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Honors and Awards

Faculty, students, and alumni of the Department of Urban & Regional Planning at San Jose State University have received numerous honors and made significant contributions to the planning profession. Here are some of our recent accomplishments, including faculty publications.

California Planning Foundation (CPF) Scholarship, 2011

Two MUP students received scholarships as part of the California Planning Foundation's annual scholarship competition in 2011.

  • Johnasies McGraw, CPF Northern Section Scholarship

  • Jean Casey, Richard G. Munsell Scholarship

2010-2011 DEPARTMENTAL SCHOLARSHIP AND AWARD WINNERS

At our departmental graduation ceremony, held each year in May, we acknowledge the accomplishments of our students and alumni through the presentation of several awards. This year's award winners are listed below.

  • Distinguished Alum Award: Art Henriques, MUP 1983

  • Friend of the Department: Imelda Rodriguez

  • Don and Ann Rothblatt Scholarship: Dan Krause

  • Burt Muhly Scholarship: Janice Lum

  • Margaret Schumb Memorial Scholarship: Cathy DeLuca

  • California Planning Foundation Continuing Student Scholarship: Avalon Schultz

  • California Planning Foundation Graduation Student Merit Award: Antonea Colon

  • American Institute of Certified Planners Outstanding Student Award: Kayla Platt

  • Department Service Awards: Rick Gosalvez, Erin (Hansen) Fitzgibbons, Caitlin Kniazewycz, Thanh-Thanh Nguyen-Acola

  • Honors Planning Report Awards: Sarah Abel, Minghua Cui, Rick Gosalvez, Matt Piven, Kayla Platt, Adam Smith

2011 ITE Parking Council Best Practices Award for “A Parking Utilization Survey of Transit-Oriented Development Residential Properties in Santa Clara County”

 

DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER TRANSPORTATION GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP

Sarah Abel, MUP '11, received a Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) award during her final year of graduate study (2010-2011). Sarah's research focused on very low-income residents in San Jose and their attitudes towards bus transportation.


Sarah Abel

2010 APA California Chapter Distinguished Leadership Award for a Student Planner 

Justin Meek, MUP '10


 Justin Meek

 

2009-2010 DEPARTMENTAL SCHOLARSHIP AND AWARD WINNERS

At our departmental graduation ceremony, held each year in May, we acknowledge the accomplishments of our students and alumni through the presentation of several awards. This year's award winners are listed below.

  • Distinguished Alum Award: The Honorable Dianne McKenna, MUP 1977

  • Friend of the Department: The Honorable Rod Diridon, Sr.

  • Don and Ann Rothblatt Scholarship: Erin Hansen

  • Margaret Schumb Memorial Scholarship: Anais Schenk

  • California Planning Foundation Continuing Student Scholarship: Sarah Abel

  • California Planning Foundation Graduation Student Merit Award: Alyssa Sherman

  • American Institute of Certified Planners Outstanding Student Award: Justin Meek

  • Department Service Awards: Mark Barry, Lauren Doud, and Justin Meek

  • Honors Planning Report Awards: Lauren Doud, George Schroeder, Alyssa Sherman, and Jason Tyree

2010 CCAPA ACADEMIC AWARD OF EXCELLENCE, Alviso, California: Community Assessment and Urban Design Analysis

MUP students in URBP-201/203 were honored to receive the 2010 Academic Award from the Northern California APA section and state-level APA for their work on an analysis of Alviso, a neighborhood in northern San Jose. The resulting report is titled "Alviso, California: Community Assessment and Urban Design Analysis." In selecting the students' work, the nominating committee noted that the students played an extremely important role as "ambassadors" of good planning throughout their engagement with community members. Whereas many residents of Alviso tend to be reluctant to engage with city staff due to language barriers or concerns related to environmental justice, the community residents were more than pleased to work directly with our students to communicate their concerns and desires for community betterment. The open and collaborative nature of the planning process employed by the class went a long way in gaining wide community acceptance for improved dialog between a variety of interest groups.

Community Charrette Alviso

HELENE M. OVERLY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP, WOMEN'S TRANSPORTATION SEMINAR (WTS)

Adrienne Heim, MUP '11, was awarded the Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship  by the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) in 2010. The Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship was established in 1981 to encourage women pursuing career paths in transportation.

Adrienne Heim

TRB'S 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION FINANCING: FORGING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE-NOW!, GRADUATE STUDENT PARTICIPATION GRANT

Congratulations to Eric Ganther, MUP '10, for receiving a grant to participate in the Transportation Research Board conference Transportation Finance: Forging a Sutainable Future-NOW!  Eric was one of six graduate students from across the U.S. to receive one of these grants.

