LAUP - Partnership for Community Outreach

The Partnership for Community Outreach (PCO) was established in 2005 to coordinate the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning’s service and outreach activities. The PCO program is charged with coordinating three key initiatives:

1. Service Learning Partnerships...[more]
2. Continuing Education...[more]
3. Outreach Academy...[more]

The PCO advances the College of Architecture outreach initiatives and the University’s tri-partite mission of discovery, teaching, and service.

PCO is administered by a tenured faculty member of the Department who will serve as the Coordinator. A Faculty Advisory Committee will work with the Coordinator to establish and maintain program priorities (immediate, short-term, and long-range), a phasing plan (to be updated annually), and benchmarks to guide and mark progress as well as to set policies and manage the day-to-day operations of PCO.

The Coordinator and the Faculty Advisory Committee has developed specific instruments and policies for program operations during 2005-2006, the first year of the program. These instruments include standardized procedures for soliciting, reviewing and accepting public service projects; implementing service projects; monitoring service project agreements and financial instruments; and outlined procedures for engaging in contractual relations with CHUD, the Sea Grant Program, and communities.

PROJECTS DURING THE 2005-2006 ACADEMIC YEAR

This year the Department has undertaken several significant outreach projects under the auspices of the PCO.

1. Public Housing Redevelopment, City of Beaumont, Texas: undertaken by Prof. Volkman and the LAND 621 class in cooperation with the Beaumont Housing Authority to redevelop low cost housing in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita.
2. Downtown Historic Redevelopment and Pedestrian Improvements for the City of Mason, Texas: undertaken by Prof. Jourdan and the PLAN 643 class in cooperation with the Mason City Commission to redevelop pedestrian access in the central business district.
3. Comprehensive Community Plan for Downtown Redevelopment, City of Mason, Texas: undertaken as a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) Final Study by Kristin Couris and Steven Nunez in cooperation with the Mason City Commission (to be conducted during 2006-07).
4. Community Park Development Plan to develop and link by pedestrian trails, the in-town parks with the Community Fairgrounds and Sports Facilities located on the outskirts of the Mason, Texas: undertaken as an MLA Final Study by Kristin Couris and Steven Nunez in cooperation with the Mason City Commission (to be conducted during 2006-07).
5. Development of Subdivision Regulations, City of Prairie View, Texas: undertaken by Prof. Jourdan in cooperation with the City Council (to be completed during the summer of 2006).