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Where Are Graduates Going?

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In collaboration with member schools, ACSA is developing a Career Outcomes survey. ACSA hopes that as many schools as possible will participate, including accredited, candidate, and nonaccredited programs across the US, Canada, and abroad. By participating, your school will gain comparable data about where your graduates are going, for benchmarking against other schools with similar characteristics. A draft of the Career Outcomes survey is now available for download. In order to guide our revisions towards the 2014 pilot, ACSA member schools and others are encouraged to review this draft and provide feedback by December 2, 2013.Please download the draft and send any comments or questions to Lian Chang at lchang@acsa-arch.org.

University at Buffalo

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Assistant Professor Georg Rafailidis gave a lecture about his work in practice and teaching at the Academy of Art University in their Fall Events 2013 Lecture Series, Department of Architecture, San Francisco CA on November 14th. Link to lecture series poster:
http://archinect.com/news/article/84680198/get-lectured-academy-of-art-university-fall-13. The New Museum in New York lent the structure “MirrorMirror” by Davidson Rafailidis, to the Echo Art Fair at the Erie County Public Library Downtown Buffalo, NY September 7-8. Link: http://www.azuremagazine.com/article/a-dazzling-tent-that-enhances-street-fests/. The project is also covered in the Fall issue of Forward, the scholarly journal of the American Institute of Architects. The scholarly journal, Forward, is produced by the National Associates Committee to provide a voice for Associate AIA members within the Institute. “Free Zoning”, a project that won the Strip-Appeal competition to reinvent vacant strip malls, was exhibited at the 2013 Eme3 exhibition “Bottom-Up” in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

In October, Nick Bruscia and Chris Romano conducted a 2-day fabrication workshop titled, “Rigidized Metal Forming”, as part of the ACADIA Adaptive Architecture Conference in Waterloo, CA.  The workshop was located at Silo City and focused on drawing-to-production methods using thin-gauge, textured stainless steel sheets.  The event was sponsored by Rick Smith and Rigidized Metals and was attended by many B/a students.
They also presented a peer-reviewed paper titled, “Material Parameters and Digitally Informed Fabrication of Textured Metals” along with a poster exhibition of project 2XmT.

During the conference they were also invited to present project 3xLP, which was on display as one of four finalists in the TEX-FAB Skin Competition, in the Pecha Kucha event titled, “Showcase: Work in Progress”.  During the ACADIA conference, TEX-FAB announced project 3xLP as the Winner of the international SKIN Competition.  Shortlisted as one of the four finalists by the first Round jury in August, the Second Round jury: Neil Denari, James Carpenter, Mic Patterson and BIll Zahner conferred and chose project 3xLP based on its meeting all the competition criteria to the highest degree, for its clarity, and overall project development.  

Romano and Bruscia will build a fourth generation, full-scale prototype with fabrication sponsorship by Rigidized Metals and Zahner Co. for the TEX-FAB 5 event in Austin, Texas, February 2014. Both project 2XmT and project 3xLP were done in collaboration with B/a students Phil Gusmano, M.Arch 2015, and Dan Vrana, M.Arch 2015.  News about both project 2XmT and project 3xLP can be found at:
http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2013/11/012.html
http://www.tex-fab.net/competitions/
http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/75117
http://www.archdaily.com/447193/3xlp-winner-of-skin-digital-fabrication-competition/
http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/3xlp_wins_skin_digital_fabrication_competition/
http://archinect.com/news/article/85857848/3xlp-wins-skin-digital-fabrication-competition
http://www.technology4change.com/page.jsp?id=293

In November, Romano and Bruscia presented a second peer-reviewed paper titled, “Analyzing Material Behavior using Cold-Formed, Textured Stainless Steel” at the 47th Annual ASA International Conference in Hong Kong, China.

Auburn University

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Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA) continues to be ranked among the nation’s best. In the annual DesignIntelligence survey, “America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools 2014,” APLA’s undergraduate program in Architecture is ranked 8th in its fields nationally. Survey respondents rated Auburn students as among the nations strongest in several skill areas, including Construction Models & Materials (2nd), Cross-Disciplinary Teamwork (2nd), and Sustainable Design Practices & Principles (3rd). These rankings are based on annual surveys of leading practitioners in these fields.

October 25 marked the 25th anniversary of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction’s (CADC) annual Pumpkin Carve. Daylong student pumpkin carving yielded up to 400 pumpkins that were displayed and lit for public enjoyment as the sun sets. The often intricate designs were judged on creativity, appearance and craftsmanship, and the winning pumpkins were auctioned off to raise money for the Auburn University chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS).

