The Provost and the Deans of the Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Social Science, and Human Ecology in May 2002 charged a faculty committee with exploring and developing a new interdisciplinary program among the Colleges involving the following units: Construction Management (CM) in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Landscape Architecture (LA) and Urban and Regional Planning (URP), both in the Department of Geography in the College of Social Science (SSC), and Facilities Management (FM) in the Department of Human Environment and Design in the College of Human Ecology. The committee's purpose was to develop the outline of an interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree focusing on producing innovative research and training on the subject of the built environment. The Phase I report of the committee was delivered to the respective Colleges and the Provost in December 2002. It was anticipated that a two-step process would be undertaken whereby the School of Construction Management would be formed, and then would be followed by an expanded School that would encompass all the units involved. However, presentation of the proposal to the MSU Board of Trustees was delayed with the thought that the School formation could be accomplished in one step if time were given for units to properly consider the transition.

The Provost and the three deans formed a Task Force in May 2002 to consider the integration of the four disciplines. The Provost provided the Task Force with $50,000 to develop an in depth analysis for the creation of a School of the Built Environment (later changed to School of Planning Design and Construction). The Task Force was co-chaired by R. von Bernuth and M. Syal and included E. Strauss, R. LaMore, J. Burley, W. Rahue, D. Stewart and S. Mireley (later replaced by R. Kilty). The Registrar, L. Stanford and Graduate School Dean, K. Klomparens, were appointed by the provost to serve as the external reviewers.

In the Spring of 2003 the Landscape Architecture Faculty voted to join the new School. In the Fall of 2003 the Urban and Regional Planning faculty voted to join the new School. The faculty from Interior Design (ID) was invited to participate in discussions, and on December 17, 2003 a meeting facilitated by Dr. John Beck of Labor and Industrial Relations was held for all faculty participants from the four programs. Thirty-one faculty members from CM, LA, URP, and ID/FM participated in the meeting. In January 2004 the Interior Design faculty voted to join the new School. Reflecting the disciplines involved, the name "School of Planning, Design, and Construction" was adopted.

The School became reality when the Michigan State University Board of Trustees unanimously approved its formation at the April 16, 2004 meeting. Dr. von Bernuth was appointed director of the school, and served as director of the Construction Management program until September 15, 2007. Professor Warren Rauhe served as the first director of the Landscape Architecture program, and Dr. Jon Burley served in that capacity until November 2007. Dr. Eric Strauss served as the director of the Urban and Regional Planning program until 2006 when Dr. Mark Wilson became director, and Professor Roberta Kilty served as the director of the Interior Design program until November 2007. Dr. Scott G. Witter was appointed Director of the School on September 15, 2007.