Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program (BOCEP)
September 2007 to June 2008 Courses
We are offering more courses to better serve
your continuing education needs. Registration is open. Scroll down
to see the courses we're offering betwen Fall 2007 and Summer 2008.
We update our website frequently, and occassionally add new courses.
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Development Institute mailing list.
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Economic Development
and Real Estate Courses Economic Development and real estate courses focus on tools
and concepts to promote economically healthy communities.
Date
Course
About
January 9 to February 16,
2008
Developer's Toolbox: Housing Market Analysis
Too
often, planners and policy professionals have trouble working
with developers because they don’t see an issue the
same way, or speak the same jargon. This course helps students
understand and work with one of the most basic tools of housing
development: market analyses. This course is eligible
for one undergraduate credit from Rutgers University. This course has been approved for 14 credits under the American Institute of Certified Planners' Certification Maintenance program.
New course: Managing the Challenges of Infill Development
(Sorry, no more registrations. This course is closed.)
Infill development has become an important tool in urban
revitalization. Infill refers to the construction of individual
buildings or small projects on vacant or underutilized lots
in established areas that are already served by infrastructure
and surrounded by urban development. Current practices, design
standards, and development solutions will be explored. The
course will also provide resources for further work in this
growing field of planning and revitalization. Participants
will learn how infill development is used in the United States,
and explore how to apply the concepts in their communities.
The course will develop around week modules that focus on
a different aspect of Infill development. Each week a reading
assignment will be discussed by the class.
Infill development standards, examples, and current literature
will be provided as online materials for free as well as a
list of suggested further readings.
This course will show you how to interpret retail market
analyses submitted by developers for proposed shopping centers
and neighborhood/downtown revitalization projects. You will
also learn about how developers determine market demand and
how retail stores make location decisions. You will gain familiarity
with demographics, psychographics, consumer expenditure patterns,
retail performance indicators, and information sources.
The course is designed for land planners, transportation
planners, planning commissioners, and elected officials who
need to use retail market data to make informed land use decisions.
This course is eligible for one undergraduate credit from
Rutgers University.
This
course is eligible for one undergraduate credit from Rutgers
University.
14 AICP Certification Maintenance Credits are available for this course.
Karen Lowrie returns with an updated version of her course.
This one focuses on how to best redevelop polluted properties.
Karen is a seasoned urban planner with the National Center
for Neighborhoods and Brownfields Redevelopment of Rutgers
University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public
Policy.
To get the kind of real estate development you want to
see in your community, you need to learn the tools and language
of developers. One of those key tools is the financial plan
known as a pro forma. No reasonable developer would make a
significant investment without seeing a pro forma. Students
will learn how to read, prepare and present pro formas. 14 AICP Certification Maintenance credits are pending for this course. This
course is eligible for one undergraduate credit from Rutgers
University.
Urban Design and Placemaking
courses Urban design and placemaking courses explore topics such
as site planning, New Urbanism, form-based codes, transit-oriented
design and related topics.
Date
Course
About
September 12 to October 21, 2007
New course: Introduction to New Urbanism
New Urbanism is one of today's hottest topics
in urban development and planning. This course is for professionals
who want to learn the fundamentals of New Urbanism so they
can make better decisions about whether it is a good choice
for their communities. The instructor, Leland Edgecombe, is
an experienced achitect, landscape architect and planner.
Urban Design Analysis is an introduction to the fundamental
principles and practices of urban design using a multi-disciplinary
approach. The course provides students with a basic urban
design vocabulary and the necessary tools and techniques for
critically analyzing the built environment. Images, illustrations,
assigned readings and on-line discussions are used as learning
aides.
In one of our most popular classes, Linda Weber returns to
help students get the basic knowledge they need to work on
and evaluate urban design projects.
This course has been approved for 14 AICP Certification Maintenance credits
Site Planning analysis is a pre-design research activity
which focuses on the existing, imminent and potential conditions
on and around a project site. It is, in a sense, an inventory
of all the opportunities, constraints, issues, and situations,
and their interaction at the property where a project may
of will be built.
The major role of Site Planning Analysis in design is that
of informing us about our site prior to beginning a design
concept so that the early thinking about our building or development
can incorporate meaningful responses to external conditions.
The Site Planning Analysis course will cover diagramming
site information, process and analysis, understanding the
concept of space, climatology, circulation and parking systems,
plant materials, and conceptual grading and drainage.
