What is it?
Accreditation is a system for recognizing educational institutions and professional programs for performance, integrity and quality.
You are in an accredited graduate planning program. Accredited planning schools are held to certain standards of curriculum, faculty, student programs, and much more. Having a degree from an accredited planning school legitimizes the quality of your degree and makes it more valuable in the eyes of employers and others. The seal of accreditation on our planning program is also crucial in order to get funding for our department from State and Federal governments, and scholarships for some of our students.
Why are students involved?
Every 4-5 years accredited planning programs need to be re-evaluated to meet consistend standards and to ensure planning schools are adapting to the dynamics of planning in the 21st century. Within the next two years our program is being re-accredited and the PAB requires serious student input throughout the process to evaluate each program. It's your degree and your graduate experience, so student involvement is an integral component of this process and the faculty take our input very seriously. The PAB process is the most important, fastest, and easiest way to improve our program. We have planned several workshops for student feedback. As planners it is our mission to leave each place better than we found it.