APA Florida MAPS Program
With
FSU Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP)
APA Florida, its Capital Area Section and FSU DURP will work together during the 2014-2015 FSU
academic year to implement the Mentor A Planning Student (MAPS) program.
Goals:
 to expose FSU DURP students to the actual work environments, responsibilities and interactions of
professional planning positions in Florida
 to bring FSU DURP students into a mentor relationship with a practicing public or private sector
planner in their region;
 to help planning students begin to develop their professional career networks;
 further facilitate the relationship between university planning programs, APA Florida, sections and
planning professionals.
Participation:
In its third year, the program is designed to support up to fifteen (15) students and 15 mentors.
Membership in APA Florida is not a requirement for either mentors or students, although it is encouraged.
Mentors must either be based in the Tallahassee area or have work that periodically brings them to the
area. Students must be enrolled in the FSU DURP program.
Geographic Area:
Because of FSU DURP’s location in Tallahassee, the program will focus upon indentifying mentors in the
Tallahassee metropolitan region. However if a student prefers a mentor in another region of the state and
is willing to cover the expense of traveling to that area, APA Florida will make its best effort to find a
mentor in that region of the state.
General Mentoring Categories:
Community Health
Developing Areas/International Development
Economic Development
Environmental Planning
Hazard Mitigation/Emergency Management
Housing/Residential Development
Land Use/Comprehensive Planning
Public Participation
Regional Planning
Transportation
Urban Design
Minimum Requirements for each Mentor and Student:
 Timeframe for completing mentoring requirements is November- April
 At least two shadowing experiences :
o A day at the office (this can be broken into a couple of smaller time blocks as long as the
student is exposed to the longer term duties of the mentor)
o A day in the field working on a project with a client/constituency
 Resume review by the mentor
 Participation at a discussion at the APA Florida Public Policy Workshop venue in Tallahassee in
early February, 2014
 An on-campus event for mentors and students in December to be organized by FSU DURP
 Completion of an evaluation report on the mentoring experience (both mentors and students)
 Upon request by student, the mentor will write a letter of recommendation but only if the mentor
agrees to do so
 No formal activities after first year, but participants encouraged to continue in an informal
relationship if doing so seems fruitful to the mentor and student
Deadlines:
September 2014
October 2014
October 15, 2014
October 22, 2014
November 5, 2014
November 12, 2014
December 4, 2014
January 16, 2015
February, 2015
April 15, 2015
April 30, 2015
APA Florida and the Capital Area Section send out request and form for mentor
sign-up ; deadline for mentor signup is October 15th
FSU DURP transmits list of students and their application information to APA
Florida
Deadline for mentor sign-up and mentee sign-up
APA Florida, its Capital Area Section and FSU DURP finalize mentor/student
pairings, and APA Florida Capital Area Section will email mentors and students
with the respective contact/background information
Students will have completed an initial courtesy call to their mentor in order to
introduce themselves and set guidelines for frequency of contact with their mentor.
If a student does not contact their assigned mentor within the first week, the
University Faculty Representative will be informed.
APA Florida Capital Area Section will confirm courtesy calls with mentors
Participation by mentors and students at event on FSU campus
Completion of at least one shadowing experience
Participation by mentors and students at discussion at Public Policy Workshop
venue in Tallahassee
Completion of all mentoring minimum requirements
Completion of evaluation reports by mentors and students (using form provided)
FSU DURP Responsibilities:

Integrate MAPS Program into Curriculum: DURP will offer incoming master's students the
option of participating in the MAPS program as an alternative to enrolling in the second semester
of our required zero-credit-hour Professional Topics course (URP 5939). That course is designed
to expose students to the profession through presentations by practicing professionals and other
programs aimed at professional planning preparation. Students are required to attend 7-8 sessions
per semester (total of 8-9 hours) for two semesters to receive credit, but they are not required to
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write papers, do any reading, take quizzes, etc. Solicit and identify no more than 15 students to
participate in the MAPS pilot program
Develop evaluation form
Organize and facilitate on-campus event for mentors and students in December
Work with APA Florida to resolve any issues stemming from lack of participation in the
mentoring pairing
APA Florida and Capital Area Section Responsibilities:
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Overall program administration
Identification of potential mentors using attached form
Matching mentors and students, with the assistance of FSU DURP
Soliciting brief documentation reports from both mentors and students (using evaluation form
developed by FSU DURP)
Periodic review of each mentoring pairing to see if it is working out (mid-November, midJanuary, mid-March) – the intent is that APA Florida Capital Area Section will reach out to each
mentor and student by email to see what has been accomplished, generally how things are going
and whether there are any issues that have arisen.
In the event that a mentor fails to meet the minimum mentoring requirements or deadline, or has to
stop mentoring for any reason, APA Florida Capital Area Section will match the student up with
another appropriate mentor.
Mentor Participation Application
Please complete this form if you are a planner interested in participating in APA Florida MAPS as a mentor. Completed forms
must be received electronically by the APA Florida Chapter Office at fapa@floridaplanning.org or via mail to 2040 Delta Way,
Tallahassee, Florida no later than October 15, 2014. If you have any questions, contact Alex Magee, Executive Director at
850-201-3272. Thank you.
Contact Information:
Name: ________________________________________________________________________________
Email: ________________________________________________________________________________
Place of Work: _________________________________________________________________________
Mail Address/City/Zip Code: ______________________________________________________________
Preferred Telephone #: ___________________________________________________________________
Alternative Telephone#: __________________________________________________________________
Fax #: ________________________________________________________________________________
Academic Background:
University/Degree Program: _______________________________________________________________
Year Graduated: ________________________________________________________________________
Specialization(s)/Field(s)/Concentration(s): _________________________________________________________
Additional Information:
Which of following planning fields do you feel would be an appropriate area of your expertise in mentoring a student? (Please
identify your top three choices, with 1 being your first choice)
Community Health
______
Developing Areas/International Development
______
Economic Development
______
Environmental Planning
______
Hazard Mitigation Planning
______
Housing/Residential Development
______
Land Use/Comprehensive Planning
______
Public Participation
______
Regional Planning
______
Transportation Planning
______
Urban Design
______
Are there any other special experiences, knowledge or skills you would like to impart as a mentor? If so, please briefly discuss.
Please attach a copy of your resume to this completed form.
By signing below, I confirm that I have read the description of the MAPS Project, the minimum
requirements for mentoring activity and the deadlines, and that I will be able to successfully meet those
requirements and deadlines.
_________________________________________
Signature
_______________________
Date