Planning, Public Policy and Management

A new report on the condition and needs of Oregon’s historic theaters reveals them as potentially significant economic engines as well as cultural touchstones in communities small and large. But they’re challenged by deferred maintenance and other financial and organizational needs, for which the report provides specific recommendations.

Graduate students in the UO Community Planning Workshop, a program of the Community Service Center, have produced a 14-minute video about the preservation challenges faced by many of Oregon’s 120 historic theaters.

The magazine 1859 features the University of Oregon’s SCYP program in the magazine’s July|August 2015 issue. Writer Felisa Rogers explains how SCYP got its start and notes its many successes in its six-year tenure. “What sets SCYP apart is the scope and cohesiveness of the project,” she writes in the six-page feature story. SCYP—which partners UO students with an Oregon municipality needing assistance reaching sustainability project goals—not only helps both cities and students move projects forward, but it also has boosted city employees’ enthusiasm for their jobs, Rogers notes.

A&AA is wrapping up its 100th anniversary this month after a full year of events, exhibitions, and celebrations. The school is now embarking on a capital campaign to imagine the future of art and design education and facilities for the next 100 years. In envisioning the school’s future, the A&AA Building Project Work Group in January issued a request for proposals (RFP) from student teams for a competition to design a transformative learning environment for A&AA. In May, the finalists were announced.

When Gerardo Sandoval was researching conditions at a meatpacking plant in Iowa, he found that many workers came from near where he grew up in Guatemala. In 2008, U.S. immigration officials raided the plant and deported hundreds of undocumented Guatemalans.

Robert Parker and Bethany Steiner—both of the Community Service Center in PPPM—have been funded for new instructional projects in 2015-2016 by The Tom and Carol Williams Council for Undergraduate Education. Their project is intended to engage advanced undergraduate students in experiential learning opportunities previously available only to graduate students. Students will work in small teams on policy and planning issues with local governments and nonprofit university partners.

Celebrate the Eugene-Springfield Latino community and culture—including food, games, salsa dancing lessons, and music performances—at the Festival Latino Block Party on Saturday, May 30, from 4-11 p.m. at Sprout! Regional Food Hub, 418 A Street in Springfield.

Roberto Jiménez, Timothy Beatley, and Lorelei Juntunen are the winners of the 2015 awards for public service conferred annually by the UO Department of PPPM and the PPPM Advisory Council. Assistant Professor Dyana Mason is the department’s 2015 Teacher of the Year. The awards ceremony will take place Thursday, May 28, at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Ford Lecture Hall on the University of Oregon campus.

Four students in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management’s Scholars on Board Program will present their experiences from serving on the board during a symposium Tuesday, May 19, from 8-9:30 a.m. in Bowerman Heritage Hall in the Bowerman Family Center at University of Oregon.

This year, sixteen graduate students have enrolled in the board governance program, with each spending a minimum of nine months serving on a regional nonprofit board of directors. The students’ projects range from redesigning board practices to leading strategic planning retreats.