A cross disciplinary team consisting of Kevin Laferriere (Architecture), Kevin Hill (Building Science), William Holcomb (Building Science), and Jared Taylor (Building Science) from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture and from the McWhorter School of Building Science placed second in the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) 2013 Student Competition. The Auburn team, Tiger Building Company, won the Southeast regional competition out of an original field of forty teams from twenty-seven universities. The team was coached by Ben Farrow, Paul Holley and Mike Thompson.

A student exhibition of work from the course ”Architecture in Watercolor” was on display in the Dudley Gallery at Dudley Commons in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC) in October. The class was taught by instructor Iain Stewart (BArch ’00), an architectural illustrator who has made a name for himself working for firms throughout the US and Europe for over sixteen years. Stewart will be back on campus teaching watercolors in the spring of 2014.

The 2013 lecture series of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, entitled “Renegades + Outlaws:  Design Thinking at the Edge” continued over the month of October with lectures from Michael Murphy, the Chief Executive Officer of MASS Design Group, a nonprofit architecture firm based in Boston, MA; Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam, the two principals of the award-winning Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects in Atlanta, Georgia; Riccardo d’Acquino of Riccardo d’Aquino & Partners in Rome, Italy, a firm recognized for works in Architecture, Monument Restoration and Urban Design; and Professor Kathryn Moore, Immediate Past President of the Landscape Institute, and the UK representative of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA).

Virginia Tech

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A new program offered through the College of Architecture and Urban Studies’ Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (http://www.waac.vt.edu/#!home/c1kho) integrates the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning to create a master’s-level concentration in urban design (http://www.waac.vt.edu/#!ud/cool). The program, which is in its final stages of governance approval, will open its door to its first cohort of students for fall semester 2014.   The Urban Design concentration within the School of Architecture + Design (http://www.archdesign.vt.edu)’s existing Master of Science in Architecture (http://archdesign.vt.edu/architecture/ms-arch) degree program will leverage existing excellence in faculty and curriculum, including the graduate architecture and landscape architecture programs as well as courses within the Urban Affairs and Planning (http://spia.vt.edu/uap) program focused on topics such as historic preservation, public process, land-use law, and sustainability.   “It’s a program for a generalist; for someone interested in the bigger issues in a city. It’s the perfect program to take advantage of the depth of the curriculums in the college and everything Alexandria has to offer,” said Susan Piedmont-Palladino, a professor of architecture at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center and the program director for the new concentration.   Students will choose classes in the School of Public and International Affairs (file:///C:UsersspallaAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary%20Internet%20FilesContent.OutlookQ7IFG811spia.vt.edu) and the School of Architecture +Design (http://archdesign.vt.edu/), both schools within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. The curriculum will focus on topics including livable cities and sustainable cities; areas where the college’s research will serve as a useful resource. Dean Jack Davis said, “As populations are increasingly moving to urban centers throughout the world, knowledge on environmental sustainability, public health in the urban core, and quality of life issues are critical to excellence in design. This concentration will address those issues and more.”  The plan is to keep the size of each incoming class small to allow for more personalized attention and customized education. “We hope students will come in with particular urban issues that they are interested in,” Piedmont-Palladino said. “So it will have a self-directed course of study.”   Piedmont-Palladino also says she hopes that the program attracts a diverse group of students so that each can benefit from learning from one another.   “The ideal candidate is someone who has a professional degree in landscape architecture or architecture and may have spent time abroad, time in a city, and been exposed to other cultures. Perhaps they have practiced for a few years and found themselves interested in problems beyond a single building and want to expand their knowledge of planning,” explained Piedmont-Palladino. With this program, they can come back to school for three semesters and get a master’s in architecture with an emphasis in urban design.”   The new concentration is not limited to those with degrees in architecture or landscape architecture, however. Students with non-professional degrees in architecture and landscape architecture can enroll for an extra semester. For students who do not have a relevant design degree, the program requires successful completion of a foundation studio to learn the basic principles of design and graphic communication. Such students would join aspiring landscape students with similar backgrounds in an introductory course for their first year at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center.   A board of advisors will help guide the curriculum and also provide professional relationships, creating a built-in network for the new graduates.   Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies (http://www.caus.vt.edu/) is composed of four schools: the School of Architecture + Design, including architecture, industrial design, interior design and landscape architecture; the School of Public and International Affairs, including urban affairs and planning, public administration and policy and government and international affairs; the Myers-Lawson School of Construction, which includes building construction in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and construction engineering management in the College of Engineering; and the School of the Visual Arts, including programs in studio art, visual communication and art history.   Related Links * Jaan Holt, Henry Hollander receive American Institute of Architects Northern Virginia Chapter Award (http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/10/103113-caus-holtandhollandernovaaia.html) This story can be found on the Virginia Tech News website: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/11/111813-caus-urbandesign.html

