SRC Chair

Andrea Barbour

University of Memphis
City and Regional Planning program
1st year graduate student; expected graduation, May 2012

Leadership Experience

Planning-related activities or organizations

As a first year planning student I became an active member in the Planning Student Organization. This spring semester I am currently serving as the President of the Planning Student Organization at the University of Memphis.

Local, regional, state, or national level

I currently serve as the Event Coordinator for the Graduate Student Association, which requires me to plan educational, developmental, and recreational events for the organization. Last year, I served as the chair for the Grant writing committee in my sorority, which allowed us to receive grant money from the City of Cincinnati to do educational programming.

How has your leadership or volunteer experience prepared you to run for this position?

In the various leadership positions I have held I have acquired several skills that I believe will be useful and beneficial as the SRC Chair. The first being time management which is crucial to balancing school, work, and extracurricular activities. The second skill I am constantly working on and I believe can always be improved is communication. With the various methods of technology at disposal today, I have learned that to be an effective communicator you must use various methods of communication, as well as understanding the context or audience you are delivering information to. Lastly, I have learned how to be creative and innovative with little to no money and I believe especially with the current economy that is a skill we all must learn in our professional or personal lives how to manage.

About APA and Planning

Describe the APA benefit, activity, or resource you value most?

I value the local Tennessee American Planning Association the most. I recently attended the Winter Retreat and realized the wealth of knowledge that is at my fingertips as an aspiring planning professional. It was encouraging and an enlightening experience to be able to interact with those who were once planning students themselves. I also like the local chapter because they keep students informed of various planning issues throughout the state.

I also believe the APA website is an amazing tool as well. There is a wealth of knowledge and opportunities in the planning field that are easily accessed through the website. Whether you are looking for internships, volunteer opportunities, or journal articles on a particular topic you can find it on the website. It is also a wonderful tool for networking.

What do you believe APA and its student leaders can do assist those preparing to enter the planning profession?

I believe APA and its student leaders can assist aspiring planning professions in several ways. One would be to encourage and foster a close relationship between local chapters of APA and Planning Student Organizations. The second would be to have more peer-to-peer relationships between the various planning programs across the country. Lastly, providing professional development skills to those preparing to enter the field of planning.

How did you become interested in planning?

I attended Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio for my undergraduate degree in Sociology. During my spring semester of my junior year I did a service-learning semester that took me to Managua, Nicaragua. It was there that I learned about an earthquake that had destroyed the city during the 70's. When I returned back to the University I began to ask several questions about the current conditions of the city. Therefore, my senior year I took a class titled "Community Planning," which was taught by planners at the Community Building Institute. It was in that class I was introduced to the planning field and have been intrigued ever since.