Background

Vision for the School of Planning, Design, and Construction

The School of Planning, Design, and Construction envisions a union of disciplines whereby the relationship among the processes of planning, design, and construction of environments, communities, and infrastructure are reflected in the education of its students, research of its faculty, and outreach to the community. This relationship recognizes that building an environment to be shared by humans must consider social and political issues, must utilize technology, and must project the future as well as honor the past. The health of the community and the inhabitants can be significantly affected by the design of the community, and it must be built and managed with that in mind. The disciplines acting individually are not likely to be successful; acting collectively they can.

History

On February 11, 2000, Acting Dean William Taylor, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) announced to a meeting of the Agricultural Engineering faculty that a three-year transition period for the Construction Management (CM) Program would begin as of July 1, 2000 that would culminate in the establishment of the School of Construction Management.

Dr. Robert von Bernuth was appointed the Director of the Program for the transition period. The CM Program developed, in conjunction with the Dean of CANR, a transition plan and by-laws. The transition plan was reviewed within the College and is the foundation of this report. The CANR College Advisory committee approved the by-laws on February 21, 2003.

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.

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 he also serves as the director of the Construction Management program. Professor Warren Rauhe served as the first director of the Landscape Architecture program, and Dr. Jon Burley currently serves in that capacity. Dr. Eric Strauss is the director of the Urban and Regional Planning program, and Professor Roberta Kilty serves as the director of the Interior Design program. In fall 2004, total enrollment in the programs was 914 students. All four undergraduate programs are accredited by their respective accrediting agencies, and there are five masters degree programs and one PhD degree program in the school.