Vindication From the Top

With the renewal of its accreditation apparently imminent, the controversy surrounding what direction the City and Regional Planning Department (CRP) of the Graduate School of Design should take seems to be abating.

The department has been embroiled in controversy since John F. Kain, professor of Economics, took over as chairman of the CRP in 1975 and introduced a more multidisciplinary curriculum, which includes courses in economics and political analysis as well as planning.

Francois Vigier, professor of City and Regional Planning and chairman of the department from 1969 to 1971, and other critics repeatedly criticized Kain for emphasizing economics over planning both on curriculum and faculty appointments.

Last March, the American Planning Association (APA) delayed renewal of CRP's accreditation, criticizing the department's divergence from the traditional planning curriculum.

Moreover, the APA said CRP did not meet the requirement that there be more planners than faculty of other disciplines on the teaching staff.

But Kain says that the APA objections were vague and did not acknowledge the planning experience of those faculty without degrees in planning. He added that he supplied the APA with more information about the curriculum.

Apparently, the APA has come around to Kain's view. A staff report released last week recommended that the full APA extend CRP's accreditation for another five-year term.

The author of the staff report said earlier this week that Kain "has supplied enough information to back up his point."

Kain said the delay in the accreditation renewal "was never a terrible and calamitous thing in our mind. It's one of those which at one level really isn't important. But it's a lot easier to have the accreditation than to have to explain to 200 million people out there that it isn't a great issue."