ASP Meeting Notes - 4/26/11

• Anthony reported that at the last Inland Empire Section Meeting he read in the notes that the meeting before Fred had announced that he wanted to purchase two new computers for the studio, two for the GIS lab and a new server for the GIS lab, all using department funds.

• Brian officially received Chris’ resignation this week; the bylaws state that other board members will have to cover his duties until we find a replacement.

o Brian & Ali will work this week on getting a ballot process underway.

• Brian made a request to have someone attend the upcoming Request Justification Meeting of the ASEWU on Wednesday April 27^th at 6:40 in Cheney.

o Will discussed attending, but needed to know how long it would last.

• Ali brought up the issue of the difficulty in getting emails passed along through Rose and discussed having the process run through her. We discussed the issues with FERPA, but it seems that if Rose sends and email to all members of the Planning Dept and explains the situation to them, giving them the opportunity to “Opt-Out” of having their email passed along to another student, then we might be covering our bases, in terms of liability. Brian is going to discuss with Rose further.

• It was brought up again that we will be asked for funds from the community garden group. Will mentioned that Nicole from the Inland Empire section said they have funds to match whatever ASP donates.

o It sounds like the school is worried about summer maintenance of the garden.

o Someone asked why we don’t try something similar at the Riverpoint Campus

§ Brian mentioned talking with Senator Murray’s staff about the soil mitigation work they are doing on our campus and further discussing this idea with them

• The Tech Committee was discussed again; it sounds like it will consist of Jeremy, Anna, Ryan, Muhammad and possibly Chris.

o Jeremy reported that the monitors have issues in the studio, but it appears that the actual computers work ok.

o The Surplus Dept was contacted and asked, “do we have to purchase parts from you if they are intended for campus use and not personal student use?” Jeremy was told that if the computer parts are for campus use, then we can moved into the 3-year rotation cycle instead of the 6-year (meaning when computer parts are rotated out of the labs every three year, we can have access to them/be on the list for them)

o Jeremy will put together a needs analysis

• Will brought up the issue of off-hour access to the building/computer labs. Supposedly he has come to campus over the weekends and has been told by security that the labs are closed, therefore he cannot get in to the building.

o Brian is going to discuss the issue with Rose to possibly have her send a letter to security, telling them it is ok to let students with a EWU pass into the buildings over the weekend.

• Karl & Kevin want to have a Studio-Cleaning Pizza Party

o The decided date was Saturday May 7^th at 11AM.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Ali Kara

Brownfield Conference Volunteers Needed!

We could still use a few more student volunteers for the State Brownfield Conference May 12-13, only 4 students so far. We're only two weeks away, so will you please push this out again? Registration fee of $60 can be waived in return for their help. They just need to contact Adrienne Dorrah at Dept of Ecology FIRST: ador461@ECY.WA.GOV

Melissa Wittstruck

Speakers Announced at the Northwest Brownfields & Land Revitalization Conference

The first annual Inland Northwest Brownfields Conference brings a network of public and private sector project proponents together for an open dialogue on brownfield redevelopment efforts and plans in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana. This day and a half conference will focus on brownfield issues specific to Inland Northwest communities through workshops, interactive breakouts, and plenary sessions.

Keynote Speakers Announced:

Jason Wheaton
The Regional Real Estate Market: A Developer's Perspective
Thursday, May 12
As an expert in his field, Jason unravels the mystery of what developers look for in a potential project and the realities of the current market. Hear the glimmers of hope and how the market is turning around. Right now Kendall Yards is transforming the river front in Spokane with new housing opportunities and proximity to the downtown. Learn how Greenstone approached this project and moved it forward in a depressed real estate market.

Yoram Bauman, PhD
Stand-Up Economist
Thursday, May 12
Dr. Yoram Bauman has appeared in TIME Magazine, on PBS and NPR, and on YouTube, where his videos have over 800,000 hits. Yoram lives in Seattle and appears regularly at the Comedy Underground as part of a political comedy benefit show called Non-Profit Comedy that has raised over $75,000 for local non-profits. He has a BA in mathematics from Reed College, a PhD in economics from the University of Washington, and spends his non-comedy hours teaching in the UW environmental studies program, researching the economics of climate change, and campaigning for environmental tax reform. In July 2011 he's heading to Beijing for 5 months as a visiting scholar at UIBE's Global Institute for Low Carbon Economy.

