School of Planning, Design and Construction

It is with great pride that I write this letter as the current president of the MSU Landscape Architecture Alumni Advisory Board. Our role as board members is to assist the LA program in a multitude of ways. For me personally, it is a fun and rewarding opportunity to interact with the students, dedicated board volunteers, professors, and staff. I encourage anyone interested to get involved, as there are many ways to assist the program.

It is an exciting time for the MSU LA program. The profession of landscape architecture is busy and growing, and students are finding quality jobs. There have also been significant leadership changes within the college, school, and department which affect the program. Last year, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) hired a new Dean, Ronald Hendrick. The School

of Planning, Design and Construction (SPDC) will have a new Director, Ming- Han Li. Lastly, the LA department just hired Jun-Hyun Kim, recently at Texas A&M, as a new program leader and professor who will also serve as our board liaison. I have found it interesting to learn about the many layers within the university and the important effect that leadership changes have on the landscape architecture program. It’s not often that this many changes happen in one year, and these new leaders are dedicated to help MSU become stronger.

Our board has many committees, as most organizations do, but this year we have to put a real focus on two areas: student engagement and fundraising. We really want to have a solid plan so that in the future, as board members change, these programs have the structure to continue developing and growing to support the department. This is where we need your help as alumni, so that we can all make the MSU LA program stronger, more self-sustaining, and a bigger contributor to the profession.

• Engagement. The focus of engagement has two components. The first is recruitment, helping to find more students for the LA program in order to increase their numbers and create a bigger pool of talent. The second is mentoring. We are working on ways to get LA students involved with professionals on different levels in order to expose them to more experiences, and to develop their skills so they are better prepared for the work force as graduates.

• Fundraising. The purpose of this goal is for the board to become self-sufficient. It can then support these ongoing areas of focus and continue alumni support through recruitment materials, the speaker series, our newsletter, and other student initiatives. An active alumni board for an accredited LA program is an important resource for both the school and the profession.

I hope you will take part in making Michigan State University, and specifically the landscape architecture program, a better and more valuable asset. The students, the program, and the university can use our help, because a strong alumni really can affect change.

WHO WILL? SPARTANS WILL.