Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Learners in June Deep Learning courses to get extra time to complete their final projects

Anyone who registers for Cultural Community Development Studio or  Introduction to Environmental Planning will have the entire month of July to complete their final projects.

We made this adjustment so that learners who want to get a Letter of Completion can accomodate their class into their summer plans.

Both courses begin June 9. The automatic extension applies only to these two courses.  If you are in a Deep Learning course and need an extension to complete your final project, please contact your instructor.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

New workshop: Making your pitch pitch-perfect

Making Your Pitch Pitch-Perfect is a skills-building workshop to help you develop "elevator speeches" and effective executive summaries.  This workshop is for anyone who wants to be more persuasive. It is taught by Leonardo Vazquez, Director of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute of Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.


The next session will be June 23, from 9 am to 11 am eastern at the Bloustein School, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ.  Cost: $10.  Participants are eligible for 2 AICP Certification Maintenance credits.


Learn more or register for this session.

Designed for planners, architects, engineers and any other public affairs professionals, this workshop will help you: *Condense long, complex and complicated information into key statements that can get your audience's attention and interest. *Tailor your "elevator speech" to the four common personality types. *Write compelling executive summaries, which may be the only thing your audiences read. *Learn to read the signals that let you know when to make your pitch - and when to wait for a better time. Participants will be able to practice their pitches and get expert and peer coaching.

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Friday, May 14, 2010

Traffic Planning Learning Lab approved for Professional Engineer and AICP credits

Traffic Planning and Engineering has recently been approved for one New York Professional Engineer PDH credit.  The online Learning Lab will also receive 1.5 Certification Maintenance credits from the American Institute of Certified Planners.

The Learning Lab is conducted by videoconference and is scheduled for May 25, 12 to 1:30 pm eastern. 

This Learning Lab is produced through a partnership between Rutgers University's Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program and Langan Engineering & Environmental Services. Here is the course description:

Traffic planning and design services are a critical component to any planning process. However, traffic issues are often misunderstood or misrepresented. This presentation will explain the role of traffic planning in the overall planning process as well as discuss some traffic design considerations that should be understood by planners who are planning for or assessing potential development impacts. 

Responsible traffic planning includes a number of considerations, which will be discussed, so that efficient localized or regional circulation patterns can be created or maintained removing unnecessary impact from any one party. This course is taught by one of Langan's senior traffic engineers who is also AICP certified and possesses extensive experience in various aspects of traffic master planning and design.

 Learn more or register.


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The Leading Institute offers free peer coaching sessions to planning, urban design, and civil engineering organizations

Many people don't realize how much value Leading from the Middle can bring to themselves, their organization and their professional practice.  The Leading Institute wants to change that.  One of the ways is to offer a free one-hour peer coaching session to any planning, urban design, landscape architecture or civil engineering organization within two hours of travel time from Newark, NJ. 

Peer coaching is one of the more popular parts of the Leading from the Middle program.  At least one member of the group talks about a challenging work problem.  Guided by an expert moderator, other members of the group provide insights and advice.  Peer coaching is a rigorous analytical process that helps participants explore their assumptions, learn strategic listening and coaching skills, manage conflict, and build their capacity to develop high-performing teams.  These are only a fraction of the skills that Leading from the Middle Fellows learn in the full program.


Leading from the Middle is an innovative program that helps high-potential professionals become effective leaders in their field.  Designed for land use and urban affairs professionals, it is the only program of its kind that combines workshops, peer coaching and one-to-one performance coaching. The program is both challenging and practical.  Classes are small and diverse, so Fellows can get every opportunity to learn with and from their classmates.

The next program will be at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ from September to December 2010.  The program costs $1,500, but a limited number of scholarships of up to $1,250 are available.

Learn more about Leading from the Middle or contact TLI Director Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP by email or at 732-932-3822, x711.

The free peer coaching session is available to any organization or group in the planning, civil engineering, architecture or public affairs field with at least six participants. 

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP will be the lead facilitator for all of the free sessions.  Leo is a seasoned community and economic development planner with expertise in organizational development, leadership, strategic communications and cultural competency.  Leo has created or co-founded a number of initiatives in the planning field, including Arts Build Communities, Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program, Latinos and Planning, and Planners for Ethnic and Cultural Diversity.

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

BOCEP featured in Rutgers University Continuing Education Newsletter

The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program was featured in the May 2010 issue of Rutgers CONTINUING EDitorial.   The article focused on BOCEP's 5th anniversary

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BOCEP studio courses give you practical skills in urban design and creative sector development

What do you think sounds better:  "I learned about it" or "I learned how to make it happen"?

BOCEP Deep Learning classes help you answer the second question, and the studio courses offer a new experience in online education.  These courses not only can help you in your career; they also bring value to the real communities that the courses serve.

From May 26 to July 3, the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program is offering two studio courses.

Urban Design Studio will create an urban design plan for the area around the train station in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.  The City is the client and the instructor is Matt Wanamaker, a seasoned urban designer and architect with Brown & Keener in Philadelphia. 

Cultural Community Development Studio will help the City of Bisbee, Arizona  develop strategies and plans to move forward with an actual cultural-based project.  Learners will get a better understanding of the connection between arts and quality of life, and learn how to bring them together through planning.  The City is the client and the instructor is Rhonda Phillips, an Arizona State University professor who specializes in community development, economic development, and cultural heritage tourism.  She is the author of Concept Marketing for Communities.

