SRC Regional Representative — Region IV

Robyn Fennig

robyn-fennig@uiowa.edu

University of Iowa/MS Urban and Regional Planning
Current Academic Level and expected graduation date: Master's Degree Candidate,  May 2012

Please list and describe briefly relevant leadership positions held at the local, regional, state, or national level.

• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Student Economics Association Secretary (2007-2008), President (2008-2009)
• Organize activities, fundraisers, and presentations
• Communicate with alumni and community members
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Club Sports Advisory Panel (2009-2010)
• Help prepare annual budget
• Attend monthly meetings to discuss events/issues in UW-Eau Claire Club Sports
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Student Advisory Board to the Dean of Arts and Sciences (2007-2008, 2008-2009)
• Provide input/student perspective on various proposals, events, news, etc. at monthly meetings
• University of Iowa Urban and Regional Planning Student Association, Vice President (2010-2011)
• Assist in planning of events, socials, fundraisers
• Organize Bike to Campus Event on Earth Day
• University of Iowa Urban and Regional Planning Student Association, President (2011)
• Officer position for 2011-2010 School Year
• USA Ultimate College Sectional Coordinator, Lake Superior Section (2009-2010)
• Assist all teams in Lake Superior Section (Wisconsin/Michigan) with creating official roster to participate in the USA Ultimate College Championship Series
• Plan, organize, and carry out the Sectional Tournament (Appleton, WI in 2010)
• Administer USA Ultimate procedures at Sectional level (i.e. verify rosters, make sure all waivers are turned in, verify that each player has registrar approval)
• USA Ultimate College Division I Conference Coordinator, North Central Region (2010-2011)
• Assist all Division-I teams (schools with over 7,500 students) in North Central Region (Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Upper Peninsula of Michigan) with creating official roster to participate in the USA Ultimate College Championship Series
• Perform outreach to schools in region to start women's ultimate Frisbee teams
• Plan, organize, and carry out Conference Tournaments in the Region (2 total)
• Administer USA Ultimate procedures at Conference level
• Assist Regional and National Directors in organizing regional and national events
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Women's Ultimate Frisbee Team  Captain (2008-2010)
• Recruit players to participate in sport
• Prepare and present annual budget
• Plan fundraising activities to help pay for travel expenses for tournaments
• Seek out and perform various community service throughout the year (on campus and in Eau Claire, WI community)

Please list and describe briefly any relevant planning-related volunteer positions held at the local, regional, state, or national level.

• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Sustainability Internship (2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010)
• Assist Dr. Kate Hale, Sustainability Fellow, with various projects and research
• Research and present findings to alumni, students, faculty, staff, and administration
• Develop conference presentations about UW-Eau Claire sustainability initiatives and research
• Increase awareness of sustainability issues on UW-Eau Claire Campus and Eau Claire, WI community
• Assist student organizations with sustainability events
• Co-develop Honors Course with Dr. Kate Hale in Spring 2010
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Clean Community Initiative (2008-2009, 2009-2010)
• Attend monthly meetings, and brainstorm ways to promote alternative transportation to UW-Eau Claire campus community
• Develop a brochure to distribute to all new students (freshman and transfer students) about alternative transportation in Eau Claire, WI
• Assist in planning of “Bike With the Chancellor” fundraiser
• Plan and carry out an alternative transportation fair in spring 2009 and 2010 on UW-Eau Claire campus
• University of Iowa Urban and Regional Planning Student Association, Vice President (2010-2011)
• Assist in planning of events, socials, fundraisers
• Organize Bike to Campus Event on Earth Day
• University of Iowa Urban and Regional Planning Student Association, President (Upcoming 2011)

Please describe your involvement in planning-related activities (community, nonprofit, planning student organizations, etc.):

• University of Iowa Urban and Regional Planning Student Association
• Iowa APA Membership Committee
• Develop ways to increase membership in Iowa APA and local chapters
• University of Iowa School of Urban and Regional Planning, Graduate Research Assistant
• Perform research for  Office of Sustainability
• Assist in greenhouse gas audit, Fall 2010
• Update and calculate sustainability metrics indicators for UIowa campus (Fall 2010 through Spring 2011)
• Work with various departments to gather and synthesize data
• Assist in green event planning
• Offer support at compost and recycling activities
• Perform research about Big 10 recycling programs

About APA and Planning

Describe how you have benefited from APA student membership to date.

I have benefitted from APA Student membership in several ways already. The two most basic are through the various newsletters and discounts available to APA student members. Several newsletters available to me as an APA Student member keep me up to date on what is going on in various areas of planning throughout the country. I particularly enjoy The New Planner, as the publication shares different research endeavors that students, like me, are engaged in around the country. Learning about what my peers are doing to incorporate sustainability into planning is of particular interest. As a student member, I also enjoy discounted membership to the different division publications, such as the economic development publication.

However, I feel that the most important benefit to APA student membership is in the numerous resources available to help me find a job. There are many ways to find tips from current planners online, in the newsletters, and at conferences. The APA disseminates successful practices that can prepare me for a career, and help strengthen my interest in planning. A tangible way that APA has helped me is through providing opportunities to network with professional planners at the conferences at the various levels of APA: National, Regional, State, and local Planning Student Organization. Without APA to oversee these conferences, meeting planners may prove to be difficult outside of the city or county in which I am attending school; however, APA provides conferences for me to network with and learn from people in my field. In addition to all of this, APA has a job-search tool online, which has opened my eyes to agencies that I can look for an internship with this summer. The various career planning materials available to me as a member help prepare me for the world after my education at the University of Iowa.

Describe your qualifications for the SRC Regional Representative.

