Study Architecture 
ProPEL ACSA Update 11.13.15
| November 12, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
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ACSA Update 11.6.15
| November 6, 2015 | ||||||||||||||
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University of Texas at Austin
Faculty News January 2015
The School of Architecture received news of a $1 million grant from the Still Water Foundation, an Austin-based foundation that supports the arts and other causes. The award is to support the renovation of the school’s Battle Hall (Cass Gilbert 1910), the West Mall Office Building, and to build the John S. Chase addition to the School of Architecture.
Associate Professor Emeritus Owen Cappleman passed away in Austin, Texas, on September 25, 2014, at the age of 76.
The T3 Parking Structure, designed by Associate Dean Elizabeth Danze and Senior Lecturer John Blood, Danze Blood Architects, has won the American Architecture Award for 2014 from The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, together with The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and Metropolitan Arts Press.
Two UTSOA faculty members have received 2014 University Co-op Research Awards.
Assistant Professor Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla was awarded a $5,000 Creative Research Award for “Mixtec Stonecutting Artistry: 16th Century Ribbed Vaults in Mixteca, Mexico,” an exhibit that showcases three cathedral vaults using a 3-D laser point scanner and printer. Senior Lecturer Rachael Rawlins was awarded the $5,000 Best Research Paper Award for “Planning for Fracking on the Barnett Shale: Urban Air Pollution, Improving Health Based Regulation, and the Role of Local Governments,” Virginia Environmental Law Journal. The article undertakes the most comprehensive review and analysis of air quality monitoring, regulation, and health effects assessment on the Barnett Shale.
Assistant Professor Danelle Briscoe presented the Guadalupe Garage Green Wall project research at the ACADIA 2014 Conference.
ACSA Response to Aaron Betsky in Architect Magazine
Ned Cramer, Assoc. AIA
Editor-in-chief
ARCHITECT
By email to ncramer@hanleywood.com
Dear Ned,
Aaron Betsky’s October 29 column, The ACSA and NAAB Merger, deserves clarifications. First, ACSA and NAAB are not merging. The talks announced a year ago have evolved to include all of the organizations that fund NAAB’s accreditation activities and nominate 11 of NAAB’s 13 directors. Representatives from all five collaterals (including AIA, NCARB, and AIAS) formed a joint task force to explore multiple options for the funding, organizational structure, and governance of NAAB. This fall and winter, the participating organizations will review the task force recommendations and determine future action.
Second, the “fast-track” option is an independent initiative by NCARB—one that the ACSA board endorses—to assist schools in offering additional options for students to complete some or all licensure requirements in school. Although Dean Betsky implies that NCARB’s initiative and the ACSA/NAAB partnership will lead to a narrowing of the scope of education, the ACSA’s goal is to do the opposite.
Betsky rightly identifies some fundamental issues being discussed by the collateral task force. What is the role and purpose of architectural education? What is the role and purpose of accreditation? While there may not be a merger, the task force and the collateral organizations continue to discuss how the collaterals should invest money and resources to advance architectural education.
The ACSA maintains that an ACSA/NAAB partnership would empower both organizations to carry out their independent missions more effectively, without compromising their integrity and values. NAAB’s mission is to set minimum standards for professional architectural education. The ACSA, through its membership, offers programs and opportunities that promote excellence across the spectrum of architectural education.
An ACSA/NAAB partnership could also address the reality that accreditation is more costly in architecture than in our peer professions, and that architecture schools must continue to invest resources in research and teaching, beyond the professional curriculum. This does not have to impact the diversity of approaches to education that are a hallmark of the ACSA membership. In fact, the ACSA will strive never to allow this to happen.
Marilys R. Nepomechie, FAIA
ACSA President
University of New Mexico
Eleni Bastéa, professor of architectural history and theory, was the keynote speaker in the 2014 IASTE conference (International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments) in Kuala Lumpur. Her talk, “Silent Histories of the City,” was presented on December 14. http://iaste.berkeley.edu/uncategorized/iaste-2014-conference-program.html
From the President: The Future of ACSA and NAAB
At the ACSA Administrators Conference in Philadelphia today we made an important announcement that ACSA and the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) are exploring a merger that would change the funding and governance model of the two organizations.
