Architecture Program History
In response to several years of lobbying by the Maryland architectural community, the University invited the American Institute of Architects to help it form a committee to advise it on the establishment of an architectural school. The blue-ribbon committee, chaired by Charles M. Nes, Jr., of Baltimore, past national President of the American Institute of Architects, recommended in 1964 that the program be located at College Park, and outlined conditions that ensured that the sights of the University were aimed at excellence in professional architectural education.
In 1967, after a nation-wide search, John Hill was appointed the first Dean of the School of Architecture, and the School opened its doors to students in the fall of that year. Selective admissions procedures were established from the beginning, targeted to 300 undergraduate majors, a number selected to avoid the need to provide redundant drawing, history/theory, technology, and professional practice course sections. In the first decade of the school's experience, it was able to select students from an applicant pool about six times larger than each year's freshman class. The curriculum was organized as a five-year Bachelor of Architecture Degree program, with the intention that a graduate degree be initiated after the program was fully in place, and accredited.
The five-year format allowed the school to attract strong students and grow quickly in quality and breadth. The dean in those early years reported directly to the President of the University, and that situation, coupled with an atmosphere of strong emphasis on quality and adequate financial resources, contributed to the qualitative growth of the curriculum, faculty and supporting resources. From the beginning, the school was able to aim for excellence in its slide and library collections, and to attract outstanding leadership for those resources, as well as outstanding faculty.
In 1972, the School moved into its present building, and gained full accreditation. During the next few years, the School continued to develop its program and expand its areas of research and service. It intensified its efforts to recruit students from a wider geographic and social constituency, and to broaden the service and consultative roles of faculty and students. During this period, a number of useful and educational projects were undertaken in the service of the community that left a legacy of good will in diverse communities throughout the state.
During the 1970’s, the University was reorganized in a divisional structure, removing the dean one step from the office of the campus executive, which had a somewhat inhibiting effect on the School's further realization of its initial ambitions. However, the changing mission of the university provided a context for the reorganization of the school's curriculum around a graduate professional degree program, and in the late '70's, the school began a study of the conversion of its program to a graduate model.
Campus administration was reorganized again, in the late 1980’s, abandoning its "divisional" model and reverting to its earlier "college" model. The change has resulted in the School's dean reporting, once again, directly to the Office of the President of the College Park Campus, in the person of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs. The administrative change has led to improved communications between the School's leadership and the leadership of other schools and colleges on campus, and with the Office of the President.
After several years of work, a reorganized curriculum leading to a Master's Degree in Architecture was put forward, and in 1980 the revised program was approved. At the undergraduate level, selective admissions were maintained, with students admitted to the pre-professional program beginning in their junior collegiate years. Special exceptions were made for outstanding students, who were granted early admission to the program as freshmen. In 1991, the admissions procedures were revised in accordance with university policy, to facilitate provisional admission of students to the School from high school, with formal candidacy for the architecture undergraduate architecture major (leading to a B.S. in Architecture) dependent on performance in "gateway" courses (43-credit review) and on submission of a competitive portfolio.
The graduate professional degree program was fully accredited in 1985. The graduate program is a 3-1/2 year course of study for students with a prior undergraduate degree in a field other than architecture (Path B). Students with a B.S. Arch., or equivalent, enter the program with advanced standing and follow a two-year course of study (Path A). Admission to the graduate program is competitive and is based on academic achievement (GPA and GRE), recommendations and a portfolio. The program faculty approved revisions to the architecture curriculum in 2002 and 2004 in order to make better use of faculty and financial resources while simultaneously improving student outcomes. The Architecture Curriculum Committee and the administration are currently studying an implementation strategy. [See Section 12.1a for a description of the new curriculum.]
The Architecture Program benefits from contact with the other programs in the School -- Urban Studies and Planning (URSP), Historic Preservation (HISP), and a Masters program in Real Estate Development (MRED). In 1992, the program in Urban Studies and Planning was moved from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences to the School of Architecture as a part of a campus-wide reallocation of resources. Urban Studies and Planning offers a Master of Community Planning degree, and in 1998 the school began offering a M.ARCH./M.C.P. dual degree program. In 2001 a Masters degree in Historic Preservation (M.H.P.) was initiated; the School continues to offer its long-standing Certificate in Historic Preservation, which has been awarded to a significant number of Architecture students. In 2005, the School initiated a Masters program in Real Estate Development. As this program grows, it is anticipated that it will provide opportunities for dual degrees with other program within the School.
The Architecture Program also benefits from contact with the National Center for Smart Growth Education and Research, which was established in 2001 as a cooperative venture of four schools: Architecture, Public Affairs, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Engineering. Headquartered in the School, the Center’s goal is to become the national leader in research-based knowledge and education for Maryland and the nation. The interests of the Center are clearly shared by the Architecture Program, and collaborative efforts are being implemented.
An important goal of the strategic plan of the School was the establishment of a doctoral program. In 2002, the School initiated a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning and Design. Currently the program is stewarded by a faculty member from the Planning Program, however a faculty member from the Architecture Program participates in the admissions committee. As the program admits Ph.D. candidates with interests related to the field, Architecture Program faculty members are likely to serve as committee members. However, the Architecture faculty is concerned that a lack of resources will hamper full participation in the Ph.D. program. Currently the participation on a Ph.D. committee constitutes significant instructional overload for Architecture Program faculty members. It is hoped that new leadership with in the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation will help to develop workload models that will encourage participation of Architecture faculty in this important program.
In 1997 the Dean of the School appointed for the first time a Director of the Architecture Program; prior to this time the Dean had acted as Director of Architecture. This change was necessitated by the addition of the Urban Studies and Planning Program to the School and (at the time) the likely expansion of Historic Preservation. In 1998, with the help of the Office of Institutional Advancement, the Dean appointed a full-time Director of Development for the first time in its history. Since his arrival, the School has exceeded fund-raising goals set by the university. In 2002, the School was renamed the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and in 2003, renovation of the gallery space into two levels provided needed new office space. All faculty of the School, except for the faculty of the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, are now together in one building facilitating improved communication. A new Dean assumed his office in July 2004, with expectations that he will lead the School to its next level of development and recognition.
The University has recently appointed the fourth Dean of the School. The School has enjoyed a mostly nurturing history of stability and continuous growth toward excellence, and presently enjoys the benefits of excellent leadership at the campus level, especially important in today's context of much more limited financial resources. The M.Arch. Program is achieving increased recognition, in 2002 it became the first program in the United States recognized by the Royal Institute of British Architects Overseas Validation Program, and it was recently noted by New Urban News in a 2005 national survey of architecture firms as one of the top three Urban Design Programs in the nation, and the only one to include Planning, Preservation, and Real Estate Development within the School.