DEAN'S MESSAGE

Welcome back! As we enter the final stretch of our academic year, excitement and anticipation increase. But as deadlines quicken so too can feelings of stress and anxiety while we all strive to complete our papers and projects to the best of our abilities. My advice is to support and encourage one another, be mindful of your health and rest and enjoy the process. It will not be long, and you will be reflecting on these weeks during the heat of summer, and I hope your “future self” will be proud. 

I also wanted to share that during these past few weeks I have had the opportunity to meet with and learn from several college alumni across the decades. We are blessed with an amazing network of designers, planners and makers who are practicing across Nebraska and the world. A few ideas are emerging about ways to more intentionally cultivate mentoring relationships among alumni and with our current students. If you have ideas or interest in this topic, please feel free to share your ideas with me.

Make it a great week!

Kevin G. Van Den Wymelenberg

HEALTHY RESOURCES

Taking care of your mental health is essential to doing well in school. Stress, anxiety and depression can make it difficult to relax, can cause insomnia, make it difficult to focus and cause forgetfulness and disorganization. All of these symptoms will have an impact on your ability to perform well in your classes, so making sure to take care of your mental health is essential. Below are some tips for self-care which can help improve and support your mental health.

·       Live healthy. Eat healthy foods, get enough sleep, exercise regularly and avoid drugs and alcohol.

·       Practice good hygiene. Good hygiene is important for social, medical and psychological reasons in that it not only reduces the risk of illness, but it also improves the way others view you and how you view yourself.

·       See friends to build your sense of belonging. Consider joining a support group to make new friends.

·       Try to do something you enjoy every day. That might mean dancing, watching a favorite TV show, working in the garden, painting or reading.

·       Find ways to relax, like meditation, yoga, getting a massage, taking a bath or going for a walk.

·       Learn to say no when you need to. You don’t need to take on everything, and if you are starting to feel burnt out, it may be more important to do some self-care than to take on that extra project or responsibility.

If you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, but maybe aren’t sure if you should seek assistance, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers a free, anonymous mental health screening that you can check out here.

Remember that CAPS and Big Red Resilience are both great resources that you can seek out to support your mental health. You can find information about scheduling an appointment with CAPS here and you can find information about scheduling an appointment with Big Red Resilience here. 

PASS / NO PASS

The last day to change a full-length Regular Academic Session course registration to or from “Pass/No Pass” is Friday, March 24. 

A few things you should know about Pass/No Pass include:

• NEVER change a class to Pass/No Pass without checking with your advisor first.
• DSGN/ARCH/IDES/LARC courses are all REQUIRED to have a letter grade. Taking these subjects as Pass/No Pass is NOT an option. And all of these courses must be completed with a C or better.
• Required electives are all REQUIRED to have a letter grade. These include courses like MATH, ENGL, COMM, HORT and Natural Science electives. Taking these subjects as Pass/No Pass is NOT an option. Additionally these courses must be completed with a C or better.
• Some ACE electives (6, 8 and 9) may be taken as Pass/No Pass, but please consult with your advisor first.

Advising

Registration for summer sessions is currently open. Priority registration for fall 2023 opens on Monday, March 27.

You can schedule an advising appointment with your advisor directly by clicking on their direct link below.

Leslie Gonzalez - click here.

Stephanie Kuenning - click here.

As a reminder, Jaime Mastera will be on maternity leave until mid-April. Please schedule a time to meet with Leslie or Stephanie for advising if Jaime is your assigned advisor.

-Stephanie Kuenning

COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING

Community and Regional Planning students and faculty participated in the Nebraska Planning Conference in Kearney, Nebraska, on March 8-10, 2023. Dean Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg attended this conference and met with the planners, elected officials, organization leaders, industrial partners and alumni from Nebraska and nationwide. Seventeen planning students participated in this conference, and they presented for multiple projects, from health/equity, flood security, urban design, transportation and community development planning. The students and faculty participated in the event organized by the Emerging Planners Group, which is comprised of individuals passionate about the next 50 years of planning in Nebraska. Van Den Wymelenberg made an annual update of college development efforts for the students, alumni and stakeholders. 

-Zhenghong Tang   

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

I hope everyone had a great spring break and are excited about capping off their semester and school year with some great work. As I write the newsletter piece this morning, we were able to enjoy the last snow of the winter (at least I hope it is the last snow). A last time to see the trees coated in white as the anticipated buds are beginning to form. The variability of the natural world has its momentary events, but the change of the seasons will eventually take hold. Still these events, under the influence of climate change, seem to be more frequent. In the face of this challenge, the development of resilient landscapes that perform at a high level is even more important to the health and happiness of communities. More-

FACULTY/ STUDENT NEWS

Check out the College of Architecture website for new internship and job opportunities. 



Plus, University of Nebraska Career Services encourages you to view a few of their new Full-Time job postings at Handshake. Check them out!

AIAS Lunch and Learn: Unlocking the Path to Architectural Licensure

Date: March 27

Time: 12-1pm

Place: Arch Hall Gallery

Student Research Days 2023

Date: March 27-31

Register here

Hyde Lecture -Rana Abudayyeh

Date: Apr. 7

Time: 4 pm

Place: Richards Hall

AIAS Beaux Arts Ball: Bringing Bahaus Back

Date: Apr. 7

Time: 7-9 pm

Place: Nebraska Union Centennial Ballroom

Build-Up Week

Date: May 1-5

Finals Reviews

Date: May 8-12

Final Exams

Date: May 15–19

UNL Graduate Commencement and Doctoral Hooding Ceremony

Date: May 19

College of Architecture Graduate Recognition Ceremony

Date: May 19

Time: 6 pm

Place:

Union Ball Room

(Tentative)

UNL Undergraduate Ceremony

Date: May 20