November 4, 2006

November CUPPA Briefing

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Thelma Jackson completes the Chicago Marathon
Retired UPP Records and Registration Officer Thelma Jackson completed the 26.2 miles of the 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on October 22. Thelma trained from February to October with the Elijah Running Club, completing two half marathons as part of her preparation. Facing what participants were
told was one of the coldest days in Chicago Marathon history, Thelma persevered and finished with a time of 6:51:22. Our congratulations!

Professional Education Program awarded Urban Land Institute (ULI) grant
The Great Cities Institute's professional education program has been awarded a $10,000 grant by the Urban Land Institute to support the course development and marketing of the second iteration of the Planning Commissioners Online (PCO), an online training for municipal planning commissioners. GCI has partnered with ULI Chicago to revive and update the course. Several UPP faculty members have advised on the curriculum and contributed to the course through short presentations integrated into the course. The program is expected to launch in January 2007.

UPP Associate Professor awarded David C. Lincoln Fellowship
Rachel Weber, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, and Dan McMillen, Visiting Professor of Government and Public Affairs, were awarded the David C. Lincoln Fellowship from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to undertake a research project entitled "Ask and ye shall receive: Predicting the successful appeal of property tax assessments." The research will investigate whether appeals are both more common and more successful in thicker real-estate markets where information about comparable sales is readily available.

Weber inducted into Lambda Alpha International
UPP Associate Professor Rachel Weber was recently inducted into Lambda Alpha International, the honor society for the advancement of land economics. The Society works for the advancement of land economics by facilitating the interaction of members who have distinguished themselves in their professions, their communities and through academic achievements.

UPP doctoral student receives Provost's Award for Graduate Research
Urban Planning and Policy doctoral student Nancy Hudspeth was announced as a recipient of the Provost's Award for Graduate Research in the Fall 2006 semester competition. Nancy will be using the award to conduct research on neighborhood change and local business bankruptcy in Chicago in order to modify current assumptions of community economic development theory.

UIC to celebrate GIS Day on Friday, November 17, 2006
GIS Day is a national grassroots event that allows geographic information systems (GIS) users and vendors to open their doors to schools, businesses and the general public to showcase real-world applications of this important technology. Max Dieber and Nina Savar of the Great Cities Urban Data
Visualization Lab (GCUDV) are helping coordinate UIC celebration of GIS Day on Friday, November 17, and can be contacted for more information on the events listed below. Those interested may also refer to: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/ucgis/gisday/index.html

Meet and Greet: 9:30 - 11:15 a.m.
Electronic Learning Lab, Richard J. Daley Library, 1st floor
Campus GIS instructors and users introduce themselves to the campus community and fellow practitioners.

Job Fair: 11:30 - 1:00 p.m.
CUPPA Hall (Room TBA)
Students meet with representatives from agencies that require staff with GIS skills.

Voorhees Center hosts visitors from ChileFrancisco Sabatini and Rodrigo Salcedo of the Catholic University of Chile conducted a productive and successful visit to Chicago from October 1st to
8th. Hosted by the Voorhees Center, they visited and learned about public housing developments, met with CUPPA officials, academics and housing practitioners. As part of the CUPPA International Lecture Series they gave a talk on public/social housing in Latin America, focusing on their World Bank
sponsored study on the impact of geographic segregation on affected communities, a project in which the Voorhees Center is providing assistance. There is currently discussion to develop a joint international project to document best practices in public/social housing.

Perry speaks on university-municipal partnerships
As part of his work with the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, Great Cities Institute Director David Perry was in Rotterdam, Netherlands speaking at a conference on urban growth engines. The conference was attended by invited local university administrators and municipal managers who are exploring ways to collaborate in mutually beneficial ways. David and former CUPPA Dean Wim Wiewel will be drawing from their edited book Universities as Developers to offer examples of university-municipal partnerships.

Successful book debut for Voorhees Center's Janet Smith and Pat Wright
The book, "Where Are Poor People to Live?" that documents public housing transformation in Chicago, edited by Prof. Janet Smith and Pat Wright of the Voorhees Center, as well as Larry Bennett, was officially released on October 13 at a successful on-campus gathering attended by over 70 academics, community leaders and practitioners.

ACSP Conference, Fort Worth, Texas
Faculty and research students from the Urban Planning and Policy (UPP) Program will be attending the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Annual Conference on "Borders and Cores: What is Planning in the Global Era?" in Fort Worth, Texas on November 9 - 12. UPP Director Marty Jaffe will be hosting a UPP reception at the conference on Friday evening, 10 November.

Demolition begins in preparation for new CUPPA computer lab
Contractors have begun their demolition work on the second floor of Art and Design Hall in preparation for the construction of a new computer lab for use by CUPPA students. The lab is expected to be complete for Fall 2008.

COMINGS AND GOINGS:

Dr. John Betancur, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, has been appointed as Acting Director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP) from October 16, 2006 to May 15, 2007, subject to Board of Trustees approval. During the leave of absence being taken by Dr. Phil Bowman, Director of IRRPP, John will be working closely with Dean Hambleton, the IRRPP Executive Board and other stake holders on a review of the future direction of the Institute.

Gabrielle Brown, Program Coordinator in Public Administration, will be leaving in Spring 2007 to begin her student teaching as part of her master's program in the College of Education. Besides designing Public Administration's first Career Fair, she has developed scores of contacts with potential Capstone Course agencies and internship opportunities. She will certainly be missed, and the youth of America will clearly gain from her wisdom, dedication, and kindness.

Laura Kunard, Coordinator of Research and Academic Programs in Public Administration, has been named Associate Director of the Institute for Public Safety Partnerships in the Department of Criminal Justice, where she is also ABD and will finish her dissertation this spring. Laura has worked in PA as the grants manager and HR specialist since Fall 2005, creating and enhancing systems and routines where none had existed. We wish the best of luck to Laura as she takes this opportunity to advance her professional career in an area she is passionate about.

Raymond Massenburg, who recently completed his PhD in Public Policy Analysis, Urban Planning and Policy, with a dissertation entitled, Race Related Context and Social Consequence of Foreclosure: A Study of Chicago Neighborhoods, has accepted a part-time appointment as Postdoctoral Research Associate at GCUDV effective October 16 to August 15, 2007, subject to Board of Trustees approval. Dr. Massenburg has worked as a project manager recently with the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, and previously earned an MBA in Finance / Marketing from Purdue University.

SAVE THE DATE:

November 23-24: Thanksgiving Holiday - Campus Closed
December 6: CUPPA Alumni Holiday Party
December 11-15: Fall Semester Final Exam Week
December 13: CUPPA Holiday Party
December 25-29: CUPPA administrative offices and CUPPATech services closed

WORTH REPEATING:

Podcasts on CUPPA Website
Check out the CUPPA website Podcast link at http://www.uic.edu/cuppa. You can download various recorded college events in .mp3 format.

If your unit has an important talk you want podcast so more can hear it, please make plans in advance! Instructions can be found at http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/admin/howto/podcasting.htm.

CUPPABriefing is an electronic publication by the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs for faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Published and distributed via email monthly following the meeting of the CUPPA Cabinet, CUPPABriefing will contain announcements, updates, and facts that are important to those working and/or studying in CUPPA. Assistant Dean for Communications, Jodi White Jones, will be on leave until January 2, 2006. In her absence, questions, comments, or announcements may be sent to Angela Seeley, the Assistant to the Associate Dean, at angelas@uic.edu or 312-413-5445.