Dr. Greg Schrock, Associate Professor and School DirectorDearest Toulan School friends and family,
It is my pleasure to bring you this newsletter, which I hope finds you well as the Fall term wraps up, and we bring a busy and eventful 2023 to a close.
This fall brought new leadership to PSU in the form of President Ann Cudd. In her opening address to PSU faculty and staff in September, President Cudd affirmed her commitment to PSU’s urban mission, and to investing in a new CUPA Dean to bring leadership to our great college. Her team—led by former Toulan School faculty member Sheila Martin—is embarking on a strategic planning process to help navigate the difficult budgetary decisions that lie ahead. And since our last newsletter in spring, we have welcomed a new CUPA Interim Dean, Dr. Shawn Smallman, who is bringing leadership to our college in these challenging times.
As PSU and CUPA stand at this critical juncture, we are reminded of an important anniversary for our School. Ten years ago, in October 2013, we lost Nohad Toulan, founding Dean of CUPA and namesake of our school, along with his wife Dirce Moroni Toulan, in a tragic accident. Nohad’s leadership was instrumental in building the great urban university that we know today, with its motto of “Let Knowledge Serve the City.” In November the College celebrated the reopening of the Toulan Library on the 7th floor of Urban Center—a beautifully redesigned space with tremendous city views where students, faculty and community members can come together.
This fall has also been a time to think anew about what we do and how we do it. Our faculty have been working on important revisions to several of our degree programs—the undergraduate Community Development major, and our graduate programs in Urban Studies—to refresh their mission and curriculum to better serve the needs and interests of our students and our community. And in collaboration with our colleagues in the School of Business, we are retooling the Master of Science in Real Estate (formerly Master of Real Estate Development) to meet the changing needs of the real estate industry and deepen the Toulan School’s focus on affordable housing development.
In the meantime, Toulan School faculty, students and alumni are continuously letting their knowledge serve. Faculty have been earning research grants and publishing their work, students and alums have been earning recognition, winning awards and fellowships that advance their careers, and our faculty and alumni have been shaping critical policy choices at the local and regional level. I am proud of the collective impact of our Toulan School community.
As the year draws to a close, I ask you to remember the Toulan School and our students in your end-of-year giving plans. Your support through our scholarship funds like the Tony Lamb Racial Justice Fund goes directly to students and enables them to succeed academically and professionally.
I wish you all the best for the holiday season and look forward to seeing you in 2024!
Greg Schrock, PhD
Associate Professor and School Director
Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning