The College of Design, Construction and Planning sponsors special curricula in architecture each year to enhance the academic program. These curricula, offered during summer sessions, are intended to supplement required course work. Each of the three, Preservation Institute: Caribbean; Preservation Institute: Nantucket; and VIA (Vicenza Institute: Architecture), all accept students, not only from the University of Florida, but from academic circles throughout the United States and the world.

Students in Urban and Regional Planning with an interest in Historic Preservation have courses available to them dealing with conservation and preservation issues both in the United States and internationally. Studios have been designed to study and precisely record the existing conditions of buildings and sites under consideration for conservation efforts. Students gain actual on-site experience working to produce reports on the historical, cultural, and physical potential for restoration, renovation or adaptive reuse of buildings selected for conservation.

Dr. Kristin Larsen, our newest faculty member, serves as chair of the college Historic Preservation Committee and Dr. Rhonda Phillips is a member.

The Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing was established at the University of Florida in 1988 and strives to facilitate the provision of safe, decent, and affordable housing and related community development throughout the state of Florida, and thereby establish Florida as the national and international model for successful affordable housing delivery. The Center monitors policy development, program performance, and research activity related to housing and community development conducted at universities and by government and private organizations throughout Florida, across the United States, and in other nations. The scope of this activity ranges from the design, development, and production of housing to the formulation of housing policy and the structuring and evaluation of housing finance and delivery programs. The Center's location within the College of DCP will help address Florida's housing needs through research that focuses on implementation of public housing policies. One housing course, offered in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, provides an overview of public policy issues in housing using a historical model with a focus on contemporary problems affecting "at risk" groups, such as low/moderate income families and individuals, the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities, single heads of households, and the homeless. Dr. Kristin Larsen teaches this housing course and has worked with the city of Gainesville on the Duval Neighborhood project where students were given “real world” experiences in neighborhood revitalization and planning. Part of her work with the city of Orlando also was vital in constructing the Housing element for the comprehensive plan and also the land development codes and ordinances that were part of the overall management plan.

Dr. Ruth Steiner and Dr. Paul Zwick have participated in joint research activities with faculty in the Shimberg Center.

Dr. Jay M. Stein, Dean and faculty member in URP is a member of the Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.

Marc Smith, Associate Director of the Shimberg Center, is an Affiliated Faculty member in URP. Several URP master and doctoral students have worked as research assistants in the center.

The Center is directed by Dr. Charles Kibert, Rinker School of Building Construction, and recently appointed as an Affiliated Faculty member in URP. The Center conducts research and offers courses on sustainability issues and the built environment. It is currently engaged in the exciting process of “greening” the University of Florida in three distinct related areas: curriculum, university operations and involvement of students and student organizations. Dr. Kibert lectures in URP, works with our students and has offered a course this past year in which URP students participated. Our relationship with the Center is emerging and is expected to strengthen over the next five years. Many of our professors have been involved in the “Greening UF campus” initiative in various ways.

The Center for Collective Protection is new within the School of Building Construction, and is directed by Kevin Grosskopf. Dr. Richard Schneider a faculty member in URP, works directly with the center on a number of projects that give real world planning experience for students through coursework (course on “Defensible Space” utilizing CPTED principles “Crime Prevention through Environmental Design”) and through research projects with University Police Dept. (UPD) and Gainesville Police Departments (GPD). For example, a community research grant project underway with the UPD and GPD involving students is working on a severe security issue with a local apartment complex that has experienced numerous burglaries and assaults.

In addition, Dr. Schneider is working on a task force for “Biological Anti-Terrorism” with the University’s Medical School.