Questions about BOCEP or Leading from the Middle? Learn more at a free info session

We are hosting a free online information session on upcoming courses and initiatives on September 7, from 2 to 3 pm eastern.  You can learn more or ask questions or about:
*Bloustein Professional Certificates
*Upcoming Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program Deep Learning courses
*Upcoming Leading from the Middle programs
*Leadership coaching
*Upcoming Learning Labs
*Arts Build Communities initiatives and our work in places such as Trenton and Essex County, New Jersey
*The Leading Institute's technical assistance work in places such as Garfield and Linden, New Jersey


PDI and TLI Director Leonardo Vazquez will host the meeting and take your questions and comments.  If you have a webcam or computer microphone, you can speak your questions.  Otherwise, you can type in your questions or comments.  Or just listen in.


Register for the information session

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Free leadership development sessions return in September

The Leading Institute offers free one-hour leadership development sessions to help good professionals become effective leaders.  The free sessions will be on the third Wednesdays and third Fridays of the month, beginning September 22, 2010.  Participants can attend in person, by phone, or through videoconference.

The sessions will include peer coaching and group problem solving, discussion of current topics and their connection to leadership, and other activities to be determined by participants.  The sessions will be facilitated by Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, Director of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute.

These sessions are designed to help you think in new ways about the connections between leadership, management and professional practice. You can become more creative, confident and more able to tackle difficult challenges.

You are eligible to participate in one session per month if you are:
*Pursuing a Bloustein Professional Certificate and are registered in a BOCEP Deep Learning class or an upcoming Leading from the Middle class.
*A graduate of or coach in Leading from the Middle.

PDI/TLI will send eligible participants location information, call-in information, and login information at least a week before hand.

Questions?  Please contact Leo Vazquez by email or at 732-932-3822, x711

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Want good ideas for urban planning and development in your community? Become a BOCEP studio client

A university studio course is a good, cost-effective way for communities to get information and ideas to help them deal with specific planning and development issues. Imagine if the students in the course were a diverse group of practicing professionals, who could bring a wide range of expertise and insights to an issue.


That's what you would receive if your community became a client for a BOCEP Deep Learning studio course.  You would get the attention of up to 20 professionals who bring their knowledge together to help you address almost any issue connected to community development, economic development, planning law, leadership, sustainability or urban design.



Previous courses have developed form-based codes strategies in Arlington, Virginia; strategies for connecting the arts and community development in Bisbee, Arizona; transit-oriented urban design strategies in Perth Amboy, NJ; and draft environmental regulations for several communities in the United States.  All courses are guided by seasoned practitioners who are experts in the subjects they teach.

In addition to the attention of planning and development professionals, BOCEP studio clients receive a deliverable (plan or study, depending on the issue) at the end of the class.

There's a small fee to be a client:  $1,500.  This fee ensures that the class has the resources it needs to run and that you will receive a quality deliverable at the end of the class.


Almost any course offered by BOCEP is or can become a studio course.  You can choose from a scheduled course, or we can customize a course to fit with your schedule.  Learn more about BOCEP courses.


For more information, please contact PDI Director Leonardo Vazquez by email or at 732-932-3822, x711.

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Earn a Bloustein Professional Certificate in planning law and legal issues

If you are not up to speed on current land use laws at the federal, state and local levels, you risk promoting ideas that will fold under the pressure of savvy opponents.  The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program can help.


We offer a set of courses that can help you get smarter about planning law and legal issues, so you can be more effective and influential.  Earning a Bloustein Professional Certificate shows colleagues and employers  you don't just "know about it" -- you know it.

Between September 2010 and June 2011, we are offering at least five courses related to land use law:
*New Jersey Planning Law, September 29 to November 6 
and again from February 23 to April 2

*Ethics in Planning and Land Use Regulations, November 3 to December 18
*Current Trends in Land Use Law, January 5 to February 12
*Law and Sustainability Studio, April 13 to May 21 
*Environmental Planning Law, May 25 to July 2



These courses are practical, interactive and convenient.  They are designed to help you choose better strategies for connecting the arts with community and economic development.  The courses are for busy people who don't have the time or resources to commit to many meetings, but want a lot more than they get in conferences or one-day workshops.   There are no required meetings, but you get the time and opportunity to share ideas with professionals and other smart people from around the United States.

In a Deep Learning course, you learn in several ways -- engaging in online discussions with other smart professionals; getting guidance from the instructor, a seasoned professional who also leads the conversations among classmates; taking quizzes to test your learning; or in some classes, working on real projects for real clients.  In previous urban design studio courses, learners have created a form-based code for a commercial corridor in Virginia and a transit-oriented design plan for Perth Amboy, NJ.

Learners who pass at least three courses can earn a Bloustein Professional Certificate of Completion, and earn hours toward a Master Practitioner or Expert Practitioner Professional Certificate.

Every land use law course is also eligible or will be submitted for 14 American Institute of Certified Planners Certification Maintenance credits.

BOCEP is produced by the Professional Development Institute of Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.  Bloustein is one of the top schools and leading centers of planning knowledge in the United States.

For more information on urban design or any other Deep Learning courses, please visit the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program or contact Program Manager Swena Gulati by email or at 732-932-3822 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              732-932-3822      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, x636.

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