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On Wednesday, April 9, Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) students from the University of Oklahoma represented their peers at the Oklahoma Board of Governors of Licensed Architects, Landscape Architects, and Licensed Interior Designers (OBA) board meeting. Giselle Walker, a second-year MLA student, and Jeremy Crites, a third-year MLA student, attended the meeting to provide testimony on behalf of Landscape Architecture students from both OU and Oklahoma State University.
The students addressed the board to advocate for an update to the state’s licensure requirements for landscape architects. Their testimony requested that Oklahoma align its standards with the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB) Uniform Standards, which serve as the national model. More than 20 states have already adopted these standards.
Currently, Oklahoma requires three years of professional experience for MLA-accredited graduates seeking licensure, one year more than many surrounding states. The students noted that this additional requirement is contributing to a loss of emerging professionals, as recent graduates are opting to begin their careers in other states with a more efficient path to licensure. Reducing the experience requirement from three years to two would bring Oklahoma in line with regional trends and help retain graduates in-state.
The advocacy was a success as the board responded positively to the students’ remarks. The vote was unanimous to begin the formal process of updating the licensure standards. The process, which is expected to take 18 months, will evaluate education and experience requirements for landscape architecture licensure in Oklahoma.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
