Uncharted Territories

In many ways, the title of the 2015 ACSA Administrators Conference has already proven prescient. Hosted by the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, Uncharted Territories was, by any measure, a resounding success. Co-chairs Patricia Oliver (Dean, University of Houston) and Francisco Javier Rodriguez (Dean, University of Puerto Rico) assembled a compelling program. Attendance, among the highest in recent memory, included school administrators from 10 nations representing 5 continents. It marked the first time a national ACSA conference had been held on the island in over three decades.

Much as we did at the ACSA business lunch in San Juan, I would like to provide the membership with an update on our activities. A key part of our presentation in San Juan centered on collateral discussions with and about NAAB. We have published both the update we gave at the lunch, and subsequent actions of the ACSA Board, on our Accreditation page.

 

ACSA Activities

Our 2015-16 schedule of conferences, competitions and events is in full swing.

Between the Autonomous and Contingent Object was the title of the 2015 Thematic Fall Conference, hosted in October by Syracuse University. Co-chaired by professors Roger Hubeli and Julie Larsen, the conference focused on architectural theory and discourse, employing a provocative format structured around a series of debates, and included keynote presentations by Brett Steele (AA London), Hernan Diaz Alonso (SCI-Arc), and Amale Andraos (Columbia University).

The 104th Annual Meeting, titled Shaping New Knowledges, will focus on the multiple modalities and products of architectural research currently underway at member schools. Robert Corser (University of Washington) and Sharon Haar (University of Michigan) serve as co-chairs of the conference, which will be hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle next March. Already, the meeting has attracted among the highest number of paper and project submissions in recent years.

Cross-Americas: Probing Disglobal Networks is the title of the 2016 International Conference. Focused on global discourse in architectural practice and research, the bi-annual conference, hosted by the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, will be held next June in Santiago de Chile. The institutional affiliations of its co-chairs span the Americas: Vera Parlac (University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada); Dana Cupkova (Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, USA); Alfredo Andia (Florida International University, Florida, USA); and Umberto Bonomo and Macarena Cortes (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile).

Looking ahead, we have dates for the 2016 Fall Conference, focused on design and health. Building Well-Being will take place September 22-24 in Honolulu, hosted by the University of Hawaii an Manoa. The 2016 Administrators Conference is scheduled for November 3-5 in Chicago. 

ACSA is hosting four student design competitions this year.

 

Our three-year Communications Campaign, which launched IMadeThat.com and a social media hashtag initiative last spring to develop interest and content among students, will enter a new phase with the debut of StudyArchitecture.com in spring of 2016. The interactive website is designed to assist member schools with recruitment by providing future architecture students and their families with information about architecture education and about the schools that offer these programs of study. The site will replace the online Guide to Architecture Schools but use updated information collected from each member school. It will also connect members with the prospective students who visit the site.

Board Activities

New and continuing initiatives of the Board include a series of task forces charged with engaging collateral organizations and supporting and advancing the work of our member schools.

A Research Task Force is exploring strategies to position ACSA at the center of disciplinary and transdisciplinary research endeavors, becoming an increasingly valuable resource to our members as they pursue collaborative funded projects. This spring, the task force will deliver proposals for ACSA to expand its role as convener, connector, and cataloger of faculty scholarship. 

An International Task Force is charged with exploring the articulation of an international strategy for ACSA, positioning the organization to be more relevant to architecture schools and faculty outside of North America. Representatives from every collateral are involved in these conversations, which focus on educational quality (including teaching and outcomes); growing international networks for research, scholarship, and its dissemination; and identifying opportunities for international collaboration through multiple modes of practice.

Three board committees have formed a Peer Review Task Force charged with growing opportunities for academic peer-review, recognition, publication, presentation, and exhibition for our members. This includes widening the range of available venues and modalities.

The board is creating a new strategic plan, moving us from a comprehensive plan to one that is deliberately strategic, as well as initiating governance review to improve the work we do.  

The first result is a Bylaws Revision proposed to change our officer terms and duties to enhance continuity and effectiveness. Now approved by the membership, it will combine the positions of secretary and treasurer, and provide an incoming president a longer engagement with the organization before assuming the position of leadership.

In parallel, we are also engaged in a comprehensive re-examination of our board and committee structure in order to become increasingly nimble, more inclusive, better positioned to pursue projects representative of member interests, and to optimize the impact of architectural education.

Collateral Liaisons. Our board members are working with our collateral organizations in multiple critical areas:

Members of the ACSA board form part of the NCARB Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure Committee (IPAL), and the Intern Architect Committee (IAC). 

With AIA and in conjunction with the 2016 AIA National Convention in Philadelphia, ACSA will co-lead the second edition of the AIA | ACSA Intersections Symposium: Innovative Technologies in Design and Delivery. The one-day workshop will be focused on research in building technology that brings together our academic and practice communities. 

Path Forward

During the conference in San Juan we convened a lunchtime discussion about the work of the five collateral organizations have been doing regarding the funding, governance, and organizational structure of NAAB. You can find this information and ongoing updates on the status of that process on our Accreditation page. 

We look forward to advancing these initiatives in the months to come. Please contact me or other members of the ACSA board with your feedback and suggestions.