In both courses, learners will work in teams under the guidance of their instructor.  Their work product will be evaluated by the client. With five weeks to complete the course, learners have time to learn and share ideas at their convenience.  And the courses are entirely online.


Each course costs $295.  As of May 13, there are a limited number of $50 scholarships available for each course.  To get the scholarship, please use Promotion Code BGBBS.  If you want to apply a course toward a Bloustein Professional Certificate, there is an additional fee of $50.  There are a limited number of $145 scholarships available to PDI Network subscribers.

Can a studio class work online?  Yes.  We know because the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program pioneered the successful online studio model last year.

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Thursday, May 6, 2010

Business development for planners. Because being smart is not enough to be successful.

Your professors probably didn’t teach you business skills.  They taught you how to be a good technical planner, and guessed that you would figure out management and business on your own. 

Now -- whether you work in the private sector, public sector, or in a nonprofit organization -- you know that to be successful, you need more than good ideas.  You need business acumen.  Business Development for Planners, from May 26 to July 3, can help.

In this Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program Deep Learning course taught by a successful private sector planner, you will learn the skills you need to advance your organization (and your career).  You can learn how to put together a successful team, respond effectively to an agency request, write a winning proposal, and be well-prepared for an interview.

Here are some more benefits: You can get 14 AICP Certification Maintenance credits and 20 hours toward a Bloustein Professional Certificate.

You will learn from and with other smart professionals from around the United States.  The instructor, Linda Amato, AICP (linda@resourcenw.com) specializes in managing, designing and preparing planning and environmental documents for transportation projects.  In particular, Linda has focused on interpreting complex passenger and freight rail operations and engineering information for the general public and decision-makers.  Linda has extensive experience working with agency and community stakeholders -- keeping them informed of project activities as well as soliciting information and input as necessary. Using her experience as a planning commissioner for the City of Seattle, she can anticipate concerns and respond appropriately.  As a planning commissioner, Linda is intricately involved in transportation, land use, zoning and community planning issues.

Linda has been managing and participating in planning and environmental projects for more than 20 years.  She is also active in the American Planning Association and in other planning associations.

If you’ve never taken a BOCEP Deep Learning course, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Deep Learning courses offer a new experience in online education that goes far beyond what a webinar or self-paced course can do.

The courses are convenient, interactive and affordable. You can participate at your convenience from anywhere you get an Internet connection. You learn from an expert practitioner, and you can share ideas with your classmates, who are smart professionals from around the United States. Unlike a short webinar or workshop, you have time to learn at your convenience, practice new skills and share your experiences with your classmates.

Business Development for Planners costs $295. There are a limited number of scholarships of up to $145 available. Please subscribe to the Professional Development Institute newsletter or become a fan on Facebook or Twitter to get more information. Go to the Professional Development Institute website. 
Or contact Program Manager Swena Gulati by email or at 732-932-3822, x636.

Note: There is an additional $50 fee per course if you are pursuing a Bloustein Professional Certificate.

Learn more about the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program.
Learn more or register for Business Development for Planners

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Retail Market Analysis teaches critical skills in economic development for urban planning

The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offers Retail Market Analysis class every year. But there’s probably no better time than now to take the class. Leaders of cash-strapped communities are struggling to build their property and sales tax revenues while improving their constituents’ quality of life. Knowing more about how businesses and developers make location decisions in risky times can help you be more influential and successful.

This course, running online from May 26 to July 3, is taught by Deborah Brett, AICP, a nationally-known real estate expert with more than 30 years of experience. Deborah Brett, who is based in Plainsboro, NJ, is a co-author of Real Estate Market Analysis.

Participants in the class will learn analytical techniques used by developers and businesses to make decisions, and get a deeper understanding of how to influence these decisionmakers in risky markets. Because so many commercial areas in the United States are struggling in the current market, there will be a special focus on the re-use and re-tenanting of existing retail space. The course is designed for economic development officials, land planners, transportation planners, planning commissioners, and elected officials who need to use retail market data to make informed land use decisions.

If you’ve never taken a BOCEP Deep Learning course, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Deep Learning courses offer a new experience in online education that goes far beyond what a webinar or self-paced course can do.

The courses are convenient, interactive and affordable. You can participate at your convenience from anywhere you get an Internet connection. You learn from an expert practitioner, and you can share ideas with your classmates, who are smart professionals from around the United States. Unlike a short webinar or workshop, you have time to learn at your convenience, practice new skills and share your experiences with your classmates.

Here are some more benefits: You can get 14 AICP Certification Maintenance credits and 20 hours toward a Bloustein Professional Certificate.

Here’s what some recent graduates of the course said they liked best about it:
"(I was) able to learn and attend exactly when I had time and without expectation of substantial background in the subject"

•"The discussions with other practitioners who were from a variety of places."

•"I enjoyed the online discussions and learning from my fellow classmates who had a greater deal of experience than I in market analysis."

•"The information presented by the instructor, I thought was very helpful for the course as well as my career."

•"(The) reading material and lectures were well thought out. They contributed to the learning environment."

Retail Market Analysis costs $295. There are a limited number of scholarships of up to $145 available. Please subscribe to the Professional Development Institute newsletter or become a fan on Facebook or Twitter to get more information. Go to the Professional Development Institute website. 
Or contact Program Manager Swena Gulati by email or at 732-932-3822, x636.

Note: There is an additional $50 fee per course if you are pursuing a Bloustein Professional Certificate.

Learn more about the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program.

Learn more or register for Retail Market Analysis.

Read more...

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