Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President

Faculty Spotlight

Kristine M. Williams

Name

Kristine M. Williams

College

College of Engineering

Department

Center for Urban Transportation Research

Undergraduate Degree

BA, Anthropology

From

Michigan State University

Graduate Degree

Master of Urban Planning

From

Michigan State University

Doctoral Degree

An MUP is a professional degree. Most urban planners stop at the Masters level unless we plan to pursue an academic career, which I did not. AICP stands for the American Institute of Certified Planners, which is the professional certification for urban planners. To become AICP, one must meet certain minimum experience levels and qualifications, pass an exam, and (more recently) maintain a certain level of continuing education in the field.

Previous Post(s)

• Consultant, Planning & Zoning Center, Inc. and Assistant Editor, Planning & Zoning News magazine;
• New York City Urban Fellow (City Planning – Manhattan Office);
• Peace Corps Volunteer (Thailand)

Selected Published Works

My most significant published work is the national Access Management Manual, published in 2003 by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academy of Sciences. I also have four other TRB publications:

• NCHRP Synthesis 337: Cooperative Agreements for Corridor Management, (TRB 2004).
• NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 304: Driveway Regulation Practices, (TRB 2002).
• NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 289: Corridor Management. (TRB 2000)
• NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 233: Land Development Regulations that Promote Access Management. (TRB 1996).

Aside from these works, I’ve produced more than 60 papers and four guidebooks on various planning and regulatory techniques. My most recent paper with attorney John Hassan in New Zealand, was my second international collaboration:

• J. Hassan and K. Williams, “Sustainable Highway Management – do we have the tools for effective use and access control, what can we apply from overseas models?” Proceedings of the International Transport Conference for 2007: Transport – the Next 50 Years, New Zealand, July 25, 2007 (publication pending).

Area of Specialization / Research

Transportation and Land Use Policy, Access Management, Corridor Management, Growth Management, Public Involvement

Current Course Offerings

I teach a graduate level course in Access Management in the College of Engineering.

How and when did you first become interested in your field of study?

As a student of Anthropology, I did research on aging in culture and society and specifically, on housing alternatives for the elderly. I began to see how cultural values and biases are reflected in the built environment. Urban planning let me combine my growing interest in social impacts of the built environment, with a strong interest in environmental conservation and sustainable development. That is what led me to a career in urban planning and later to specialize in transportation and land use policy.

What made you decide to pursue a career in higher education? 

I didn’t really. I was offered a tremendous opportunity by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at USF to do a major policy study on transportation and growth management in Florida. I had just arrived in Florida and it gave me the chance to travel around the state and find out first hand about the challenges communities were experiencing with growth management at the time. Unfortunately, the issues haven’t changed much over the years, but there has been some progress and I feel I’ve been a part of that.

Why did you choose to be a part of the academic community at USF?

USF and specifically CUTR has given me an opportunity to make a difference in my field – to influence the direction of public policy at every level of government, to network nationally and internationally, and to help shape the future of the profession through teaching and mentoring. It’s incredibly rewarding.

What do you enjoy about teaching the students of USF?

As a researcher at a grant funded center, teaching isn’t my primary role. It is, however, one of my favorite activities. I strongly believe that the most important thing I can do is to educate future professionals and help them to be good citizens, too. Every now and then one of my former students contacts me to tell me how my class has helped him or her succeed. It reminds me how important my role is as teacher.

What do you like about the university community?

What’s not to like (well, other than the bureaucracy of course)? I’ve been here 15 years and what I like most is the chance to pursue work that interests me, interact with people from all over the world, and continuously learn and grow. It’s been ideal really and I’m still amazed how fast the time has passed. I guess that means I’m having fun!