14 AICP Certification Maintenance credits are available for this course
Sorry, there are no more discounts or scholarships for this course.
Form-based zoning is an innovative approach to enhance the physical character of a place that provides flexibility to property owners and businesses by focusing on the built environment. This course will familiarize participants with current practices of these zoning standards based on building types rather than land use by focusing on a studio project. The course will also provide resources for further work in this growing field of planning and control law. Participants will learn how form-based zoning is used in the United States, and explore how to apply the concepts in their communities. The course will develop around week modules that focus on a different aspect of Form codes implementation. Each week a reading assignment will be discussed by the class in the context of the class studio project, to provide a more hands on and practical application.
Students will work on a real zoning issue to help them connect their knowledge to practice. This will allow us to follow a studio class format, and learn by tackling a specific problem we will all work together on. Each week a reading assignment will be discussed in light on the studio project. During the 4th week -the final week of class- students need to present their recommendation to the zoning problem that the studio project focuses on. This studio will focus on Arlington County’s Columbia Pike Corridor Form Based Code (FBC). This has been one of the earliest codes to be implemented, and is experiencing the most advanced issues for zoning administration and review. Specifically the studio will work with a civic building site plan review under the Columbia Pike FBC. This will allow us to think about form based codes as regulations, through emphasizing its characteristics and enforcement.Those who attended Form-Based Codes 201 at Rutgers University in Fall 2007 will get a scholarship to attend this course.
Planning Law and Legal Issues courses Need to learn more about zoning, design regulations or
the nuts and bolts of working in certain communities? Planning law
and legal issues courses address these and similar topics.
Date
Course
About
September 26 to November 5, 2007
New Jersey Planning Law
Taking the New Jersy Professional Planner exam? Want to
build your practice in New Jersey? Or just want to learn about
professional planning practice in the Garden State? This course
can help. Students who are taking the PP exam in the fall
will benefit from several practice examinations. The instructor,
Brent Barnes is the Director of Transportation Systems Planning
and Research for the New Jersey Department of Transportation,
and the author of the first edition of The Complete Guide
to Planning in New Jersey.
The purpose of this course is to introduce planning practitioners
to federal, state, local, and regional environmental laws.
Students will receive a short primer on those environmental
laws with which planners most often encounter. The majority
of the course, however, will focus on new developments within
the purview of these laws. Upon completing this class, students
will have basic familiarity with these laws and with the research
methods they may employ to stay abreast with future modifications
in these laws. The instructor, Dawn Jourdan, is a planning
consultant, lawyer and professor at the Unviersity of Florida.
Taking the New Jersy Professional Planner exam? Want to build
your practice in New Jersey? Or just want to learn about professional
planning practice in the Garden State? This course can help.
Students who are taking the PP exam in the spring will benefit
from several practice examinations. The instructor, Brent Barnes, AICP/PP, is the author of the original edition of The Complete Guide to Planning
in New Jersey.
14 AICP Certification Maintenance Credits are available for this course
Community Development and Planning Community development courses focus on housing, social
justice, collaborative planning, and other similar issues.
Date
Course
About
September 12 to October 21, 2007
New course: Introduction to Urban Planning
Many people find themselves doing urban planning without
any formal training in the subject. Others want to be effective
citizen planners, but don't know where to start. If this describes
you, this course is for you. Nicolas Ronderos, who brings
a distinct perspective as a planner, anthropologist, and policy
and real estate expert, helps you learn the fundamentals of
urban planning. Like running a successful restaurant, urban
planning is more difficult than it most people know. Professional
planners who want a refresher in the fundamentals of our craft,
and those taking the AICP examination, can also benefit.
New course: Managing the Challenges of Infill Development
What to do with all those small and gaptooth lots? Nicolas
Ronderos explore some best infill development practices in
a course that blends real estate development with community
revitalization. Nicolas is a Senior Planner with the prestigious
Regional Plan Association in New York.
While “visioning” has become more commonly
used to identify long range goals, the comprehensive plans
and ordinances they generate extrapolate from the present
and have increasingly short horizons, so the vision becomes
lost or disconnected from practice. This course demonstrates
how common-sense long range planning approaches can bridge
this divide. Students will learn the potential, and limits,
of planning techniques while applying them in the context
of long range plans. Students will also analyze the durability
and effectiveness of long-range plans in defining the “big
idea” and paradigm shifts. Students in this class are
expected to have a basic practical understanding of comprehensive
plans and planning techniques.
