Community and Regional Planning (B.S.)

Program Coordinator/Contact

Bob Watrel, Department Head
Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences
109 Wecota Hall
605-688-4511

Program Information

The Community and Regional Planning major prepares students for careers in planning agencies where they can attain positions as city managers and community planners at the city, county, state or regional level. The program also qualifies graduates to hold positions in organizations such as housing agencies, community and neighborhood development corporations, economic development agencies, federal agencies and private development firms and foundations. The core requirements consist of such topics as planning theory and law, plan development, quantitative and qualitative skills, and values and ethnics.  The City/Community Design, Environmental, and Land Use emphases give students the opportunities to cultivate specialized knowledge and skills in domains that range from social and political aspects of planning to technical areas based on engineering and design that best prepares them for more focused career pathways. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Community and Regional Planning major, students will:

• Acquire planning process methods by developing tools for stakeholder involvement and community engagement and working with diverse communities. They will acquire skills in governance and participation by appreciating the roles of officials, stakeholders, and community members in planned change.
• Demonstrate foundational and specialized knowledge concerning the meaning of planning, planning theory, planning law, and human settlements and the history of planning.
• Understand professional ethics and responsibility by learning the key issues of planning ethics and related questions of the ethics of public decision-making, research, and client representation.
• Information Literacy
• Explore the future scenarios by understanding of the relationships between past, present, and future in planning domains, as well as the potential for methods of design, analysis, and intervention to influence the future. They also will demonstrate proficiency in global dimensions of planning by appreciating interactions, flows of people and materials, cultures, and differing approaches to planning across world regions.
• Acquire the ability to create and implement plans using integrative tools sound plan formulation, adoption, and implementation and enforcement. They will create sustainability and environmental quality by appreciating natural resource and pollution control factors in planning, and understanding of how to create sustainable futures. They will understand growth and development by appreciating economic, social, and cultural factors in urban and regional growth and change.
• Acquire leadership skills by learning how to use tools for attention, formation, strategic decision-making, team building, and organizational/community motivation.
• Demonstrate openness to new perspectives and diverse others, evaluate the complexity inherent to multiple perspectives, and demonstrate the ability to reassess their personal perspective when appropriate, particularly in regard to social justice and equity concerns in planning.

Course Delivery Format

The Community and Regional Planning program includes lectures, discussions, fieldwork, and travel, with limited online coursework.