Eric Ganther

2010 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION'S LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR A STUDENT PLANNER

Taryn Hanano, MUP '09, has exemplified exceptional scholarship and ongoing commitment to advancing the visibility and recognition of the urban planning profession through her education and professional endeavors. As a full-time graduate student at San Jose State University's Urban and Regional Planning Department, Hanano has maintained an impressive GPA of 3.93, while working full time.

As a graduate student, Hanano was instrumental in supporting the university and its students. She served as president of the APA Planning StudentOrganization and the Urban Planning Coalition, and was on the board of the APA California Chapter Northern Section, representing the interests of fellow San Jose State University students. She helped establish a program that provided partial airfare reimbursement for 10 students to attend the 2008 APA National Planning Conference.

As a Planner I for the City of Fremont, Hanano's hometown, she has worked on updating the city's Housing Element, acting as the lead project planner and producing the final element for adoption by the City's Planning Commission and City Council. Hanano felt that resident involvement in the general plan was crucial to its success.

taryn hanano

2009 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION'S LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR A STUDENT PLANNER

Emy Mendoza, MUP '08, has shown outstanding leadership in serving the planning profession, her fellow students, and the larger community while maintaining an excellent academic record as a graduate student in the Master of Urban Planning program at San Jose State University. During this time, she has served the larger community by participating on the Steering Committee of CommUniverCity San Jose -- a partnership between the City of San Jose, San Jose State University (SJSU), and the Five Wounds/BrookWood Terrace (FWBT) Community in San Jose that plans and helps implement programs and policies for improving the quality of life in the FWBT neighborhood.

Mendoza's enthusiasm for serving the community was also evident when she, along with a team of 15 students, took the initiative to bring the urban planning process to the local high school students. The students built physical models of the proposed Alum Rock BART plaza, and brought the models to the high school students to brainstorm about potential BART plaza sites and configurations. She was able to teach the students how urban planners think about the built environment, and gave the students encouragement for pursuing urban planning professions. She also has served the planning students by advocating for student interests in her role as the Student Representative for the Northern Section, California Chapter of the American Planning Association.

In addition, Ms. Mendoza received the 2008 Distinguished Leadership Award for a Student Planner from the California Chapter of the American Planning Association (CCAPA) and the 2008 Distinguished Leadership Award for a Student Planner from the Northern Section of the CCAPA. Ms. Mendoza is an Environmental Services Specialist and Zero Waste Planner for the City of San Jose.

Emy Mendoza

2008 CCAPA ACADEMIC AWARD OF EXCELLENCE, Urban EcoPark

Students enrolled in URBP 260 (Environmental Planning Topics, Spring 2007) worked collaboratively with staff from the City of San Jose and various community stakeholders to develop a Master Plan vision for San José’s Urban EcoPark, taking into consideration goals identified by San José’s Environmental Services Dept. (ESD). First, the City wanted to relocate a County-operated household hazardous waste (HHW) drop-off facility to the site. ESD also wanted recommendations on programming options that would serve the larger mission of the department and benefit the local community. Finally, the facility was to serve as a leading example of sustainability through site design and operations. Students met with community members, interviewed environmental planning resource experts, conducted numerous site visits, and conducted extensive research to develop a master plan for the site. Highlights from the plan include: establishing an innovative environmental education and resource center including a green building demonstration center, a green business incubator program, space for environmental education classes and community workshops, and warehouse space for a building materials reuse/resale operation.

In addition, this project received the 2008 Academic Award of Excellence from the Northern Section of the CCAPA.

Final Presentation Urban EcoPark

Selected FACULTY PUBLICATIONS (2008-PRESENT)

2012

  • Ferrell, C. and S. Mathur. Neighborhood Crime and Travel Behavior: An Investigation of the Influence of Neighborhood Crime Rates on Mode Choice – Phase II. San Jose, CA: Mineta Transportation Institute, forthcoming.

  • Forsyth, Ann, Kevin J. Krizek, Asha W. Agrawal, and Eric Stonebreaker. “Reliability Testing of the PABS (Pedestrian and Bicycling Survey) Method." Journal of Physical Activity and Health (forthcoming).

 2011

  • Mathur, S. 2010. "Land Pooling and Reconstitution: A Self-Financing Mechanism for Urban Development." Policy Group Quarterly 7: 1-3. Mumbai, India: Infrastructure Development Finance Company.

  • Mathur, S. and K. Katara. 2010. Roads: Leading Indicators Show Ramp-Up in Activity. Mumbai, India: Infrastructure Development Finance Company.

2010

  • Funderburg, R. G., Hilary Nixon, M. G. Boarnet, and Gavin Ferguson. "New Highways and Land Use Change: Results from a Quasi-experimental Research Design." Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 44, no. 2 (2010): 76-98.

2009

  • Mathur, Shishir, and S. Srinivasan. "High-Speed Rail in the Midwest United States: Potential for Success." Theoretical and Empirical Research in Urban Management 4, no. 13 (2009): 59-74. 

2008