This proposed merger is intended to strengthen architectural education, and is the result of over a year of discussions among NAAB, ACSA, AIA, NCARB, and AIAS leadership—the collateral organizations that provide most of NAAB’s funding and nominate a large majority of its board of directors.
While no final agreements have been made—a formal merger requires a number of approvals by the ACSA and NAAB boards, the ACSA membership, as well as the boards of AIA and NCARB—we believe it is appropriate to announce our deliberations and to begin a conversation among the membership.
The working model for the merger would create an umbrella Council for Architectural Education that holds financial responsibility for all ACSA and NAAB activities but delegates most oversight and operational responsibility to the boards of directors for the respective groups. This means that the ACSA board would continue its role working through our membership to shape architectural education. Similarly, the NAAB would have independent responsibility to set and apply accreditation standards and for its current international activities, such as the Education Evaluation Services for Architects process.
Neither the ACSA nor the NAAB board would have authority over the other, and with limited exceptions, the Council for Architectural Education would not have the authority to replace board members for ACSA or NAAB, nor will it have the authority to override accreditation decisions. Instead, the Council will manage the financial and human resources of the organization and coordinate long-term planning activities.
The ACSA Board of Directors believes that a merger will strengthen architectural education and better support architecture schools. We see this opportunity in a broader context of change within the architecture profession and higher education over the past several years. In the context of education we all acknowledge the challenges of constrained budgets and growing needs and expectations for student learning, research, and service. Both organizations alone have a role to play in helping schools to respond to these challenges and opportunities. A merger of ACSA and NAAB is intended to take advantage of complementary organizational strengths by enhancing information and research capacities and strengthening the scholarship of teaching. ACSA will continue its many peer-review activities, and we will continue to expand our efforts to demonstrate the value of architectural education to prospective students and the broader public.
Next Steps
The ACSA and NAAB board have each appointed three board members to serve on a task force with the ACSA and NAAB executive directors, who have been working together since April on this new organizational model.
The ACSA board is committed to having numerous opportunities for member input over the next several months, leading up to the ACSA Annual Business Meeting on Friday, March 20, in Toronto. We will hold a series of discussions about the merger, its impact on member schools, and the decisions that ACSA members will need to make. ACSA regional directors will be in touch through your Faculty Councilors and administrators with details on the new opportunities a potential merger can create.
We thank you for your attention to these matters and invite your feedback as we continue forward.
Sincerely,
Hsinming Fung, President
Marilys R. Nepomechie, Vice President/President-Elect
Norman R. Millar, Past President
Michael J. Monti, Executive Director
ACSA Update 10.30.15
| October 30, 2015 | ||||||||||
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How Can I Retain Copyright...
Barbara Opar and Barret Havens, column editors
October column prepared by Amy Vanderlyke Dygert, Esq., Director of Copyright Services, Cornell University
How can I retain the copyright in my publication?
This is an issue, which should be of prime importance to new as well as seasoned authors, including architecture faculty. However, many faculty, feeling tenure and promotion pressure, are willing to give up certain rights in order to have their work published.
But federal copyright law grants authors six exclusive rights relative to their work, including the rights to make and distribute copies of their work and to make derivative works based on their original scholarship. This exclusivity means that only the creator of the work is entitled to engage in those activities. Unfortunately, that exclusivity is often lost when authors, eager for publication, sign publishing agreements that unilaterally transfer copyright to the publisher. Many authors simply skim the boilerplate contracts without the specificity required to catch the copyright transfer.
Such consequences can be significant. At a minimum, authors may not be able to distribute copies of their work to students, colleagues, in course packs, or on their own websites. They may not be permitted to creative derivative works based on their original research and scholarship. Publishers can repackage or repurpose the scholarly works without attribution to the original author because they now legally own all rights in the work.
