Following Chancellor Rodney D. Bennett’s email to staff and students nearly two weeks ago, six programs were outlined for elimination within the proposed budget reductions.
The proposal included two programs within the College of Architecture: Landscape Architecture and Community Regional Planning. These departments are the only accredited programs within the state of Nebraska and are estimated to save the university a combined $700,000 out of its total $27.5 million budget cut if eliminated.
“Landscape architecture itself is important, but it’s also part of the vital system of the College of Architecture, as is community regional planning,” Jonas Halsted, junior landscape architecture major, said. “We all work together, and eliminating one or two of them is going to hurt everyone within the program as a whole.”
More than 100 students currently enrolled in the programs will be able to finish their degrees if the elimination goes through. Prospective students wishing to enroll in these programs beyond the 2025/2026 school year will not be accepted. According to the Academic Planning Committee, the solution for prospective students interested in these programs is that UNL offers over 100 other programs of study that students can explore if these programs were to be eliminated.
Moreover, six faculty members from each program’s positions would be jeopardized by the proposed elimination.
“If the program closes, my position will be eliminated,” Sarah Karle, interim director and associate professor of Landscape Architecture, said. “Our faculty are nationally connected, in high demand and bring valuable expertise to Nebraska. If they leave, the state loses a workforce pipeline and teaching capacity that would be extremely difficult to rebuild.”
Additionally, members of both programs expressed concerns that these eliminations would place a strain on the landscape architecture and community regional planning future workforce.
“The program maintains a 100% job placement rate, and demand for landscape architects in Nebraska is more than 200% above the national average,” Karle said.
Staff and students expressed how both community regional planning and landscape architecture programs have a significant impact on the state of Nebraska.
According to Zhenghong Tang, Community Regional Planning professor and associate dean of the College of Architecture, Community Regional faculty and students have led over 40 community planning projects in cities, counties and regions across Nebraska since 2017.
However, in an effort to save their programs from elimination, staff and students from both programs have begun a train of advocacy through writing letters to the APC.
“We’re currently in the process of writing letters to the committee and making sure that we have our voice, our opinion and make sure that we have to testify against this,” Halsted said. “We are also getting people to sign on to a larger letter to basically show a number of supporters rather than a complete testimony to help protect this program.”
Members of both programs said they will continue their advocacy efforts until they can be addressed via a hearing by the APC from Oct. 1 to Oct. 10. The affected programs will have to determine who will speak on their behalf as the hearing will not be open to the public.
The APC will provide its recommendations based on the feedback form and hearing to the Chancellor on Oct. 24. The final decision will be made during the Board of Regent’s meeting on Dec. 5.
“There’s value to this program that they’re not yet aware of,” Halsted said. “We’re going to make sure that we advocate for our program to remain as an important part of Nebraska as it is currently.”
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