Affordable Housing Strategies discusses policy considerations
and the poltical and financial challenges that confront developers
of housing for individuals and families earning less than 80%
of the area median income (AMI). This immensely challending
field requires familiarity with the capital markets, knowledge
of zoning, general real estate transactional concepts, contract
and tax law and architecture, just to name a few trades. Affordable
housing is increasingly developed by non-profit community development
corporations (CDCs), which are often thinly capitalized and
operate with limited resources.
Karen Lowrie returns with an updated version of her course.
This one focuses on how to best redevelop polluted properties.
Karen is a seasoned urban planner with the National Center
for Neighborhoods and Brownfields Redevelopment of Rutgers
University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public
Policy.
Professional Practice (was Leadership
and Management) Professional practice courses explore the craft of our
field. These courses help students become better leaders, managers,
and professionals.
Date
Course
About
March 12 to April 19
Professional's Writing Studio
This course combines the best elements of the two Writing Studios. Part 1 focuses on short forms, such as emails and memos. Part 2 focuses on plans and projects. This course will be offered in an innovative way: through our standard BOCEP online format and through interactive webconferences.
Information on Part 1:
Do you really think the director and the elected officials
are reading all 50 pages of your technical report? The most
influential professionals master the art of short, simple communications.
This course is about how to write powerful and persuasive memos,
letters, email and other short forms of writing.
Professionals must not only speak persuasively but must also
document our ideas in writing in ways that get the reader
to see things our way. In fact, studies of professional land
use planners show that most of their work involves writing
memos, letters and reports. Unlike most business communications
courses, this BOCEP studio will be a "sandbox" for
students to share examples that we will evaluate together
in a guided critique. We will practice editing, and learn
when to turn our internal editor off. This course is a great
opportunity for you to gain experience with new techniques
in your professional writing without the risk of clients seeing
your errors -- what happens in BOCEP stays in BOCEP!
Information on Part 2:
Proposals, plans and technical reports demand detail, but
not dullness. Part II of the Professional's Writing Studio will
discuss tips and techniques specific to these longer forms of
communication, as well as the differences in writing for the
Internet compared to writing for print publication. Part I of
this course is not a prerequisite, but it will be helpful to
take both in sequence.
Unlike most business communications courses, this BOCEP studio
will be a "sandbox" for students to share examples
of reports, plans, executive summaries and other professional
documents (their own or those of others) that we will evaluate
together in a guided critique. We will practice editing, and
learn when to turn our internal editor off. This course is
a great opportunity for you to gain experience with new techniques
in your professional writing without the risk of clients seeing
your errors -- what happens in BOCEP stays in BOCEP!
Webconferences will be Tuesdays at 12 pm eastern from March 19 through April 9.
March 19: Why Bad Writing Happens to Smart Professionals
March 26: Getting to the Point
April 2: Omit Needless Words
April 9: Powerful Language
Planners and public policy professionals are only successful
to the extent that they can convince and persuade. Students
in this course will learn better ways to influence all types
of “clients” -- paying customers, stakeholders,
supervisors, colleagues and community members. This class
is equally valuable to any policy or planning professional
in the private, public or nonprofit sector. In this class,
we use the term “client” to refer to anyone who
does not report to you as an employee – i.e., clients,
colleagues, supervisors and elected officials. This course
is for any planning, development or policy professional who
wants to work more effectively and collaboratively with clients.
The instructor is Leonardo Vazquez, Director and a founder
of The Leading Institute.
This course will help directors, managers and team leaders
in planning, development and policy organizations motivate
their staff to:
*perform more effectively under difficult conditions
*better adapt and work with change
*make better decisions in the face of risk and change
The instructor will describe the factors that lead professionals
in the planning, policy and development fields to perform.
Students will explore several alternatives to the carrot (i.e.
more money) and stick approaches to motivation. The instructor
is Leonardo Vazquez, Director and a founder of The Leading
Institute.
Cultural Competency: Skills for Working With Diverse Communities
With our communities becoming more diverse in every conceivable
way – age, ethnicity, culture, profession – the
most successful professionals will be the ones who are culturally
competent. In this course, you will learn how to become better
at influencing and persuading more types of people. If you want
to be equally influential in the church basement and the office
conference room, you will get a lot out of this course.
Students will learn:
• How to analyze and evaluate the culture of an organization
or a community
• The differences between cultural competency and stereotyping
• Strategies for promoting cultural change
• How to manage the challenges of cultural change
The instructor is Leonardo Vazquez, Director and a founder
of The Leading Institute.