To prevent the loss of their scholarly work, authors should read all publishing agreements carefully before signing. Upon discovery of a copyright transfer or assignment clause, authors should negotiate with the publisher to retain their copyrights. Ideally, authors should explicitly retain all copyright ownership of their work. Publishers may pressure authors to transfer some rights, such as the right to reproduce and distribute, which are necessary to publish and distribute the journal and authors’ content therein. However, authors need not transfer these or any of their exclusive rights outright to achieve publication. They can instead grant an exclusive or non–exclusive license to the publisher. Granting such a license gives the publisher the right to engage in some of the authors’ exclusive copyrights, while simultaneously allowing the author to retain ultimate control over his or her work.
At present, a number of groups, including The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), are engaged in helping authors to understand and retain rights over their publications. SPARC is an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication. For more information about negotiating publishing agreements, as well as sample documents to convey particular rights, see The Author Addendum at http://www.sparc.arl.org/resources/authors/addendum.
How to Retain Copyright...
Barbara Opar and Barret Havens, column editors
October column prepared by Amy Vanderlyke Dygert, Esq., Director of Copyright Services, Cornell University
How can I retain the copyright in my publication?
This is an issue, which should be of prime importance to new as well as seasoned authors, including architecture faculty. However, many faculty, feeling tenure and promotion pressure, are willing to give up certain rights in order to have their work published.
But federal copyright law grants authors six exclusive rights relative to their work, including the rights to make and distribute copies of their work and to make derivative works based on their original scholarship. This exclusivity means that only the creator of the work is entitled to engage in those activities. Unfortunately, that exclusivity is often lost when authors, eager for publication, sign publishing agreements that unilaterally transfer copyright to the publisher. Many authors simply skim the boilerplate contracts without the specificity required to catch the copyright transfer.
Such consequences can be significant. At a minimum, authors may not be able to distribute copies of their work to students, colleagues, in course packs, or on their own websites. They may not be permitted to creative derivative works based on their original research and scholarship. Publishers can repackage or repurpose the scholarly works without attribution to the original author because they now legally own all rights in the work.
To prevent the loss of their scholarly work, authors should read all publishing agreements carefully before signing. Upon discovery of a copyright transfer or assignment clause, authors should negotiate with the publisher to retain their copyrights. Ideally, authors should explicitly retain all copyright ownership of their work. Publishers may pressure authors to transfer some rights, such as the right to reproduce and distribute, which are necessary to publish and distribute the journal and authors’ content therein. However, authors need not transfer these or any of their exclusive rights outright to achieve publication. They can instead grant an exclusive or non–exclusive license to the publisher. Granting such a license gives the publisher the right to engage in some of the authors’ exclusive copyrights, while simultaneously allowing the author to retain ultimate control over his or her work.
At present, a number of groups, including The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), are engaged in helping authors to understand and retain rights over their publications. SPARC is an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication. For more information about negotiating publishing agreements, as well as sample documents to convey particular rights, see The Author Addendum at http://www.sparc.arl.org/resources/authors/addendum.
Call for Nominations: 2016 ACSA Representative on NAAB Board of Directors
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
ACSA Representative on NAAB Board of Directors
Deadline: December 7, 2015
The 2016-2017 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 Brian Kelly of University of Maryland; Judith Kinnard, Tulane University; & Jori Erdman, Louisiana State University represent ACSA on the NAAB Board. With the expiration of Brian Kelly’s term in October 2016, the ACSA Board of Directors is considering candidates for his successor.
The appointment is for a three-year term (Oct. 2016 – Oct. 2019) 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:
- Tenured faculty status at an ACSA full member school;
- Significant experience with and knowledge of the accreditation process;
- Significant acquaintance with and knowledge of ACSA, its history, policy programs, and administrative structure;
- Personal acquaintance with the range of school and program types across North America.
- Willingness to represent the constituency of ACSA on accreditation related issues.
- 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 one-page CV indicating experience under the above headings, and a letter indicating willingness to serve from the nominee, by December 7, 2015.
Nominations should be sent to:
Email (preferred): eellis@acsa-arch.org
Eric Ellis, ACSA Director of Operations and Programs
ACSA, Board Nominations
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006
Founded in 1912 by 10 charter members, ACSA is an international association of architecture schools preparing future architects, designers, and change agents. Our membership includes all of the accredited professional degree programs in the United States and Canada, as well as international schools and 2- and 4-year programs. Together ACSA schools represent some 7,000 faculty educating more than 40,000 students.
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