In any regional leadership position, the best qualities an individual can possess are an outgoing personality, time management skills, and ability to reach out to groups:

Outgoing personality
I constantly try to meet new people, and establish meaningful connections with them. When it comes to meeting new people, I am not afraid to take a chance or put myself out there.

Time Management Skills
I have been extremely busy since a young age. Throughout my life (from age twelve onward), I have participated in numerous sports, student organizations, community groups, and other activities, in addition to succeeding in academics and at my job. Participating in many things has been rewarding, driving me to succeed in multiple areas of my life. As a result, I learned at the age of twelve just how important it is to manage my time effectively. I am detailed oriented and complete every task I commit to. Throughout the years, I have developed a system that works well for me and my commitments. Time is just another scarce resource at my disposal; I may not be able to create more, but I can allocate my time efficiently so that I maximize my utility.

Ability to Reach Out
I have an innate ability to reach out to groups. This quality is extremely important, as many students/organizations do not know what is available to help them succeed. This quality goes hand in hand with being outgoing. Two specific examples help demonstrate the practice of this qualification: my research assistantship through the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability, and my involvement with USA Ultimate.

The Office of Sustainability provides resources to student groups to help them run events and become active on campus and in the community; many of these groups are unaware of these resources. Contacting groups and letting them know how the Office of Sustainability is able to help them is an important part of my job.

Ultimate Frisbee is a growing sport in the United States, growing at a quick rate. The college women's division remains one of the most underserved divisions that USA Ultimate oversees. I have been fortunate enough to contribute to creation of one of the most successful new Women's teams in the country at UW-Eau Claire. As a result, I have developed a passion for sharing my experience with others, helping new teams in any way that I can. This has resulted in the creation of skills clinics, tournaments, weekend retreats, and constant e-mailing and blogging to reach out. I have helped start teams in the Midwest, and helped provide resources for these teams to succeed in the sport. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences that I have experienced throughout my twenty-three years of life.

How can APA and its student leaders assist planning students' transition into planning careers?

I think one way that APA and its student leaders can aid in transition into planning careers is simply to increase the interest of undergraduate students in planning. As the world is transitioning into a future filled with new, challenging, dynamic problems, we will need a variety of minds in our field. There are many students out there who have never heard about planning as potential career path to pursue. Student leaders should reach out to the undergraduate schools in their region that lack planning programs (at the undergraduate or graduate level) to share about the discipline of planning as a career field.

One other key aspect is to encourage students to prepare for life after graduation earlier in their educational career. This can be achieved through increased networking opportunities and professional development. APA does a great job offering practicing planners professional development; however, could increase the amount of professional development opportunities for students. This could be done at various national, regional, and state conferences, or through the creation of sub-groups at this level to focus on student professional development. Through this focus, there exists potential for students to create meaningful, lasting relationships with practicing planners in the field.

Why did you choose planning as a career path?

Growing up just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I had no knowledge of planning as a career path throughout my youth. I witnessed the sights and sounds of Milwaukee, its triumphs and tragedies. The urban environment surrounding me was colorful, rich in history, trade and commerce. The attractions of Milwaukee's lakefront and city amenities kept me interested from a young age until the present. However, one thing that always stuck with me was the sharp contrasts. I witnessed a strong diversity in its economy, but an inequality that drew away from its energy. I saw great architecture of sights like the Milwaukee Art Museum on Lake Michigan side by side with the crumbling infrastructure of the Marquette Interchange cutting through a pulsing downtown environment. Most importantly, there was a stark contrast between communities, segregated between rundown urban areas and manicured subdivisions.

I attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to pursue an undergraduate education that focused primarily on economics, but I was also fortunate enough to take several classes in conservation, geography, geology, history, political science and sociology that speak to the broader concerns of Urban and Regional Planning. Furthermore, I served as a sustainability intern with the UW-Eau Claire Sustainability Fellow, and was involved in several research projects focusing on sustainability and urban economics, which further stoked my interest in planning. As I continue my planning education, my excitement to apply economics and sustainability in a meaningful way to the world around me continues to grow.

What have you learned from previous leadership experience?

There are three key components of the SRC Regional Representative position. In various leadership positions I have held in the past few years, I have been able to develop and excel in all three:

Develop ideas for student conference activities and sessions
As a Sustainability Intern at UW-Eau Claire, I have developed conference presentations and activities for a variety of audiences. I have given presentations, led and developed activities, facilitated discussions, and created sessions about environmental issues at UW-Eau Claire for classes, student organizations, faculty, and conferences at the regional, state, and national level.

Coordinate communications with student leaders in regions
Through my past work as a Sectional Coordinator and continuing work as a Division-I Conference Coordinator for USA Ultimate (the governing body of the sport of Ultimate Frisbee at youth, college, and club level), I am given a geographic region of schools to constantly communicate and share information with. This “communication” aspect is in addition to planning various college tournaments for the Championship Series, which are a combination of tournaments that lead up to the National Championships. The Conference Coordinator oversees direct communication from National Headquarters (Boulder, CO) to all teams in the region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Upper Peninsula of Michigan). Furthermore, I have three separate conference tournaments to oversee and communicate details accordingly.

One thing that I have learned is that communication works two ways. I not only give information to teams, but also answer questions and receive information from them. USA Ultimate recently restructured the College Season format and requirements at the end of 2010, and has created a new system for the 2011 season and beyond. During this transition year, teams have many new questions and are unsure about new requirements and forms to fill out.

Offer student perspectives to national programs
I have been fortunate enough to serve as a student representative to several faculty groups and campus administration. I feel that I offering accurate student perspectives rest on an ability to communicate effectively with students throughout the region. By communicating effectively, better input can be given to national programs, as a result better serving students (SRC Regional Representative goal!).