Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
The program was developed to address a clear need. Stefanoff recognized that many appointed or employed commissioners and staff in local government lack planning expertise or understanding. “Since these individuals are making community-impacting decisions, they need to be trained,” she explained.
To create the training, Stefanoff recruited volunteers to work on a comprehensive curriculum. The final program consists of six modules covering the essential knowledge that commissioners and officials must master to make sound planning decisions.
After working on the curriculum for some time, the team launched a trial version in 2022. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with a high demand for more training. Following this success, the team prepared six full modules and opened the official class in August 2025.
Eleven students have completed all six modules and passed the final exam, earning the Certified Citizen Planner status from the APA-OK chapter, which has approved the certification. If you would like to learn more or are interested in joining the next training cycle in August 2026, please contact Petya Stefanoff at Petya.Stefanoff-1@ou.edu.
Telesis, a journal produced by students in the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, has earned first place in the 2026 Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals for its seventh volume, “Unfold.” This marks the fourth time the publication has earned recognition for excellence in student architectural journalism. It shares the honor with student journals from Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Cal Poly.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
