Good News 2003-2004

Student Accomplishments

• Mike Strodtman(who is now a Planner in Park Rapids) and Kristi Wibben (an URSI graduate student and a Grad. Assistant in the CSBS Dean's office) each presented two case studies that illustrate "Not in My Back Yard" or NIMBY reaction by residents to controversial development projects. They presented their research findings at a joint meeting of two state-wide planning organizations: the Urban Land Institute-Minnesota Chapter and the Sensible Land Use Coalition. Following their presentations, they able to effectively respond to a wide range of questions from a reaction panel and audience that consisted of planners, developers, and press.
• Miyoshi Thompson & Dr. Tony Filipovitchpresented their research report, "Open Door Health Center Health Insurance Study," to the Open Door Health Center in August 2004.
• URSI is conducting background research for the City of Mankato Strategic Plan. This project will be implemented by graduate students enrolled in the Studio (URSI 667) who include Ben Baker, Lisa Hughes, Namibia Little and Nick Koktavy and are supervised by Drs. Miriam Porter and David Laverny-Rafter.
• URSIis conducting a transit needs analysis for the Greater Mankato United Way. Graduate students involved in this study include Ellen Pillsbury and Jeanne Zwart and they are working with Dr. David Laverny-Rafter.
• Willi Paul '97, published an article, "Evaluating with the Public," in Practicing Planner magazine.
• Kristin Smith(Urban and Regional Studies/Geography) was nominated in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Kristin is the student team leader for a cooperative historical land use mapping project in conjunction with the Blue Earth County Environmental Service Department and CASS.
• Afton Enger has been named one of only 19 McNair Scholars for 2004-05. Her mentor for the program is Dr. Tony Filipovitch.
• Graduate students Mike Strodtman and Kristi Wibben, supervised by David Laverny Rafter and Tony Filipovitch are examining a study of controversial land use projects that aroused neighborhood opposition (called NIMBY). This study, initiated by the Minnesota Chapter of Urban Land Institute, seeks to determine whether if, after 2-3 years from project completion, the neighborhood opposition was justified.
• Eric Adams, Christopher Elvebak, Gerald Gatobu, and Chelsea Rasmussen, students in the Fall URSI Graduate Planning Studio, presented their project, "Campus Identity Plan," to the MSU community January 22.
• Students from URBS 673, Urban Management Seminar, were featured in the Fall issue of MSU Today. Under the leadership of Dr. Jan Cherrington, they worked with the City of St. Peter to develop a public awareness campaign called "Building Communities… It's No Small Chore."
• Bryan Hart has been nominated to Who's Who. He is involved in civic education projects both on and off campus. He has had two internships in local government and has been a Public Achievement coach. He is a student senator, basketball player, has been active in Habitat for Humanity and in Partners for Affordable Housing.
• Cedric Frazier, URSI graduate student, has been elected President of the MSU chapter of the NAACP.

