College of Architecture

[Page Contents]

Dean: Professor Hight
Chair: Associate Professor Lambla
Professors: Mitchell, Walters
Associate Professors: Asbel, Benzing, Brentrup, Carlson-Reddig, Gray, Heath, MacLean, Nelson, Ryan, Sauda, Swanson, Swisher, Weiss, Wong
Assistant Professors: Breitschmid, Forsyth, Unwin-Barkley, West
Part-time Lecturers: Gaddy, Mallgrave, Preiss, Samuels

The mission of the College of Architecture is to further the discourse between the theory and practice of architecture, by the education and training of students, the work and research of the faculty, and ongoing engagement with the University, the profession, and the community. Architecture in the narrow sense includes important public monuments and in the broad sense the constructed environment at all scales.

Page Contents:

Admission, Academic Standards, Areas of Academic Focus
The Core Program
The Advanced Program

Admission

To prepare undergraduate students to become future community and architectural leaders, the College of Architecture seeks to provide both a liberal and a professional education based on a holistic view of the built environment. The studio/seminar sequence in the Core Program emphasizes both writing and making to introduce students to alternative and complementary methods of investigating problems. The Professional Track in the Advanced Program culminates in a thesis emphasizing self-direction and individualized instruction.

Admission. All applicants must first be accepted by the University. Following acceptance, application is then made to the College by: 1)completion and submission of a COA questionnaire; 2) an evaluation of this questionnnaire by a faculty committee; and, 3) most students will be personally interviewed, including the presentation of samples of their creative work in a portfolio.

Core Program. All students in the College complete a three-year core sequence of courses designed to provide a solid understanding of fundamental issues, knowledge and skills. These courses include a series of coordinated studios and seminars, a four-semester sequence of architectural history, and two semesters of building science. In the spring semester each rising fourth year student completes an Individual Study Plan indicating a selection of courses to complete requirements for their chosen track in the Advanced Program.

Advanced Program. The College offers two advanced program tracks, the Professional Track (five years total) and the Self-Directed Study Track (four years total). The Professional Track leads to the Bachelor of Architecture degree which requires a total of 158 credit hours. This five-year program provides the professional degree accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB). Students in this program also are awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture at the end of four years. Students in the Professional Track are automatically admitted into the fifth year of the program when they have completed all course requirements through the fourth year and have met College GPA requirements for the fifth year. Students who successfully complete the fifth year are awarded the Bachelor of Architecture degree.

The College offers a one-year Bachelor of Architecture program for students who have an architectural or environmental related degree from another NAAB accredited institution. The program requires 30 credit hours, including 7 hours of architectural studio, 14 hours of other architectural courses and 9 hours of general studies. No transfer credit is accepted for this program.

The Self-Directed Study Track leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Architecture which requires a total of 128 credit hours. The fourth-year course requirements for this track differ substantially from those required in the Bachelor of Architecture program. This degree is intended for students not continuing to the fifth-year professional degree who choose to augment their architectural studies with coursework from other University departments in their fourth year, double major or minor in other disciplines, or prepare to pursue graduate studies in related fields (such as, planning, urban design, landscape architecture, or architectural history).

Academic Standards. Following are specific academic standards for each degree program:

B.A. degree in Architecture: One grade of D in a studio is permissible. Any grade of D in a subsequent studio will require repeating the course. Any student receiving less than a grade of C when repeating a studio course will be expelled from the COA. To graduate, an overall grade point average of 2.0 must be achieved in all courses offered by the College.

Bachelor of Architecture degree: A grade of C is the minimum passing grade in studio, ARCH 4104. Any student receiving less than a grade of C when repeating a studio course will be expelled from the COA. An overall grade point average of 2.5 must be achieved in fifth-year coursework offered by the College in order to graduate.

Areas of Academic Focus

The Architectural Studio/Seminar: These provide both analytical and synthetic experiences and the opportunity to pursue intense study of physical-environmental related subject(s), these courses link the humanistic, physical phenomena, social-psychological, behavioral and perceptional studies.

The Architectural Technology Courses: These provide a basic quantitative and qualitative behavioral understanding of structural and environmental control systems.

The Architectural Lecture/Seminar Electives: These develop understanding of architectural control systems.

The Architectural History Lectures: These develop an understanding of the relationships between culture and its physical manifestations.

Independent Studies: When appropriate, a student may pursue a self-directed, faculty-approved study of a particular, significant architectural topic or subject.

General University Requirements and Directed Electives: Courses to meet the University's general education requirements and elective studies are included in a student-selected, faculty-approved plan of study.

Advising: The advising program consists of three tiers: Academic Adviser, Core and Advanced Program, and faculty career advisers.

Dual Degree/Major Option: It is possible for students to pursue a double degree or major program after the freshman year. Thus, in addition to architecture, a student may pursue major study in a discipline such as history, engineering, business management, or social science. Any arrangement must meet the University and College requirements, be structured in consultation with a faculty adviser, and be approved by the Dean.

Study Abroad Program: Arrangements have been made for students to study architecture for one or two semesters with the University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Kingston University, London; The University of Applied Science, Aachen, Germany; and The Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands. The College also conducts summer programs in Italy and Spain.

[Page Contents]

THE CORE PROGRAM

First Year

Second Year

(Academic Counseling Review)

Third Year

(Individual Study Plan)

[Page Contents]

The Advanced Program

Fourth Year

Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture: 128 hours

Fifth Year

 

Bachelor of Architecture: 30 hours

THE ADVANCED PROGRAM: SELF-DIRECTED STUDY TRACK

Fourth Year

Bachelor of Arts in Architecture: 128 hours

*Courses to be selected in accordance with program of study developed with and approved by faculty adviser.

**Total credit hours must equal 34 for fourth year. If the Architecture course selected is for less than 5 credit hours, student must complete additional directed elective hours to equal a total of 34 credit hours.

NAAAB: "In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit US professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes two types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture and the Master of Architecture. A program may be granted a five-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on its degree of conformance with established educational standards.

Masters degree programs may consist of a preprofessional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree, which when earned sequentially, comprise an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree."

"The NAAB grants candidacy to new programs that have developed viable plans for achieving initial accreditation. Candidacy status indicates that a program should be accredited within six years of achieving candidacy, if its plan is properly implemented."

- National Architectural Accrediting

[Top of Page]
[UNC Charlotte Catalog] [UNC Charlotte Home]