the study of cities.
Speakers from diverse disciplines will
articulate a new definition of "urban" and
identify existing and potential intellectual
synergies among scholars of urban studies.
Annual Symposium
The Study of Cities in the Anthropocene
The symposium will be structured in three sessions
and five panels.
A first session will define planetary-scale socioecological change and elaborate the challenges and
opportunities for the study of the city.
A second session, three panels will explore the
implications of such new definition for three
research areas: 1) urban development processes, 2)
urban ecology and wellbeing, and 3) transportation
and the environment.
A third session will explore the implications for
graduate education and opportunities for
innovation in PhD Education.