MASTER OF PLANNING
PUBLIC INFORMATION
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
The Puerto Rican Planning Society (SPP in Spanish) gave the Osvaldo Ruíz Villarrubia Award to outstanding students from the Graduate School of Planning for the last three years to the following students respectively:
- 2018 – William A. McCormick Rivera
- 2019 – Carol E. Ramos Gerena
- 2020 – José L. Marrero Sicardó
- 2021 – Doris S. Medina Hernández
- Grace M. Delgado Navarro
- Edwin D. Diaz Gonzalez
- Nicole N. Garcia Jimenez
- Gabriel A. Ramos
- Brian J. Rodriguez Acevedo
- Damián E. Santiago Morales
- Moisés Abdel-Rahman López
- Keyshla N. Class Villanueva
- Ruben O. Maldonado Gonzalez
- Carla N. Matos Chévere
- Doris S. Medina Hernández
The student Paula García Almodóvar earned the Environmental Fellowship from University of Michigan 2021. The Environmental Fellows Program (EFP) at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), in partnership with the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), is a 12-week summer fellowship opportunity that seeks to diversify the environmental field by cultivating the career aspirations of master’s and doctoral students from historically underrepresented groups by connecting students to work opportunities in environmental nonprofits, grant makers, and government sectors. https://efp.seas.umich.edu/fellows/Students Rubén Maldonado and Nías Hernández, co-authored and published with Dr. Maritza Barreto from the Graduate School of Planning and other colleagues Bracero-Marrero, L, Himmelstoss, E.A., and Heslin, J.L., 2021 GIS Compilation Of Vector Shorelines And Shoreline Classification For Puerto Rico From 1970 And 2010: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/610c20d1d34ef8d705698348?fbclid=IwAR0OeLBWhJSx81A74fpzH9LD5iILqOiRybnNvlzy7D0s9jzOQIDSc5uUJ7c
Valeria Bonano co-authored the published article The State Of Coastal Erosion In Puerto Rico After Hurricane María. Other authors were Maritza Barreto, Rafael Méndez Tejeda, Nahir Cabrera, Elizabeth Díaz, Kevian Pérez and Aurelio Castro. Revista Geográfica de Chile Terra Australis Número Especial 1, Vol.57 (2021) 29-40 ISSN 0719-9562.
Presentations of papers by six students in the International Conference on Coastal Areas (Colecmar in Panamá: September 2022). The papers are based on their research in the Laboratory of the Graduate School of Planning on Coastal Areas in Puerto Rico.
The subjects of their papers were as follows:
- Changes in the mangrove coverage produced by Hurricane María in 2017 and its implications for the management of coastal areas.
- Public Access to the beaches
- Legal framework of coastal areas and planning for adaptation to climate change effects.
- Present state of the beaches in Puerto Rico
Presentations of papers in International Conference on Science and Technology in Dominican Republic (June 2022). Nine (9) students made 7 seven presentations on the following subjects:
- Morphological changes in the eastern coast area of Puerto Rico
- Mangrove coverage and changes of the width of beaches
- Sea swells in the northern coasts’ areas.
- The integral use of an Un-Crewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) (Drones) with field techniques for mapping Beachrock occurrence, evolution, petrography, and geomorphic characteristics and its implication in coastal erosion.
A graduate of the M.P. program, is a Ph.D. in Planning student who was recently awarded a fellowship for research and studies in Leadership in Health Policy program by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
The students in Internship programs have made significant achievements in planning professional practice in their design of plans for social and economic development and for disaster recoveries. Some examples are as follows:
- In the Planning Board an intern completed an evaluation of the Comprehensive Plan for Sustainable Strategic Development for Puerto Rico.
- In the State Department of Housing program of Community Development Block Grants/ Disaster Recovery (CDBG/DR), interns have revised the plans of recovery for three municipalities that were inflicted major destruction by hurricanes and earthquakes. She also designed surveys of local community leaders to gather information on their impacts on their communities and strategies for recovery.
Another student intern, jointly with a team of professionals of a consulting firm, collaborated the design of plans for disaster recovery.
An intern in an NGO for Restoring sea coastal marine systems prepared a Manual of Guidelines for the vision and mission of the organization.
Another student intern in the University-Community program designed the Plan for Development of the Association of Retail Merchants of the neighbor town of Rio Piedras.
ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING
In the past period of academic years 2012 to 2021 overall student learning achievement has been periodically subject to learning assessment. A new rubric for assessment of students’ learning has been designed to measure student’s achievement in mastering the planning competences and skills. This assessment has been undertaken with an On-Line Assessment System (OLAS) that has been applied in the Fall and Spring semesters of Academic Year 2020 to 2021.
The assessment instrument, OLAS Rubric, for Planning consists of six domains:
Information Literacy
Effective communication skills
Content Knowledge, Skills or Dispositions
Research and creation
Critical Thinking
Social Responsibility.
Each domain is measured with a series of criteria that are quantified in a scale of 0 to 8. The established standard is that over 70 percent of the students attain an average score above 6.0.
RESULTS OF LEARNING ASSESSMENT IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2020-2021
Learning Outcomes |
Results based on target (% of students scoring >= target) First measurement |
Results based on target (% of students scoring >= target) Second Measurement |
Total N |
Information Literacy |
100% |
87.5% |
47 |
Effective Communication Skills |
100% |
95.36% |
50 |
Content Knowledge, Skills or Dispositions |
100% |
96.88% |
70 |
Research and creation |
98.46% |
96.88% |
65 |
Critical Thinking |
100% |
95% |
72 |
Social Responsibility |
100% |
96.88% |
58 |
Assessment data has served as basis for improvement of curriculum program and teaching methodologies. It has produced transformative actions or improvements in Teaching methodologies and syllabus changes, curricular sequence changes, Co-curricular Activities, Academic program review, Student support services enhancement such as Mentoring.
GRADUATES PLANNING SKILLS IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Five (56%) of the nine graduates of the year 2019-2020 reported to be employed in planning and planning related employment. One student continued to They applied the following skills learned in the Master in Planning program:
Strategic planning
Best practices in planning coastal areas
Project development and management
Management of systems of GIS and other geospatial data
Design and management of programs and development projects
Program and Project implementation and evaluation
Need Assessment studies
Statistical data systems analysis and evaluation
Laws and regulations
Compliance with US Federal Government regulations
State laws and regulations on planning
Historic preservation of areas and buildings
2022-2023 Tuition and Fees
In State Residents, per full-time academic year |
$4,010 |
Out of State Residents, per full-time academic year |
$4,010 |
Student Retention Rate
Percentage of students who began studies in fall 2021 and continued into fall 2022 |
71% |
Student Graduation Rate
Percentage of students graduating within 4 years, entering class of 2018 |
41% |
Number of Degrees Awarded
Number of degrees awarded for 2021-2022 Academic Year |
20 |
Puerto Rico Professional Planner License (PPL)
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the Puerto Rico PPL exam within 2 years who passed, graduating class of 2018. |
43% |
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the Puerto Rico PPL exam within 3 years who passed, graduating class of 2018 |
Not available |
AICP Certification
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the AICP exam within 3 years who pass, graduating class of 2018 |
NA |
Employment
Percentage of full-time graduates obtaining professional planning, planning-related, or other positions within 12 months of graduation, graduating class of 2021 |
90% |