Since I became chair in the year 2000 when APA met in New York City, it seems appropriate to frame my thoughts for the Division in that context. My realization of the weight of this responsibility became ever more clear as I was doing the research for the Diana Donald Award article in the Spring 1998 issue of PW Exchange. Our predecessors are an outstanding example who collectively left very big 'footprints' to fill. In addition our immediate past chair and present chair have and will do their part to emulate these ground breaking beginnings for the Division.

With these thoughts in mind, the following are a number of goals for the year 2000 to help continue the past history of the Division and enhance the potential which exists within the Division membership.

* Work toward a Division membership goal that should reach 98% of all female members of APA. The Division philosophically maintains a low Division membership fee specially for the purpose of making it easier for women to join this Division in addition to the other professional divisions. The increase of membership will do two things for the Division: increase the working budget and increase the visibility of the Division within APA which in turn will enable the Division to participate in the Conference to a fuller extent.

* Create and maintain a Planning and Women Division web site which would include the following: electronic delivery of the newsletter (this would allow the amount budgeted for printing and mailing costs to be diverted to other Division activities); job listings and links to other job listing sources; a resource file for the exchange of planning case studies, planning sources, planning problem solving approaches; and other suggestions from Division members.

* Expressed need for mentoring. Since there is an acknowledged shortage of time to meet this need for mentoring, a possible way to set up an effective mentoring program might be electronically, using the web site. This would not be a substitute for personal contact, but might facilitate contact and communication under the pressure of increasing time constraints. This could intertwine with the sharing of job opportunities and the exchange of case studies.

* Ramona Mattix mentioned in the August 1998 Chair's Corner the importance to periodically collect data about the membership's professional development needs, educational needs, and employment statistics. Diana Donald chaired a joint committee of AIP/ASPO on these very topics so the precedent exists to jointly collaborate with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) on such research topics.

* Starting with the 1998 APA Conference in Boston and continuing in Seattle and then New York, the Division plans to focus on identifying those issues which significantly engage women planners. Ramona Mattix mentioned a number of issues in the Chair's Corner to begin this conversation. By the year 2000, a mechanism should be in place to bring the issues directly into the heart of APA. And this will be much easier to accomplish as our membership and budget increases.

* Should all of the above occur and reach completion before the millenium, I will gladly meet the challenge of bringing forth additional goals for the Division.

Here are several interesting sources which might stimulate the discussion about planning issues of great importance to women. A recently published book, The fourth turning, by William Strauss and Neil Howe brings to bear historic facts in interpretation on what this country will be facing in 2025. This book is a direct result of one of their previous books, Generations, which redefined the historic definitions of generations within the United States history from the 1600's to 2025. There is a very exciting web site for The fourth turning at

Here are two other web sites which could also expand the list of issues: Planners Network and my course in Social Planning. I have created a number of links to very stimulating sources.

There are many members that I have probably not met so let me briefly do the Reader's Digest summary of my planning interests. My major concern is bridging theory and practice. To this day, the conversation continues that the academic planner does not connect with the practicing planner and the reverse that the practicing planner does not use what the academician thinks is 'sound' planning. In many respects this is accurate. However, it does not need to continue. I carry out this interest, bridging theory and practice, by doing research in decision making.

As I learn about how a decision is made, I also ask the question(s) 'what is learned during the decision-making process'. I teach courses in social planning, ethics, urban and regional planning, and introduction to urban planning. Yes, I primarily spend my time at a university; but to put into practice what I research, I focus my community involvement on planning issues.

If there are several people who would be interested in working on a web page for the Division, please contact me or Ramona Mattix.

Click on the image to visit Bobby's Home Page.