PLAN 3050

Will is, hands down, one of the best professors in the architecture school. Instead of being a full-time teacher, he is an active contracted planner that teaches one or two classes per semester. He NEVER runs out of stories and lessons, and has worked with basically every city in Virginia. He's also relatively young and fun-loving, asking for a fun fact about each student at the beginning of class and running trivia sessions before exams.

The homework for this class can be difficult at times, but not because of Will - it's just that some cities don't really follow textbook planning methods. You pick a city to analyze in detail over the entire semester and some are missing resources or hide them in some folder. Will is SUPER understanding to this though and it isn't stressful.

The midterm and final are both 60 questions, multiple choice. Truly one of the top planning classes.

One of the few technical and professional courses in the planning department, and some of the topics are very pertinent to the actual practices through either excel calculations or summaries. The professor is a bit disorganized in lectures (at least in the virtual setting), but the materials are interesting so they balances out. He's a great mentor who tries to bridge the gap between academia and profession, and is overall caring and kind. Overall would recommend if you want some professional exposure to the planning field.

Professor Cockrell is one of the best professors in the A School, and at UVA in general. This was the first time Professor Cockrell had taught planning methods, and he actively sought and incorporated student input in designing the course to make sure it was as useful as possible. He was also far and away the best professor I had this semester about adjusting their course in response to covid. Professor Cockrell was empathetic about the struggles associated with the adjustment to online classes amid a global pandemic in a way that stood out. Whether it's this course or planning in government, you should try to take classes with Cockrell.