School of Planning, Design and Construction Urban Collaborators

The City of East Lansing is a university town that is home to Michigan State University. Based on 2022 census data, the 20-24 age group makes up nearly 35% of the city’s population. While students individually may be transient residents, the MSU student body is present over time. Therefore the City of East Lansing is interested in student input for its 2024 East Lansing Comprehensive Plan Update. This practicum project was a result of collective effort by a group of Michigan State University (MSU) Urban Planning students in the program’s capstone practicum course. The Practicum Team worked in collaboration with the City of East Lansing to collect student input for the 2024 East Lansing Comprehensive Plan Update (2024 Update). The City of East Lansing determined four main focus areas for the 2024 Update based on initial resident engagement activities: Equity, sustainability, housing, and public health. The Practicum Team strived to collect and organize feedback with these topics in mind and sought to identify additional topics that may be of interest to student groups.

A variety of methods were used to engage MSU students in asking for their perspectives on the city. This included a digital survey as well as 13 in-person workshops. The digital Student Engagement Survey was distributed by a QR code via flyers, social media, business cards, and referrals. In total, the survey garnered 164 student responses and asked students 3 demographic questions, 13 focus questions, and 2 open response questions. Overall the main areas of concern for students was housing affordability, pedestrian safety, and road quality. Students felt positive however about the community as well as their access to green-space and health resources.

The Practicum Team facilitated two types of in-person workshops, 3 in-class discussion Workshops and 10 Sticky-Note Workshops. Two freshmen level classes and one sophomore level class participated in the Discussion Workshops for a total of 98 participants. Each session lasted a half hour and asked student groups of three to four to discuss what they liked about East Lansing and what they would change. The team conducted a total of 10 Sticky-Note Workshops which collected 241 student responses. The Sticky-Note Workshops were carried out at various hubs across the MSU campus including Brody Hall, the Stem Building, the MSU Library, and the MSU Union Building. The in-person workshops totaled over 35 engagement hours all together over the course of the semester.

The Practicum Team was able to reach 508 students throughout the engagement process, far exceeding the original goal of 385 students. The end result of this collaboration was a better understanding of MSU student perspectives as they relate to the East Lansing Comprehensive Plan. Additionally, the project shed some light on engagement methods and locations that may or may not work well with MSU student groups which may help guide future engagement initiatives in the community.