On the Nature of Architectural Education: New York Area Dean Roundtable

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by Michael J. Monti, ACSA Executive Director

Each year the AIA New York Chapter brings the area’s 14 deans together for a moderated roundtable discussion. This year’s moderator, Vishaan Chakrabarti, director of Columbia University’s Center for Urban Real Estate (CURE) and a partner at SHoP Architects, asked the question: 

Is architectural education the “last self-generative and synthetic pedagogical” form? 

That is to say, architectural education teaches students to observe, synthesize, articulate both problems and solutions. 

The discussion took off from there, looking at the assumptions about how architectural education is different from other disciplines (especially the design disciplines), and more. 

Read the story and watch the video online (links below). 

 

ACSA Seeks Nominations for 2014 ACSA Representatives on NAAB Visiting Team Roster

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
ACSA Representatives on NAAB Visiting Team Roster
Deadline: March 5, 2014

The ACSA Board of Directors seeks nominees for ACSA representatives on the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) school visitation team roster member for a term of four years. The final selection of faculty members participating in the accrediting process will be made by NAAB.

Nominating Procedure

  1. Members of ACSA schools shall be nominated annually by the ACSA Board of Directors for inclusion on a roster of members available to serve on visiting teams for a term of four years.
  2. Proposals for nomination shall be solicited from the membership via ACSA News. Proposals must include complete curriculum vitae.
  3. The ACSA Nominations Committee shall examine dossiers submitted and recommend to the board candidates for inclusion on visitation team rosters.

Nominee Qualifications

  • The candidate should demonstrate:
  • Reasonable length and breadth of full-time teaching experience;
  • A record of acknowledged scholarship or professional work;
  • Administrative experience; and
  • An association with several different schools.

Each candidate will be assessed on personal merit, and may not answer completely to all these criteria; however, a nominee must be a full-time faculty member in an accredited architectural program (including faculty on sabbatical or on temporary leave of absence.)

ACSA Nominee Selection
Candidates for NAAB team members shall be selected to represent geographic distribution of ACSA regional groupings. The number of candidates submitted to NAAB will be limited in order to increase the likelihood of their timely selection by NAAB for service.

Description of Team and Visit
Pending acceptance of the Architectural Program Report (APR), a team is selected to visit the school. The site visit is intended to validate and supplement the school’s APR through direct observation. During the visit, the team evaluates the school and its architecture programs through a process of both structured and unstructured interactions. The visit is intended to allow NAAB to develop an in-depth assessment of the school and its programs, and to consider the tangible aspects of the school’s nature. It also identifies concerns that were not effectively communicated in the APR.

The visit is not independent of the other parts of the accreditation process. The visiting team submits a report to NAAB; NAAB then makes a decision regarding accreditation based on the school’s documentation, the team report, and other communications.

Team Selection
The visiting team consists of a chairperson and members selected from a roster of candidates submitted to NAAB by NCARB, ACSA, the AIA, and AIAS. Each of these organizations is invited to update its roster annually by providing resumes of prospective team members.

A team generally consists of four members, one each from ACSA, NCARB, AIA, and AIAS. NAAB selects the team and submits the list to the school to be visited. The school may question the appointment of members where a conflict of interest arises. The selection of the chairperson is at the discretion of NAAB. The board will consider all challenges. For the purposes of a challenge, conflict of interest may be cited if:

  • The nominee comes from the same geographic area and is affiliated with a rival institution;
  • The nominee has had a previous affiliation with the institution;
  • The school can demonstrate that the nominee is not competent to evaluate the program.

NAAB tends to rely on experienced team members in order to maintain the quality level of its visits and reports, and to comply with COPA and U.S. Department of Education guidelines. Each team member shall have had previous visit experience, either as a team member or observer, or shall be required to attend a training/briefing session at the ACSA Administrators Conference or ACSA Annual Meeting.

Nominations Deadline and Calendar
The deadline for receipt of letters of nomination, including a curriculum vitae, is March 5, 2014. E-mail nomination preferred; please send all nomination information to eellis@acsa-arch.org. ACSA will notify those nominees whose names will be forwarded to NAAB by May 2014. ACSA nominees selected to participate on a visiting team will be required to complete and submit a standard NAAB Visiting Team Nomination form. NAAB will issue the roster of faculty members selected for 2014-2015 team visits in November 2014.

