Almost two years after the Daily Trojan published an investigative article on the financial and mental stress affecting School of Architecture students, multiple students interviewed by the Daily Trojan, two of whom were also interviewed for the 2023 article, said while the workload and financial stress remain similar, faculty have become more understanding and accessible. 

The article, published in March 2023, included a survey of 44 architecture students about their experiences at the school. It found the financial burden of the architecture program was a major concern for students and 32% of respondents felt the workload was “way too heavy.” Additionally, more than 60% of the respondents said the program negatively impacted their mental health.

In response to concerns raised in the 2023 article, on Feb. 12., 2025 the School of Architecture embedded counselors wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan that they had expanded drop-in hours, led a weekly support group and created a program allowing counselors to reach out directly to students who expressed they were struggling, which they wrote has received “positive feedback” from students.

Mandy LaMere, a junior majoring in architecture, said students have been more encouraged to utilize the school’s mental health services. However, Justin Kaczender, a fifth-year majoring in architecture who was interviewed for the 2023 article, said the embedded counselors were a “nice resource” but that some of his peers hadn’t had “incredibly helpful” experiences.

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, Brett Steele, dean of the School of Architecture, wrote that in response to the rising cost of materials, the program launched “The Materials of the People,” which allowed students to obtain free excess materials that their peers had dropped off. Steele also wrote that several studios were equipped with plotters and 3D printers available for students to use and that new policies had been implemented to prevent students from overworking. 

“In response to some students spending excessive hours working on assignments, the undergraduate program introduced a ‘pencils down’ policy to provide a clear stopping point from work,” Steele wrote. “The school is listening to student and faculty feedback to improve the idea and find the best stop date to give students enough time to finish their work.”

Ruike Liu, a junior majoring in architecture, said he was content with the workload, but felt some professors’ desire to see their own design beliefs realized prevented them from considering user experience and the student’s personal approach to design. 

“Design is extremely subjective, and it kind of reads like [professors] are interpreting [student’s] designs based off of their own design beliefs, rather than actually trying to improve the students’ work … which I feel is contrary to what an architect should be doing,” Liu said.

The surveys for the 2023 article revealed that 64% of students felt their professors were “sometimes” helpful and 73% felt they were “sometimes” understanding. Two years later, students report both positive and negative reactions to the article from faculty. 

Lucas Brown, a junior majoring in geodesign, was interviewed in the 2023 article when he was an architecture student. Brown said one reason he switched majors was because of some members of the architecture department’s negative reaction to the Daily Trojan’s investigative article on the department. 

“My specific studio instructor, who I will not name, had this attitude towards the article, a general sentiment of, ‘What do these kids think they’re doing?’ Or, ‘They think they know more than us about how to run this program?’” Brown said, “That showed me, personally, that they don’t care.”

Other architecture students reported positive responses from professors. LaMere said that after the Daily Trojan’s original article was published in 2023, professors had made an effort to give students access to their personal supplies. 

“There are a lot of faculty members who have been generous enough to bring in stuff from their own offices or purchase supplies with money out of their own pockets,” LaMere said. “A lot of people are targeting the school as a whole to come out with better resources, which would be appreciated by the students, but there are faculty that are willing to go out of their way to help.”

Josh Hunsucker, a junior majoring in architecture, said while communication between lecture-style auxiliary classes and studio classes where they built models could be improved, he felt architecture faculty had become more willing to work with students and listen to their concerns after the Daily Trojan’s original article was published. 

“One of the biggest things that still needs work is the auxiliary classes communicating with our studio,” Hunsucker said. “We’ll have assignments that are due during the same week we have our pin-ups for the studio and that can get a little intense, but, coming from that first semester that I was here until now, it does seem like it’s getting better, especially because they’re willing to listen to us.”

Kaczender said the appointment of Steele as the permanent dean Feb. 1, 2024, was a positive change. Willow Bay, the dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, served as the interim dean since July 2022. 

Kaczender said Steele was excited to talk to students and hosted town-hall-style meetings where students could voice their concerns to him and other faculty members.

“Steele is really fantastic, and I think that was something that the school was missing culturally. He’s really on top of trying to make things better and bring in new faculty and just kind of bring in engagement within the school, because that was kind of missing post-COVID[-19],” Kaczender said. “As someone who’s about to graduate, I do really love this program.”