2024 D-PRAT Scholar

SCHOLAR OPPORTUNITY

D-PRAT Student Scholar Program for 2024

Are you looking for a unique opportunity to work hand in hand with urban design and preservation professionals to benefit a town or small city? Are you interested in spending 2-3 days working on the ground within a community to help them achieve their revitalization goals? Are you ready to compile intensive design and policy recommendations into a professional report shared with the community, partners, and fellow APA members? If so, consider applying for the 2024 D-PRAT student scholar program.

The Urban Design and Preservation Division’s Design-Preservation Rapid Assistance Teams (D-PRAT) Program is a pro bono program that supports under-resourced communities and organizations in their efforts to collaboratively plan for the future in urban design and/or historic preservation.

The D-PRAT program provides free planning and urban design assistance to local governments and community-based organizations that need planning support to address specific problems or challenges. The program's primary goal is to make urban design and preservation planning resources available to organizations and communities that would otherwise not have access to these services or planning expertise.

We are excited to announce Enfield, Connecticut, as our 2024 D-PRAT community. We will work with the Town to examine strategies to address neighborhood revitalization, downtown development, placemaking, and other goals.

Application Release: July 19

Deadline: August 16, 2024

Program Basics

• This year’s Design Preservation Rapid Assistance Team (D-PRAT) student scholar will serve for five months, from September 2024 to January 2025.
• This year, the focus will be on pre-workshop preparation, attendance at a two-day workshop, and production of the final report document.
• Scholar will receive an anticipated award of $1,800 plus expenses such as travel, lodging and meals up to a total award of $2500.
• Scholar will be highlighted in our Division Newsletter and on our APA web page.
• Our Division’s D-PRAT coordinator and Student Scholar Director will supervise the scholar.
  

Eligibility

• Applicant must be a current student in a field related to Urban Design or Preservation (e.g., planning, historic preservation, architecture, etc.).
• Applicant must be a member of the APA’s Urban Design and Preservation Division or be willing to become a free member prior to beginning the fellowship.
• Applicant must be able to commit an average of 4 to 5 hours a week during the pre-workshop phase, 2-3 days of field work during the on-site workshop and 4-5 hours per week post workshop on the final report.

Tasks and Responsibilities

A) The D-PRAT scholar’s tasks and responsibilities will be broken into four phases:

Phase 1 from September to the workshop kick-off with assistance from the D-PRAT team, the student scholar will be responsible for preparing the site visit briefing document by collecting information, data, images, and drawings from many sources identified by the D-PRAT team along with base materials provided by the community.

Phase 2 will consist of participating in and assisting in the coordination of the 2-day in-person workshop. This includes assisting with meeting agendas, setting up rooms for workshops and focus group meetings, documenting work and on-site coordination for those 2 days. Assist documentation of workshop participants such as visual preference surveys and site photographs.

Phase 3 will involve working with the on-site team post workshop to compile their drawings, notes, materials generated during the workshops. The scholar may also participate as a contributor in one of the virtual teams that will be taking these materials and finalizing into urban design and policy recommendations.

Phase 4 the scholar will lead the effort to compile this information into a final document, which will most likely include: organizing information, additional research, creating graphics, final InDesign layout, text/ narrative editing.

B) Other responsibilities may include:

• Participating in the Division Leadership’s monthly one hour conference call (schedule permitting)
• Working with UDP division leadership to develop a D-PRAT briefing book, final report template, and organizational structure guiding subsequent site engagements.

Desired Qualifications

• Strong written and graphic communication skills
• Willingness to work with fellow urban design professionals and community members, appear in front of an audience, conduct interviews in a professional manner, and high degree of familiarity with graphic design tools and techniques.
• Research and data analysis using identified sources and summarizing into key findings to share with the D-PRAT team and the community.
• Ability to work independently after given basic guidance on tasks

Application Requirements

• Resume or CV
• Personal Statement (max. 300 words) – Outline your academic focus, your interest in urban design/preservation, and your reasons for wanting to work with the UDP Division on the D-PRAT team.
• Within the Personal Statement explain your experience with working with the public, writing planning documents, familiarity with InDesign and GIS. Describe any experience with ESRI or other talents such as hand sketching, rendering, Illustrator and Photoshop. This could include links to websites or projects to show your work.
• Portfolio – Provide a sample of your work (e.g., research paper, urban design/planning studio project, publication, graphics, etc.).
• Name and contact information for two references. (No letters needed for the initial application.) Ideally references should be able to speak to your interest in urban design and/or preservation and your fit with the tasks and desired qualifications outlined above.
• Letter from your school (or other official documentation such as course registration or an email from your department chair or department academic advisor) confirming you will be enrolled in a planning-related program during the Fall and Spring 2024-5 terms. The letter or official confirmation should be submitted with your application (if possible); or must be received no later than September 1, 2024, and prior to being selected as the student scholar.

Application requirements should be sent in one email message to Marianne Stuck, D-PRAT coordinator, mstuck@designworkshop.com by August 16, 2024.

Our goal is to promote interest and career development for emerging professionals in the fields of urban planning, design, and preservation by providing an opportunity to network with senior leadership professionals and contribute to Division outreach activities.

For more information, check out the APA Urban Design and Preservation Division website. To check out some activities of past D-PRAT workshops, check out our D-PRAT page.