Faculty Accomplishments

• Bill Bernhagen received a Certificate of Recognition from the Nontraditional Student Program for his dedication to and support of nontraditional students.
• Tony Filipovitchwas a panelist at the Greater Mankato Chamber of Commerce Transportation Summit on November 17. The title of his presentation was, "What does transportation look like in the future?"
• Janet Cherringtonattended the Blue Earth economic development presentation November 11 at the Pemberton Auditorium featuring Jack Schultz, the author of Boomtown U.S.A..
• Janet Cherrington presented at the League of MN Cities conference, October 10, in the session, "Spreading the 'Good Word' About Your City." The session highlighted Dr. Cherrington's studio and its development of various tools and strategies for creating a positive image of Saint Peter and the role of professional city management.
• Janet Cherringtonattended the International City/County Management Association conference in San Diego, October 2004.
• Tony Filipovitch and David Laverny-Rafter presented the AICP Exam Review Course for the Minn. Chapter of the American Planning Association on August 29 at Bloomington City Hall.
• Tony Filipovitch published a review of Gerrit Knapp, Land Market Monitoring for Smart Urban Growth, in Journal of Urban Affairs, 2004, 26:3, 403-404.
• Tony Filipovitch spoke to the Mankato Downtown Kiwanis Club on September 13 and the Exchange Club on September 22 about "Community Foundations: The Mankato Area Foundation."
• Tony Filipovitch (URSI) & William Lass (History emeritus) were guests on KMSU's "Human Race Radio" show on September 28, speaking on "Southern Minnesota Population: Historical and Current Perspectives."
• David Laverny-Rafter co-authored a chapter titled "The Rejuvenation of Downtown Minneapolis," that was published in, Making Space, edited by Andrew Maclaran, Oxford University Press, 2003.
• URSIreceived notice that it has been awarded three Community Development Work Study fellowships from the US Department of Housing & Urban Development for 2004-06. The grant, pending funding authorization from Congress, will be for $90,000.
• William Bernhagen and David Laverny-Rafterpresented of a paper titled, "Urban Sustainability Planning," at the Minnesota Chapter of the American Planning Association conference, September 29, 2004.
• David Laverny-Rafter made a presentation at a seminar on "Urban Planning in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area" for a visiting delegation of mayors and deputy mayors from China, October 16, 2004. The seminar and tour of American cities was sponsored by the American Planning Association.
• Miriam Porter was appointed to the International City/County Managers Association's newly formed International Committee and attended the first meeting in San Diego in October. Dr. Porter will be working to bring an international management challenge competition to the next ICMA conference (Minneapolis in 2005). Dr. Porter also attended the ICMA annual conference while in San Diego.Raymond Asomani-Boateng comes to URSI fresh from his Master's in GIS at Michigan State University (the other MSU). Before that, he earned his PhD in Environmental Planning at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He has published research on urban agriculture in Ghana, and has earned grants from three national governments. Raymond's arrival will strengthen our offerings in environmental issues and in comparative (especially African) urbanization.
• Beth Wielde Beth is one of the first recipients of MSU's new pre-doctoral fellowship program. While she is a doctoral student at Hamline University, she will teach design-related courses for URSI and develop her own program of research (she is interested in the portrayal of local government managers in cinema). She holds her Master's from URSI, where H. Roger Smith was her advisor.
• Tony Filipovitch was the facilitator for the Mankato City Council annual retreat on April 19.
• Tony Filipovitchwas the guest presenter for the Greater Mankato Area Chamber of Commerce's Leadership NOW! Program. He led a group of 18 high school students in "The Landowner's Game."
• Graduate Planning and Management certificates have been approved by MnSCU. In order to better serve urban planning and management practitioners, URSI developed two new certificate programs which allow practitioners to receive certification credentials by taking key courses in the graduate planning and management degree programs.
• Janet Cherrington-Cucore served on the Historic Homes Tour Committee that planned and held a tour of five historic homes in Mankato on April 24 as a fund-raising event for the Mankato YMCA.
• Tony Filipovitchdeveloped and moderated three community roundtables for Citizens' Voices on the relation between the public and nonprofit sector. The roundtables were held at the Mankato Intergovernmental Center, February 4, 11, and 18 and are being aired on CCTV.
• Janet Cherrington'svirtual walking tour website was featured in the February 2004 article, "Have an Out of the Ordinary Valentine's Day with These Unique Ideas, in the Applauze Magazine.
• Tony Filipovitchpresented, "Why Are There Slums? Teaching the Prisoner's Dilemma," at the Talking About Teaching and Active Learning Conference, February 19 at MSU.
• Tony Filipovitchtestified at the House Finance (March 1) and the Senate Higher Education (March 9) hearings on the applied doctorate degree for MnSCU institutions
• Tony Filipovitch'seditorial, "'Mankato Piece' Belongs Downtown," appeared in the Mankato Free Press on March 5.
• David Laverny-Rafter was invited to provide reaction/feedback on a study of Minnesota housing needs sponsored by Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and League of Minnesota Cities, St. Paul, MN, February 16, 2004.
• Tony Filipovitch published a review of Charles Landry, The Creative City, in Journal of Urban Affairs 24:4 (2002), 481-482.
• Janet Cherrington-Cucorepresented public awareness materials from her graduate city management studio for Saint Peter at the International City/County Management Association in a session, "Making the Most of ICMA's Public Awareness Campaign Tool Kit," Sept. 22, Charlotte, NC.
• Janet Cherrington-Cucore spoke to ICMA's State Officers' Roundtable, September 20, about her public awareness project involving the city of Saint Peter. This is a special meeting involving ICMA's leadership and the officers of the state associations in the U.S.
• Tony Filipovitchled the Leadership Institute of Mankato class in a day-long simulation game, SimSoc, September 25, 2003.
• Perry Wood and H. Roger Smith were appointed to the Campus Master Plan Committee. Dr. Wood was appointed a co-chair of the committee.
• Janet Cherrington-Cucore was invited by the MSU Faculty Emeriti to discuss her research on the history of Mankato and how she has incorporated it into her Intro to the City URSI 100 course, October 10, 2003.
• David Laverny-Rafter is co-author of a chapter on "Revitalization of Downtown Minneapolis," in Making Space: Property Development and Urban Planning edited by Andrew Maclaran to be published in November, 2003 by Arnold publishers.
• Tony Filipovitchpublished two reviews, "Asset Building and Community Development" and "Managing Human Behavior in Public and Nonprofit Organizations," in Journal of Urban Affairs (Vol. 25, No. 4)
• Miriam Porterdelivered a paper on "Local government managers in the role of civic educator: Civic education in action," and chaired a session on the Public Achievement program at the International Conference on Civic Education Research in New Orleans, LA, November 16-18, 2003.

Alumni Accomplishments

• David Lambert (MA, '92) of Broin Cos. of Sioux Falls, is working with Lake Crystal to develop a new ethanol plant.
• Anthony Josey(MA, '03) has been appointed to the MSU Alumni Board.