Visit the conference website http://conferences.wsu.edu/conferences/brownfields/default.aspx for more details on the speakers and programs.

Position opening for a graduating planning student

My name is Kent Jarcik and I am serving as City Planner for the City of Williston, North Dakota. The Planning Department is currently looking to fill a new Planner I position. Please see position description brief attached. Please forward this announcement to any graduating planning students you think might be interested. The position is geared toward a graduating student. The City of Williston is referred to as a boom and bust oil community. The region is currently experiencing an extreme boom with 175 drill rigs currently operating in northwestern North Dakota. There is an estimated 2,000 job openings in our region as a result of the boom with no available housing. The impacts and pressures that places on small rural agricultural communities is significant. I believe this position would be an excellent opportunity for a graduating student to gain a variety of experience in current and long range planning.

City estimates of our current population are about 17,000.

In regard to the housing statement above, we would assist a successful candidate in trying to locate housing

Thank you.

Kent Jarcik
City Planner
Williston, ND
(701)577-8104

APA Scholarship Applications Due

APA Washington Chapter Scholarship applications are due to me no later than 5 pm on Friday, April 29th, 2011.

Thanks
Rose

Studio Computers

Students:

I realize that we have problems with the computers in the studio. I am in the process of trying to find the funds to purchase two new computers and monitors; however, you need to know several factors.

First, your tech fee does not support the studio computers. It does support work you need to do for regular classes. The studio computers are for studio work and for faculty field projects. You need to use the computers in the computer lab and other labs on the Cheney campus for your normal work such as papers.

Second, you do pay a lab fee for some of your courses. These funds are used for maintenance of the studios. These fees are marginal. For example, the course fee for most of the those courses is approximately $17. If you take the number of students in the class times the fee, you can generate the income. If a class has 15 students in it, the income is $255. The cost for a roll of large scale copier paper is $50. The cartridges for the copiers are $200. The annual maintenance fee for these copiers is over a $1000. Thus, you can see that the course fees are not keeping up with the costs associated with them. We try to make up the difference from our contracts with clients but when the materials used in the two studios are for personal printing, we have no way to sustain the costs.

Therefore, you all need to be patient and utilize the computer labs when you should and the studio computers for studio work only.

Fred A. Hurand, Chair
Department of Urban Planning, Public and Health Administration
Eastern Washington University
668 N. Riverpoint Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99202
509-828-1217
fhurand@mail.ewu.edu

ASP Meeting Annoucement

There will be an ASP meeting on Tuesday, April 26th at 11:45 in the planning studio.

ASP 2001 strategic plan

At the ASP general meeting two weeks ago, a new strategic plan was discussed as the previous plan is 10 years old. The old plan was generated by Dr. Winchell's 2001 Strategic Planning class, but we were told that they already have a project for this quarter. So, it was suggested that we may be able to update the plan we already have.

As a consequence, since it was only available in hardcopy, the old plan was digitized and I have made it available for download at http://studentweb.ewu.edu/bsayrs33/ASPStrategicPlan2001.pdf.

Meeting Canceled

The meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 12, has been canceled due to the APA Annual Conference in Boston. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be April 26 at 11:45 AM in the Riverpoint Planning Studio. A special meeting may be called. At least 72 hours notice will be given should it be necessary.

Technology Committee

On Tuesday, I reauthorized the Technology Committee and appointed Jeremy Kulm its chair. Some of the projects the committee will be taking on include:

• Evaluation and replacement of computers in the Riverpoint Planning Studio, ASP office and GIS lab as part of a department technology needs assessment and plan;
• Investigating and recommending policies regarding the use of the printing facilities in the Riverpoint Planning Studio;
• Investigate the possible integration of the GIS Certificate program into the Riverpoint site and improve coordination with the planning program; and
• Set up the technology necessary to conduct ASP meetings at the Riverpoint and Cheney campuses simultaneously.

