PLAN 4040

*during COVID, so completely online and sometimes got to go in person. [#tCF2020]
He's a great man, truly cares about his students. He caters every syllabus/the way the class is structured to each class that he has and what they want the class to be like. He even changed the way the final was structured for us because we didn't get to do the mock development trial like most of his previous classes did.
I came into this class as a freshman, so I took this my first semester. For anyone who is going to become a planner or is deciding if they want to be a planner, I recommend you take this course so you see what it's like within the job field on the local government level and learn what they do at the regional level too as there's a lot of planning work at the local level.
You're going to learn a LOT about the structure of local government and how it works and what each group's powers are, I certainly did at least. I kind of feel like a more well informed citizen now because of this class as well, as I've been to county meetings and city meetings before but now I actually know what's going on behind the scenes.
The structure for our syllabus was:
1. Attendance in Class Activities (10 points)
2. Virtual Attendance (25 points) which was earned through 4 quizzes for each quarter of the class
3. 3 Reading Assignments (10 points each) which were 5 pages long (double spaced so you're good) based on assigned readings
4. Planning Across America Research Assignment (10 points) which is a 10+ page paper double spaced, and you're basically researching how planning is within the state at the local, regional, state levels and analyzing its comprehensive plan and its zoning.
5. Mock Development Exercise (10 points) !!!WE DID NOT HAVE THIS SEMESTER!!!
6. Final Exam (30 points) - for this one we had 24 hours to take it (he said in class that when it wasn't online people finished it under 2 hours in his classroom, somewhere around an hour and 15 or 30 minutes) and it was OPEN NOTE. Half of it was MC covering the entire course and basic concepts from the readings, and the other half was writing prompts/short answer and applied knowledge basically to showcase everything you've learned over the course. It's similar to PLAN1010, you're given 10 options and you pick 5 to write about and write about half a page or more, single spaced, on that topic. As it was open note, it was not too difficult. The class median score was a 93.

The class is supposed to be out of 100 points, but things got hectic this year and a lot of things changed. Also, there IS extra credit offered in the form of planning trivia sessions.
Overall, great class.

Love this class, love this man. Professor Cockrell makes a point of adjusting the class to make sure it covers what the students that given semester are interested in, and he relays practical knowledge in an engaging way. This course is great for planners or anyone who is interested in how local government works. Professor Cockrell is flexible on assignments and helpful with any potential questions. This is one of my favorite classes from my time at UVA.

I really liked Professor Cockrell's course. He cares about seeing his students succeed inside and outside of the classroom — he focused parts of the class on skills people would need when working in the planning profession but he also realized his students come from a variety of backgrounds (not all of us were urban planning majors) and he made sure we all had a thorough understanding of the different government processes we talked about. Assignments weren't too difficult. The exams and class activities (the mock development) require some preparation but weren't stressful. A great course to take if you're at all interested in planning.

Professor Cockrell is awesome! Really fun teacher who cares about his students. Highly recommend this class for anyone looking for planning classes for major or minor. He really considers his students and properly prepares you for your job after graduation. Very approachable.