For 43 years, the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (formerly Student Careers Days) has been a critical nexus for landscape and horticulture students, launching careers and building life-long relationships. It is because of the incredible impact of this event that we’ve taken the deliberations very seriously around whether to cancel the event this year because of the travel, business, and health issues surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19). The situation on the MSU campus changed rapidly in the past day.
The safety of students, faculty, and industry members is our top concern, and with that in mind, the decision has been made to cancel the 2020 National Collegiate Landscape Competition. We are disappointed, and we know that you are too. We apologize for any inconvenience the timing of this cancellation has caused.
If you made your hotel reservations through our housing provider, Orchid Housing, your reservation will automatically be cancelled. If you made a reservation outside of our room block, you will need to cancel your reservation directly with the hotel.
Thank You
We want to recognize and thank the team at the Michigan State University Department of Horticulture, especially Marcus Duck and Bradley Rowe, PhD, for the time and careful planning that they have put into what would have been an incredible event. Thanks also go to our event partners and competitive event sponsors who’ve put so much time into planning a fantastic experience for our student competitors. And, we want to thank the students and faculty who worked hard to prepare for this event.
Next Steps
We will be working with attendees to issue refunds as needed. However, we are also investigating ways to bring aspects of NCLC online, including looking into the possibility of hosting a virtual career fair where students and employers can connect. We will also be following up about this year’s Foundation scholarship recipients, Educator of the Year, and other presentations that normally happen at NCLC.
We will be posting information about the process for retrieving items that were shipped to MSU. In the meantime, contact [email protected] or [email protected] with questions.
See You in 2021
The next National Collegiate Landscape Competition will take place in 2021 at Virginia Tech March 10-13, 2021.