Participation in this committee is a great opportunity to have a lasting impact on the department and improve the quality of your own education. If you would like to participate, please contact Jeremy directly at jkulm@hotmail.com.

ASP Meeting Notes - March 29, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 11:45 AM.

The meeting agenda was presented and accepted without change.

• We discussed a donation from the Inland Empire APA Chapter; we expect them to be sending money soon to help with conference funds.

o The question was raised as to whether or not the chapter officially recognizes Amy as their new rep from our ASP because their elections are held in July. However, they have a new rep as well, so she did not know the answer to that question.

• Chris and Will want to hold re-votes for their positions – Chris thinks that an undergrad should hold a position on the board.

President’s Report:

• We must have a member present at at least 4 ASEWU meetings in order to be recognized as a club; Steve told Brian that we have met that requirement already this year, but that someone should continue to attend meetings b/c paperwork can get lost.

o We have requested $1700 from them for ASP, but this request has been stalled in their review process, so we still don’t know exactly how much we will be receiving from them.

• Changes are coming to the department:

o Fred will be stepping down as chair at the end of this school year and handing the responsibilities to Dr. Winchell

o We will also be adding two new P/T faculty members

o Dotson is also planning to leave

· Winchell has volunteered to be our advisor.

• It is the role of 2^nd year grad students to clean the planning studio and the issue was discussed about all the extra junk around the room.

o Question was raised about who is responsible for all the media pieces lying around the room.

o Also, computers are getting worn out faster than is really necessary – too many printing jobs, people suggested that professors are doing large print jobs in the studio.

o Chris suggested adding and ID card monitor, not to charge people for prints, but merely to monitor who is printing, so we might be able to determine where are the printing is going and how the computer are wearing out so quickly.

o There are also a number of non-working computers – Ben suggested that we have someone shut off the monitors at night b/c those are wearing out faster than the computers themselves.

o Anna mentioned that in order to really make anything happen, we need to have a professor contact the tech guy, Howard.

o Brian suggested we have a technology committee – Jeremy volunteered himself to head that up, Chris offered to help.

• Brian suggested an ASP community project for the group.

o Kelsey and Nate are currently spearheading the community garden project on the Cheney campus. Nate is running the meetings in Cheney to implement a community garden that the cafeteria can utilize for food.

§ We should be expecting a request for labor help and money from the ASP ($500)

• Brian has created multiple media outlets to share and receive information for all students involved in ASP.

o Blog: www.ewuasp.blogspot.com

o Facebook: EWU Association of Student Planners

o Email: ewuasp@gmail.com

o Wikispace: www.ewuasp.wikispaces.com ; (a place to collect stories or information about the program and which Brian hopes can eventually be used in recruitment)

We encourage everyone to check these out.

• Along these same lines, we discussed why it is important to maintain the program for our future careers and future students. Karl suggested that things like the wikispace be connected to the program website on the EWU page b/c Eastern doesn’t do a great job of promoting their program in comparison to schools like UW.

• Ethics Code: why do we have it? Is it really necessary? Is it off-putting to new students?

o It was discussed that the code was originally conceived because of students’ frustration with other student’s lack of commitment to group projects and teachers showing up late to class.

o Many people expressed feelings that it is not our job to police other people – if they show up to class, that is their decision. Plus it was found to be a rather harsh introduction to the ASP when presented at the beginning of the year.

o We decided to drop the code of ethics

• Brian presented the idea of having Winchell’s Strategic Planning class create a strategic plan for the ASP (one was created almost 10 years ago and this could be revised)

o Chris mentioned that they already have a project for their class, so our answer was no.

o Should we create a plan ourselves? Revise the old one?

• We will be holding elections to fills the positions that Will and Chris want to vacate. Dates have not been decided.

• The idea was also discussed about holding meetings simultaneously at the Riverpoint and Cheney campuses through Skype. This was not discussed further.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Ali Kara