May Madness at VCU

By Mike Porter

Planning Professor John Accordino, Ph.D., isn’t quite sure what to expect when two dozen students in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program present a condensed version of their work during a friendly competition.

While 30-minute presentations of their “studio II” plans to professors, clients and peers are part of every graduate planning student’s academic experience, they have never before presented a condensed version of their plans as part of a competition. 

“We teach planners to collaborate. We don’t teach them to compete,” Accordino said.

But on May 9 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., graduate students will compete head-to-head at the VCU Sports Medicine Building at 1300 West Broad St. The three-hour competition is open to the VCU community and to the public, with free parking available at Bowe Street Parking Deck.

“We are hoping to bring out people from VCU and our surrounding communities – really anyone interested in the quality of life where they live – to see the work of some of the best and brightest planning students,” Accordino said.

Students will present plans that cover a variety of topics, ranging from how to develop living and working spaces for artists to commercial corridor and downtown revitalization, bike trail promotion and development and outdoor recreation.

Accordino built upon an idea he first came across at the University of Messina, one of VCU’s International Partnership Universities. Scholars in medicine at Messina participate in a tournament in which they present a medical case study in five minutes and a panel decides on the best presentation.

But Accordino added a uniquely American twist that reflects VCU’s success in the NCAA basketball tournament, which he calls “Plan Off!!! May Madness @ VCU.”

After all of the students deliver a five-minute presentation of their plans, the judges will narrow the field to the “final four” and will ultimately select a tournament champion from that group.

“I’m hoping this is a fun way for people to see what we do,” Accordino said. “But on a serious note, we really need to get the word out to the community.  People need to be aware of planning issues and challenges where they live. And they need to see the plans created by our students, discuss them, critique them and appreciate them.”

The eight judges represent government, planning departments and organizations from areas outside of the jurisdictions of the students’ plans and media.

And while the competition exposes the community to important planning issues and solutions, it also offers students valuable experience in concisely presenting their plans.

“The fact of the matter is increasingly planners are being called on to make the case quickly to stand and deliver,” Accordino said. “Our students need to be able to summarize how their plan really makes a difference and they need to make the case quickly.”

The final four winners will receive gift certificates to the American Planning Association bookstore and the grand prize winner will receive a one-year membership to the American Planning Association. 

The plan off is sponsored by the Urban and Regional Planning Students Association, the Master of Urban and  Regional Planning Program and the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.