Clemson is ranked seventh in the nation among programs that do not offer a PhD, and 10th in the South among all graduate programs.

The city and regional planning program at Clemson is offered through the department of planning and landscape architecture. The professional master's degree program emphasizes sustainable land development while recognizing the balance of physical, economic, financial, social and policy dimensions of planning. Students pursue specializations in areas such as development planning, environmental and land-use planning, urban design and transportation planning.

Other non-PhD programs ranked highly by Planetizen include California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and California State Polytechnic University in Pomona in the No. 1 and 2 spots, followed by University at Buffalo-State University of New York, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University and University of Virginia.

Among a 14-state Southern region, Clemson's program ranked 10th, in company with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

Clemson University also has one of the 10 best graduate programs in historic preservation, according to Planetizen, which listed Clemson, Columbia University, Cornell and the University of Southern California among the 10 best. The institutions were not ranked by number in that category. Also, Clemson was No. 4 in a ranking of financial aid per student.

"We are pleased with the company we are keeping with increased national recognition for the program," said James B. London, who was director of the graduate program until his recent appointment as associate dean for research and graduate studies. "We are proud to deliver a program that prepares professionals who lead communities into the future."

Planetizen enlisted the help of a professional opinion research firm to survey hundreds of professionals, educators and students to produce the 2009 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs.

Planetizen is a news and information resource for the urban planning, design and development community. The Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs is published by Planetizen Press, a division of Urban Insight Inc.

For more information about Clemson's graduate program in city and regional planning, visit www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/CRP/index.php.

For more information about Clemson's graduate program in historic preservation, visit www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/HistPres/index.php.

Clemson University was awarded a $160,000 Campus Heritage grant from the Getty Foundation to develop a heritage preservation plan for the campus.

The grant will support a project to maintain Clemson's historic architectural, landscape and spatial assets, and to educate and train the people of Clemson University in the best ways to protect and maintain them.

Goals of the project include developing a comprehensive inventory of campus historic resources, The Class of '39 Bell Monument is in the Carillon Garden.producing a National Register eligibility assessment, and creating a campus stewardship strategy that involves the campus and community.

John Milner Associates of Charlottesville, Va., has been hired to develop the preservation master plan.

"One of the primary goals of this project is to provide a variety of education options to students interested in historic preservation and related fields such as architecture, landscape architecture, history, geography, archaeology and engineering," says Cari Goetcheus, an assistant professor of landscape architecture at Clemson. Goetcheus shares project supervisor duties with Dan Nadenicek, chairman of Clemson's department of landscape architecture.

"Students will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on research, field work, research projects and independent studies allowing them to learn about preservation planning, techniques, approaches and interpretation," Goetcheus said.

Since 2002, through its Campus Heritage Initiative, the Getty Foundation has awarded grants to 86 colleges and universities for preservation planning, as well as funding surveys of hundreds of small liberal arts colleges. These grants have played a catalytic role in helping institutions of higher education understand the significance of the historic resources on their campuses and plan for their long-term preservation. The current round of grants represents the final year of the initiative.

"American colleges and universities are frequently unique repositories of some of the country's finest historic architecture and designed landscapes," says Deborah Marrow, director of the Getty Foundation. "While other buildings may have had a variety of owners and uses over the years, campus buildings have for the most part remained under the same stewardship, which presents wonderful opportunities for preservation and education."

For more information about Clemson's graduate program in landscape architecture, visit http://www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/LandArch/. For more information about the graduate program in historic preservation, visit http://www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/HistPres/. For more information about the graduate program in architecture, visit http://www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/Arch/.

Luxor, also known in the past as the ancient city of Thebes, is situated on the east bank of the Nile River. It is home to both the Luxor and Karnak temples and a ceremonial avenue of sphinxes. In ancient times, this avenue joined the two temples into one grand religious center that commonly held processions and other religious events. The city looks much different today, as Dr. Nassar explains, "Today, with the pressures of urban growth [in] Luxor and of inhabitants' preference to live as close as possible to the temples (the source of their livelihood), the urban fabric has infringed on the sites of the Karnak and Luxor temples as well as the avenue of the sphinxes." The avenue is covered by residential neighborhoods, and it is the goal of this project to relocate these residents and restore the temples and avenue areas.

During the spring 2007 semester, the first steps of this project were taken by Clemson students as those enrolled in the landscape architecture urban design studio began work with students at Ain Shams in parallel studio courses. The Clemson students visited Egypt in February to see Luxor first-hand and engaged in an urban analysis of the city. They also met their collaborators at Ain Shams University. Upon their return, students in the studio course worked to provide a variety of urban design solutions for key areas of the city. In particular, these students worked on landscape designs that complement the architectural plans of the Ain Shams studio; their work primarily addressed the temple and avenue areas but also included landscape development plans for the west bank of the Nile, including the Valley of the Dead.

This project is not only a terrific international, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural educational opportunity for students in the department of planning and landscape architecture, but future collaboration, presentations and scholarly publications will help to increase the national recognition of the department and Clemson University as well.

If you would like additional information about this project, contact Dr. Nassar at hnassar@clemson.edu.