Nominations should be sent to:
Email (preferred): eellis@acsa-arch.org    
ACSA, Board Nominations
1735 New York Avenue, NW 
Washington, DC 20006

ACSA Seeks Nominations for 2014 ACSA Representative on NAAB Board of Directors

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
ACSA Representative on NAAB Board of Directors
Deadline: March 5, 2014

 

The 2014-2015 National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) will comprise thirteen members: three representing ACSA, three representing AIA, three representing NCARB, two representing AIAS, and two public members. Currently Nathaniel Belcher of Pennsylvania State University, Patricia Kucker of University of Cincinnati & Brian Kelly of University of Maryland represent ACSA on the NAAB Board. With the expiration of Nathaniel Belcher’s term in October 2014, the ACSA Board of Directors is considering candidates for his successor at its meeting this March in Miami Beach, FL.

The appointment is for a three-year term (Oct. 2014 – Oct. 2017) and calls for a person willing and able to make a commitment to NAAB. While previous experience as an ACSA board member or administrator is helpful, it is not essential for nomination. Some experience on NAAB visiting teams should be considered necessary; otherwise the nominee might be unfamiliar with the highly complex series of deliberations involved with this position. Faculty and administrators are asked to nominate faculty from an ACSA member school with any or all the following qualifications:

  1. Tenured faculty status at an ACSA full member school;
  2. Significant experience with and knowledge of the accreditation process;
  3. Significant acquaintance with and knowledge of ACSA, its history,
  4. policy programs, and administrative structure;
  5. Personal acquaintance with the range of school and program types across North America.
  6. Willingness to represent the constituency of ACSA on accreditation related issues.
  7. Ability to work with the NAAB board and ACSA representatives to build consensus on accreditation related issues.

For consideration, please submit a concise letter of nomination along with a CV indicating experience under the above headings, and a letter indicating willingness to serve from the nominee, by March 5, 2014.

Nominations should be sent to:
Email (preferred): eellis@acsa-arch.org
ACSA, Board Nominations
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

2015 ACSA Fall Conference: REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

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Deadline: March 5, 2014

The ACSA invites proposals from member schools to host the 2015 ACSA Fall Conference. This ACSA Fall Conference will be thematic in focus and feature scholarly presentations, based on peer-reviewed abstracts, and a digital proceedings that will be available in ACSA’s permanent online archive.

The Fall Conference is an opportunity for the host school to bring educators from across North America and beyond to their campus. The thematic focus can highlight a school’s strengths and demonstrate educational excellence to upper administration. Other goals for the new format include strengthening social opportunities for participants with common scholarly interests and bringing concentrated visibility to the work being done in the topic area.

Attendance at the Fall Conference is anticipated to be 100-200 people, with host schools using campus facilities or other appropriate venues (including a local hotel or conference center) for conference sessions. Joint proposals from neighboring schools and partnerships with other groups (such as those formed around the thematic area) are welcome.

Final proposals will be reviewed and selected through the ACSA Board of Directors Scholarly Meetings Committee.


Proposals should be 3 pages or less, excluding supporting documents, and should include:

1)   A title and paragraph-length description of the conference that clearly identifies the theme.

  • Further explanation for the theme is encouraged. However, a separate brief description of the conference is required.

2)   Proposed dates for the conference.

  • The Fall Conference should occur in late September or October, typically a Thursday–Saturday.

3)   The name of the conference chair or co-chairs, as well as any other relevant organizers.

  • Identify one or more faculty members to act as chair and whose area of expertise relates to the proposed theme. The chair(s) will be responsible for the academic portion of the conference and will work with ACSA staff on logistical details, communication with partners, and other planning and promotion duties.

4)   A description of other potential conference features: partnerships, sponsors, keynote speakers, tours, etc. that would enhance the conference.

5)   Clear expression of interest by school.

  • Show evidence of support from the school’s dean, provost, or other appropriate university representatives through letters and/or supporting documents.

6)   A description of other resources available for the conference.

  • This includes potential venues for conference sessions, keynote lectures, and receptions; potential tour sites; or other local connections to enhance the conference.

  • Fall Conferences are normally funded by income from registration fees and sponsorship. This income pays for expenses related to meeting space, audio-visual equipment, invited speaker travel and honoraria, and food and beverage.

  • ACSA will provide the following support: international promotion of the conference, from the call for papers through the proceedings publication; an online system (including staff support) for submission, review, and upload of scholarly material; publishing services for conference programs and proceedings; and other planning services, such as negotiation and coordination of meeting facilities.

