Architects are speaking out against a plan to merge the UNL's College of Architecture into the university's College of Fine and Performing Arts.
Several architects stood in opposition to the proposal Friday, saying it would negatively affect the quality of education provided at the college and UNL’s ability to produce graduates capable of getting jobs with top Nebraska firms.
Patrick McDermott, a 1968 UNL graduate, said it's important that regents approach a potential merger with caution. Four decades ago, he said, the Board of Regents turned down a proposed merger between the College of Architecture and the College of Engineering.
Specifically, McDermott said the cost savings of no longer having a dean of architecture would be far outweighed by a future in which less-skilled architecture graduates are entering the workforce.
“This decision may also traumatically impact the quality of student the university is able to attract in the future, as well as the quality of faculty that the university is able to retain,” he said. “Nothing happens at a university without strong faculty.”
Striving for an independent college that continues to produce highly sought graduates should be UNL’s goal, McDermott added. Now, UNL graduates collectively rank ninth among architecture graduates nationwide on licensing exam scores.
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Chuck O’Connor, dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, said that there is definitely a mix of feelings about the merger, but that he thought both programs ultimately would be strengthened.
O’Connor would become dean of the new college. Instead of a dean, the school of architecture would have a director.
“This is meant to move our architecture program forward and try to regain lost enrollments they’ve had over the years, and their stature among our peers,” O’Connor said. “I think we need to diversify and understand that the profession of architecture is changing, and it’s in a dynamic state right now.”
Though no curriculum changes are planned, O’Connor said the merger would improve opportunities for students to take more design-related courses. The most important conversation is how the merger could benefit students, he said.
“I certainly understand that, for some people, the loss of identity is really very important,” O’Connor said. “That being said ... this sort of arrangement is fairly common, and it’s probably the appropriate arrangement.”
UNL spokesman Steve Smith said the university has held many discussions with professional architects since plans were announced last year.
“Amid these discussions we have seen understanding that the profession is evolving and must adapt to changing economies, changing industry and the changing needs of design education,” Smith said in an email. “We’ve also found support of the college’s long-term investment to add new architecture faculty to support this strategy in the next two to three years.”