Students enrolled in the Master of Urban Planning program have the opportunity to earn a certificate in a variety of interdisciplinary offerings to supplement their planning degree. Certificates offered in the College of Built Environments are indicated below. Additional certificates are offered in many graduate programs at the University of Washington. Certificates often require additional credits beyond the 72 credits required for the MUP program.
The Urban Design Certificate Program provides students with specialized, interdisciplinary training through the collaboration of faculty in three of the College’s professional programs: architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design and planning. The program’s goal is to provide students with the fundamental theories, methods, and substantive content of urban design as a base for professional knowledge and a generative source for the future. Training is based on the fundamental assumption that urban designers design: the process of design and the problem-solving contributions of designers are as important as understanding the qualitative and quantitative product of design—the urban environment.
For MUP students, the Certificate in Urban Design is distinguished from the MUP Specialization in Urban Design by requiring a third studio and coursework taken in Architecture and possibly Landscape Architecture. The Certificate program therefore enhances a student’s likelihood of success as a practicing urban designer. It also provides enhanced training for other urban design-related career paths that involve communication and coordination with urban designers or engagement with urban design issues – for example, in urban design policy and regulation such as the writing and administration of design guidelines, design review processes, or urban design elements of comprehensive plans; or through urban design-related research in academic, government and professional settings.
The Graduate Certificate in Housing Studies (GCHS) offers all UW graduate students an opportunity to learn the fundamental concepts and tools essential to understanding housing production and consumption at a regional, national and global level.
The Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation offers UW graduate students an opportunity to integrate knowledge of historic preservation with their academic disciplines. The Certificate program prepares students and professionals for a career in historic preservation related to architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, urban planning, history, geography, anthropology, museology and others. Students completing the GCHP will be knowledgeable about historic preservation including history, theory, law, and policy, and be able to apply this knowledge in contemporary preservation practice. They will be able to examine historic sites using research methods and prepare preservation plans for a range of historic properties in both domestic and international settings.
The two-quarter program offers non-real estate UW graduate students an opportunity to learn the fundamental concepts and tools critical in the workings of real estate markets while helping them understand how their own fields of study can be useful in real estate.