{"83461":{"#nid":"83461","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Breed of City Planner to Study at Tech, Georgia State","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs legal issues surrounding growth and development become increasingly complex, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University [GSU] have developed a concurrent degree option that helps city planners earn law degrees in a shorter amount of time.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EApproved by the University System of Georgia\u0027s Board of Regents this summer, the four-year Joint Degree Program in Law and City and Regional Planning from Georgia State University\u0027s College of Law and Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture began accepting students this fall. Graduate students who successfully complete the program will earn a juris doctor degree from GSU\u0027s College of Law and a master\u0027s degree in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This isn\u0027t the creation of a new program or degree, but it does allow our students who wish to earn a J.D. degree and their master\u0027s degree to pursue both at the same time and during a shortened period,\u0022 said Cheryl Contant, director of Georgia Tech\u0027s City and Regional Planning Program. \u0022We\u0027re able to do this by allowing certain courses in GSU\u0027s J.D. program and in our master\u0027s program to count toward both degrees.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Students at both schools will benefit from taking classes with each other, because they will gain a greater understanding of both professions,\u0022 said Julian Juergensmeyer, the GSU law professor who spearhead development of the program along with Contant and Georgia Tech planning professor Chris Nelson. \u0022The students will learn how to work together.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EContant said the concurrent degree option is one of about 20 such programs offered in the United States, and it will allow Georgia Tech and GSU to produce \u0022a new breed of planning lawyers or attorney-planners\u0022 for the region.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These are going to be folks who will understand the limitations city and regional planners face based on legal requirements, but they\u0027ll also understand how to change the law to achieve their planning objectives,\u0022 she said. \u0022These folks are likely to become important players in state agencies, law firms and other official capacities.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Having been a faculty member in a program with a similar joint law degree, what I\u0027ve noticed is students who would apply for jobs just having earned a J.D. and a planning degree, well, it was always so curious to employers that it made the student\u0027s resume rise to the top immediately,\u0022 Contant said. \u0022It also works out that many attorneys often want someone on their staff who has a good understanding of land-use planning.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJoe Cooley, one of the first students to enroll in the concurrent program, said that planning and law have become so interrelated that anyone practicing either profession needs to have a good understanding of the other.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Both planners and attorneys will make better and more defensible decisions through the study of both fields,\u0022 Cooley said. \u0022I believe having both degrees as well as my previous experience consulting and in the public sector will give me a leg-up in the job market. More importantly, I believe it will allow me to be a better practitioner.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EShannon Sams, another student in the program, said it offers him a chance to become acquainted with urban and rural growth problems in more detail and with greater sophistication than either degree can offer on its own. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I hope to develop a city planner\u0027s perspective on how to best accommodate growth and use my legal degree to form workable solutions,\u0022 Sams said. \u0022At the very least I will learn innovative land-use techniques, what factors should be taken into account before making a land-use decision, and be exposed to planners who will be making decisions or working for those who will make decisions concerning growth in the Atlanta area.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThomas Galloway, dean of Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture, said the new concurrent degree program is an exciting collaborative effort for Tech and GSU.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This takes the best parts of two excellent programs and produces a new kind of graduate, one who will be well prepared to work throughout this region and, indeed, throughout the nation,\u0022 Galloway said. \u0022Many communities in this country -- and especially Atlanta -- need professionals with a foot in both planning and law to address critical questions revolving around land use, redevelopment, historic preservation and many other sensitive issues.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe greater understanding gained by lawyers and planners of their respective fields will help them be more creative in finding solutions to the development issues facing communities, GSU College of Law Dean Janice C. Griffith said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In the past, city planners have often felt stymied by their lack of understanding of what would result if they made certain planning decisions,\u0022 she said. \u0022A better knowledge of the law will improve their decision-making process. Likewise, a greater understanding of planning will help lawyers do a better job shaping the law to improve the physical environment.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"As legal issues surrounding growth and development become increasingly complex, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University have developed a concurrent degree option that helps city planners earn law degrees in a shorter amount of time.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-09-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:06","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2003-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"83471":{"id":"83471","type":"image","title":"Atlanta","body":null,"created":"1449178095","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:28:15","changed":"1475894700","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:00"}},"media_ids":["83471"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/law.gsu.edu\/","title":"Georgia State College of Law"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/crp\/","title":"Georgia Tech City and Regional Planning Program"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}