Message From The Chair

Berneece S. Herbert, Ph.D.

Associate Professor & Chair

Welcome to the Department of Urban & Regional Planning (DURP) at Jackson State University. First created in the 1998 – 1999 academic year, DURP remains the only Planning degree-granting program in the State of Mississippi. The Department of Urban & Regional has a long and proud history of teaching, research, and community engagement.

Our mission is focused on providing a quality education that emphasizes the diversity and complexity of today’s world. Our mission is built upon themes of education, discovery, and scholarship with student-centeredness, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence at its core. Captured in the themes is a strong commitment to effectively serve students from diverse academic, social, economic, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds; and to develop responsible leaders who are capable and willing to seek solutions to human, social, and technological problems, with special emphasis on those relevant to the metropolitan and urban areas of the state and the nation.

The mission is supported by exceptional faculty in the Department. DURP’s faculty very much represent the forefront of the Urban & Regional Planning field and are extraordinary people doing things resulting in a Department that reaches far beyond the walls of Jackson State University to improve people, places, and spaces throughout our community and the region, providing high-quality training of the next generation of Planners, leaders, and decision-makers.

We invite you to learn more about our outstanding programs in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning.