The Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to share that Dr. Sarah Little, Associate Director of the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design at the University of Oklahoma, was named the 2025 Winner of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Faculty Excellence in Service Learning Award (Senior Faculty Level).
This highly competitive award recognizes outstanding faculty whose teaching, research, and outreach have advanced service learning in landscape architecture education. As the premier organization for educators in the discipline, this CELA honor reflects Dr. Little’s unwavering commitment to community-engaged learning and design excellence.
Over the past several years, Dr. Little has led transformative service-learning projects across Oklahoma, engaging students with real-world challenges and diverse communities. Her initiatives have not only enhanced student learning outcomes but also produced meaningful, lasting impact in the places they served.
Recent service learning project highlights include:
In each of these projects, Dr. Little has modeled interdisciplinary collaboration and a deep respect for local knowledge and lived experiences. Her students describe her as a mentor who cultivates empathy, active listening, and a sense of professional responsibility to the communities they serve.
Please join us in recognizing Dr. Little for this well-deserved honor!
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.
