American Citizen Planner Program - Informational Webinar May 12

April 15, 2020
Community planning

The Land Use Planning Community of Practice will hold a free webinar on Tuesday, May 12 from 3 to 4 p.m. EDT to provide an overview of the American Citizen Planner (ACP) program. See below for more information on the program and registration for its courses.

The webinar will be taught by Kara Salazar, AICP, PCED, LEED AP NC of Purdue University and Wayne Beyea, JD, AICP, of Michigan State University. The two have been instrumental in the creation of the ACP curriculum and making the program available nationally. Register for the webinar here.

The official launch of this program culminates a several-year effort by the Community of Practice to provide an easily accessible training for lay planning officials across the country. States also have the option of creating their own educational programs as part of this program by working with eXtension. Presently, Michigan has its own state version and Indiana has plans to launch their state version this year.

For more information, contact Wayne Beyea, JD, AICP, Senior Specialist, Urban & Regional Planning, Michigan State University, School of Planning, Design and Construction, 552 W. Circle Drive, Room 203E, East Lansing, MI 48824. Email: beyea@msu.edu.


American Citizen Planner Program Information and Course Registration

The American Citizen Planner (ACP) program is now accepting registrations for its two courses and the national examination. The program is a collaboration between the Land Use Planning Community of Practice, the eXtension Foundation and NACDEP.

The ACP program provides training in core competencies for volunteer public planning officials. The online training program is designed to help those serving on planning commissions as well as other citizen volunteers interested in land use planning understand the roles and responsibilities of public officials, community residents, and developers and understand the tools and processes planners used to implement comprehensive plans. The program features two courses of ACP 101 (Planning) and ACP 201 (Zoning) with 28 units (up to one hour each) of online content detailing core planning theories, tools, and legal aspects that shape community plans. 

Participants who complete both the ACP 101 and ACP 201 courses can take the ACP Exam to earn the Master Citizen Planner credential.

For general information about the program, visit the webpage. Register here for the national American Citizen Planner program.