Smarth Growth and Sustainable Development Smart growth and sustainable development courses cover
such issues as environmental planning, brownfields redevelopment,
energy planning and other related topics.
Date
Course
About
May 28 to July 3
Environmental Planning Law
The purpose of this course is to introduce planning practitioners
to federal, state, local, and regional environmental laws.
Students will receive a short primer on those environmental
laws with which planners most often encounter. The majority
of the course, however, will focus on new developments within
the purview of these laws. Upon completing this class, students
will have basic familiarity with these laws and with the research
methods they may employ to stay abreast with future modifications
in these laws. The instructor, Dawn Jourdan, is a planning
consultant, lawyer and professor at the University of Florida.
New course special: $70 off for first 10 registrants. Use promotion code NL0308
Sorry, registration is closed for this class.
The evolution of energy use has impacted the way our society and its land uses have developed over centuries. Access to coal, oil, and natural gas has allowed unprecedented mobility and helped support the expansion of populations outward from population centers. Materials to build homes can be transported great distances sometimes at lower cost than native materials, and electricity, oil, or natural gas can be delivered virtually anywhere to heat and power structures. The quality of air, water, and soil has been impacted by energy use. Fossil energy is the entrenched energy paradigm of U.S. society today, but facing environmental, security, and supply challenges, alternatives are being actively promoted at all levels of government. These technologies have land use implications just as fossil energy sources have had.
In this five week studio course, students will learn how the main themes of energy planning and land use play out at the local level. Students will be asked to choose a technology and a community and study its experience with the intersection of energy and land use. The “studio” element of the course will require study of local zoning ordinances, policies related to energy use (alternative energy or traditional), and when possible, should also include an interview with a planner or policy maker involved with energy issues in the chosen community.
Karen Lowrie returns with an updated version of her course.
This one focuses on how to best redevelop polluted properties.
Karen is a seasoned urban planner with the National Center
for Neighborhoods and Brownfields Redevelopment of Rutgers
University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public
Policy.
Will it Work Here? Analyzing Transit-Oriented Development
Transit-oriented development is a popular tool for planning
that works with and around mass transportation. What do you
need to make a TOD plan successful? This class explores economic,
design and other issues. Students will learn the skills to
make better informed decisions for their communities, organizations
and clients.
New Urbanism is one of today's hottest topics in urban
development and planning. This course is for professionals
who want to learn the fundamentals of New Urbanism so they
can make better decisions about whether it is a good choice
for their communities. The instructor, Leland Edgecombe, is
an experienced achitect, landscape architect and planner.
Many people find themselves doing urban planning without
any formal training in the subject. Others want to be effective
citizen planners, but don't know where to start. If this describes
you, this course is for you. Nicolas Ronderos, who brings
a distinct perspective as a planner, anthropologist, and policy
and real estate expert, helps you learn the fundamentals of
urban planning. Like running a successful restaurant, urban
planning is more difficult than it most people know. Professional
planners who want a refresher in the fundamentals of our craft,
and those taking the AICP examination, can also benefit.
New course: Introduction to Geographic
Information Systems (GIS)
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of
using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software for analysis
and planning. Students will learn how to use GIS for the work
they do in planning, community and economic development, or
public policy. Concepts to be explored include spatial query,
thematic maps, raster GIS, coordinate systems and data models.
Students will work on free or low-cost GIS systems that they
themselves can download. The instructor, Nicholas D'Ambrosio,
is a Principal of Nomad Geomatics who also teaches GIS at
Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Whether you plan to use
GIS everyday, or simply want to know how to use it when you
need it, you will find this course interesting and useful.
Urban Design Analysis is an introduction to the fundamental
principles and practices of urban design using a multi-disciplinary
approach. The course provides students with a basic urban
design vocabulary and the necessary tools and techniques for
critically analyzing the built environment. Images, illustrations,
assigned readings and on-line discussions are used as learning
aides.
In one of our most popular classes, Linda Weber returns to
help students get the basic knowledge they need to work on
and evaluate urban design projects.
14 AICP Certification Maintenance Credits are available for this course
This course helps students learn the fundamentals of analyzing
sites for various types of development. Leland Edgecombe,
President of The Edgecombe Group, brings an architect's experience
and a planner's perspective to this course.
14 AICP Certification Maintenance Credits are available for this course
