Internship with the American Planning Association

The American Planning Association (APA) seeks an individual with strong communication, research, and writing skills, a solid foundation of urban and regional planning knowledge, and a customer-service orientation for an internship with APA’s research department. The principal duties of the position are responding to a wide variety of research requests from Planning Advisory Service (PAS) subscribers and performing research resulting in the enrichment of APA’s best practices information holdings. The intern may also assist with sponsored research projects on topics such as solar energy and drought mitigation. For these projects, the intern will assist staff with conducting research, writing reports, and developing educational and outreach activities.


This position offers an excellent opportunity to be exposed to the full variety of planning issues in the United States in an exciting, collegial atmosphere.

Successful candidates will have strong Internet research skills and writing ability, be organized and efficient in compiling and maintaining information, and be able to problem solve with limited supervision. Previous planning-related experience or current enrollment in an accredited graduate planning program is preferred but not required.

We expect a part-time commitment from all candidates through May 2013.

Hourly rate: $16.00/hour

Please send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample (see specifications below) with the subject line “Research Intern Application” to:

David Morley, AICP

Planning Advisory Service Coordinator

Research Associate/Co-editor, Zoning Practice

dmorley@planning.org

In your cover letter, please briefly describe any previous classes or work experience related to renewable energy or drought issues. Please note, incomplete submissions will not be considered. No phone calls please. Submissions accepted through April 13, 2012.

Writing Sample Specifications

All interns will be responding to research requests from PAS subscribers who use the Inquiry Answer Service to gain information on a wide variety of planning topics. Compose a 500–750 word response to one of the following sample inquiries:
What specific policies and programs are local governments using to deal with high residential and commercial vacancy rates?
What are some of the potential strengths and weaknesses of form-based codes?
How are local governments responding to climate change in their plans, policies, and codes?

Your response should include a summary of research findings followed by a list of references and links to at least eight different articles, reports, plans, or regulatory documents available online that support your claims.