The Curriculum Review Panel has received numerous suggestions regarding how to improve how the curriculum is organized and taught at the School of Architecture and Planning. Gathering all of this information, the panelists have summarized their notes and look forward to opening the conversation further at the upcoming meeting on Saturday, April 13th, 2024. 

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Curriculum Review Considerations

"These notes represent the committee’s summary of the most important considerations that emerged from the Town Hall meetings of February 24, 2024, held at Catholic University. These meetings included a session with Provost Aaron Dominguez, followed by four meetings focused on interest groups - Professionals, Alumni, Faculty and Staff, and Students. Attendance was not restricted by group and some in the audience attended more than one meeting, and an informal luncheon gathering allowed other interactions.

"Overall, the committee’s impression of the School is positive, with admiration for its many assets. We note that these are not always present in schools of architecture, and provide a strong foundation for maintaining and further building the identity of the School. The faculty have been articulate, courageous in stating their positions, clearly invested in the students, and committed to the well-being of the School. The students have been mature and thoughtful in explaining their experiences and suggestions for improvements. The alumni and professionals, some of whom were not alumni, have been clearly dedicated to supporting the School and assisting in considerations of the evolving context for the discipline and the profession. The committee finds the physical home of the School, long admired by others, to be well-used, with ongoing student work prolifically visible in the studios, labs, shop, and exhibit space. And finally, we find Dean Ferguson to be open-hearted, brave, and valuing transparency, in his willingness to engage with faculty members and outsiders of many minds to reflect on continuous improvement and its intellectual basis.

"The conversations in that day’s meetings ranged across many topics related to the School’s academic endeavors. Follow-up emails were received by the committee, providing additional details and suggestions. The summary below is focused first on curriculum and course-related considerations, with miscellaneous others following. The considerations refer to the primary concerns observed by the committee, followed by proposals in a conceptual format for further consideration, identified with a potential time-frame for implementation – near term to be within a year or two, or beyond that, the longer-term."

 

1. Concentrations

Concern for potential losses, dilution, competition among concentrations

Observations:

For the program as a whole, they provide character and identity, and assist in recruitment

For students, they allow in-depth focus as well as diversity of experience 

For faculty, they represent opportunities for new material through collaboration across concentrations, and opportunities for sponsored studios and research

Proposals:

Maintain concentrations to bolster CUA’s breadth of academic offerings and promote to augment interest, engagement and advancement from the profession, alumni and general public: Sacred Space/Cultural Studies, Classical Architecture and Urbanism, Urban Practice/design, Technology, Media in Architecture and Interiors and the MS in Net-Zero Design,  (near term)

Invigorate concentrations by interweaving them, especially in design studios (near term)

Reduce concentration requirement by one course to ensure adequate course access and require thesis to be in the concentration (near term)

Faculty search to replace loss in the area of Sacred Space (near term - underway)

Develop/revive philanthropic focus on concentrations (long term)

2. Real-World Projects

Desire for renewed engagement with communities and contemporary problems in the built and natural environment

Observations

Program: memory of the success of long-running Spirit of Place; I-PAL viability questions

Students: opportunity to expand academic experience through off-campus experiences

Faculty: enhancement of teaching/learning experience in studios 

Proposals

Increase emphasis on real-world projects bringing designers and consultants to studios and other classes (near term)

Increase emphasis on student/faculty site visits to projects under construction in the Washington Metro area (near term)

Consider expanding design-build courses beyond interior projects into the surrounding city, e.g., AIAS Freedom by Design, Habitat for Humanity (long term - requiring additional faculty time and funding)

Assess I-PAL program for student completion, impact on student path through the curriculum, potential year-off or part-time status to facilitate progress, alumni perspective, importance to school identity and recruitment, et al (near term – dedicated faculty member or staff person for a semester to gather material and enable an informed decision)

3. Existing Courses

Potential for adjustments and improvements to better calibrate/ balance history, building science, and design studio offerings to create/form/equip a comprehensive design-thinker

Observations

Program: emphasis on university liberal arts seems important, as it should be

Students: concerns include redundancy within several courses, subject matter not following course descriptions, delay of studio experience, software learning

Faculty: opportunity to review some course content, to enable new courses

Proposals

Reduce three-course history survey, to two-course survey plus elective (near term)

Revise pre-design course as studio; distribute pre-design material across studios (near term)

Revise ethics course to include more professional practice concerns; move to later in the curriculum (long term)

Curate and streamline use of software platforms to rationalize student experience; address Artificial Intelligence (near term – faculty and student committee)

Assign teaching assistants each semester as individual software experts for student consultations (near term)

4. New Courses

Enrichment of offerings

Proposals

Establish a course on Washington, DC across topics, with site visits – history, government, internationality, social diversity, building program types, housing, et al (near term, and longer term could be a course for university-wide audience)

Emphasize urbanism and urban design as context for building design – in all courses and possibly as content for pre-design first studio experience (near term)

Consider communications skills course including public speaking, writing, graphic design (longer term - with faculty from other departments)

Extra-curricular learning events, e.g., topical workshops, “Dean’s tea,” ad-hoc field trips (near term – potentially student-run)

Consider reviving the urban mural studio – as intro design studio, introduction to skill set including models (mid-term – requiring faculty preparation and funding)

5. Other considerations

The Catholic University mission. Pursuing opportunities to more fully acknowledge and express the university’s mission (“advancing the dialogue between faith and reason”) through the architecture school’s course content, programs, and initiatives will distinguish the study of architecture at CUA from those at other architecture programs around the country. Continuing reference to Church teachings, including the encyclicals, can provide inspiration for robust discussion and intellectual sharing.

Faculty engagement. At a time of transition, with some faculty retiring, and new faculty arriving, the anxiety related to identity and direction for the school is palpable.  This is an opportunity for invigoration of a school that has traversed many high points in its history, and must seek the next one.  Sharing of information, generous discussion, and transparency in decision-making are the guideposts for advancing. Diversity and balance can be a stable foundation for the School’s evolving contribution to the University’s mission, and to the Catholic faith’s call to action.

Five-year B.Arch. The accessibility of a professional education is a growing concern amidst demographic developments. In combination with the competitive context of architecture programs, it may be worth exploring the addition of an undergraduate professional degree. As undergraduate and graduate degrees already share basic courses, and the School is practiced in the NAAB accreditation process, it may be an enriching and not overly demanding addition to its offerings.

Alumni engagement and tracking. Data on professional advancement, AR statistics, geographic dispersal, employers, potential funders, et al, are elusive but critical to serving a rapidly changing professional context.