  • In-kind support from the school is requested for invited speaker costs, a/v equipment, meeting space, student volunteers, etc. Schools providing in-kind support will be recognized for their contribution in promotional materials, and participation of students and faculty in the conference will be invited.

ACSA has held successful Fall Conferences the last three years:

Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Host Schools: Florida Atlantic University
Co-chairs: Anthony Abbate, Florida Atlantic University; Francis Lyn, Florida Atlantic University; and Rosemary Kennedy, Queensland University of Technology
Conference Website

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Host Schools: Temple University
Co-chairs: Ryan E. Smith, University of Utah; John Quale, University of Virginia; and Rashida Ng, Temple University
Conference Website

Location: Houston, TX
Host Schools: Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University
Co-chairs: Ikhlas Sabouni, Prairie View A&M and Jorge Vanegas, Texas A&M
Conference Website

Schools interested in hosting are encouraged to contact the ACSA to discuss potential arrangements prior to making a proposal.

 

SUBMISSION AND INFORMATION
Please submit your proposal and direct questions to: Eric Wayne Ellis, Director of Operations and Programs, eellis@acsa-arch.org, phone: 202.785.2324 by March 5, 2014.

The new age of information literacy; ACRL rethinks its standards

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Barbara Opar and Barret Havens, column editors

ACRL (the Association of College and Research Libraries) is considered the source for standards and guidelines on academic libraries. ACRL is dedicated to helping the academic community understand the components of an excellent library. As such, in 2000, ACRL drafted Information Competency Standards for Higher Education and established benchmarks for information literacy competencies to assist students as well as librarians. Selection of the appropriate investigative methodology and development of a research plan are two such indicators. The past thirteen years, however, have seen a multitude of changes in the world as well as higher education. Recognizing this, in July 2011, ACRL created a task force charged with determining if the existing standards should be retained for another five year cycle. The task force recommended that the standards be extensively revised and the process began.

ACRL’s board then charged the task force to: “Update the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education so that they reflect the current thinking on such things as the creation and dissemination of knowledge, the changing global higher education and learning environment, the shift from information literacy to information fluency, and the expanding definition of information literacy to include multiple literacies, e.g., transliteracy, media literacy, digital literacy, etc.” http://www.acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/archives/7329

The new standards-in draft form- will be released this December and will be posted on the ACRL website. The new version will retain many of the previous guidelines, minimize jargon and include affective outcomes. The standards will be aimed at maintaining continuity with the American Library Association’s School Library Standards for the 21st Century. The standards will recognize new kinds of content such as scholarly communication and new digital formats will be included. Data curation abilities will be recognized and encouraged.  Students as content creators and collaborative work will be among the new types of learning tools identified. In addition, disciplinary knowledge and threshold concepts will be described with their corresponding learning outcomes. The standards will also encourage students to develop metacognitive abilities and different parts of the brain. All this is aimed at broadening our idea and understanding of information literacy as well as accepting the impact of globalization on what is being taught.  

The ACRL Task Force hopes that by putting greater emphasis upon visual, auditory, and data sources, learning outcomes will be improved, resulting in new and different opportunities for students, faculty and librarians to work together. The blending of competencies will begin to acknowledge changes in teaching methods and how students learn. 

Auburn University

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Assistant Professor Kevin Moore won Best Creative Scholarship for his submission to the IDEC (Interior Design Educators Council) South Regional Conference 2013. Moore presented Beyond the Groundwork, a collaborative alumni exhibit designed and installed by Moore and Amanda (Herron) Loper (BArch 2005). The exhibit was organized by the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture and held at the Jule Collins Smith Museum in Auburn, Alabama in February 2011.

Professor Joceyln Zanzot’s collaborative video was recently published in the inaugural issue of PUBLIC, the on-line, peer-reviewed journal of Imagining America. Zanzot’s piece, called Common Ground in Alabama, explores four years of emerging pedagogy and methodology for community-based art and design practice through the Mobile Studio. The filmic essay features three key projects that cross scales from the state to the county to the schoolyard, exemplifying principles and practices of the studio. To view the short film, please visit:  http://public.imaginingamerica.org/blog/article/common-ground-in-alabama/

Professor Robert Sproull’s winning entry in an international design competition held by the city of Quito, Ecuador in 2008, is currently featured as part of an exhibit called, “Airport Landscape Urban Ecologies in the Aerial Age” at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sproull’s entry, designed in collaboration with Ernesto Bilbao, develops the Parque Bicentenario (formerly known as Parque del Lago) in a planning strategy for converting a local international airport into an urban green space on the same scale as New York City’s Central Park. The exhibit is open through December 19, 2013.

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