COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE, ART + DESIGN

Dean Jim West, AIA

When we use the term ‚ "excellence‚" in the College, issues of passion, rigor, collaboration, initiative, opportunity, and resources invariably follow. When Architecture, Art, and Interior Design came together as a College two years ago, an overriding principle for the success of this endeavor was that we, as a faculty, would be diligent to promote collaboration. It is harder than we thought, or at least were willing to verbalize. What we have done, however, is to stay committed to the task and through that we have had some successes. The new college-wide course, Concept and Form, has been offered for the first time and went well. It has been critiqued and will continue on with improvements. There are four faculty members in the College that are cross-teaching in two of the three disciplines. We were successful in obtaining studio space in Etheredge Hall for about a dozen faculty from Art and Architecture to pursue individual work. The first showing of that work was this April. A college-wide lighting lab has also been set up in Etheredge to be used by students and faculty to photograph their work. The fourth-year architecture students went to Boston along with their counterparts in Art, and they split time between looking at architecture and visiting museums.

The fifth-year architecture students had the opportunity to spend spent three weeks in Cervara and Rome, Italy in March. There are currently 15 students representing all three disciplines along with two faculty members, studying in Vicenza, Italy. The graphic design students took the initiative to design a series of public service announcements funded by the university to encourage the people of our state and nation not to forget that their help is still imperative as the Gulf Coast rebuilds. Interior Design developed, implemented, and awarded the May 2006 graduates with the first Bachelor Degree in Interior Design.

Our goal is to achieve excellence in our academic programs-all of them. All of the efforts, programs, and initiatives are part of the College’s pursuit of this goal. As faculty, we have the responsibility to provide every opportunity for students to achieve excellence and this includes a rigorous and purposeful educational program of study and a climate and example of passion and enthusiasm for the work. These types of initiatives play an important role in this effort. As we work together, as we stimulate and encourage one another, and as we all hold each other accountable to this goal, the College will continue to achieve excellence.

Excellence also requires a great deal of involvement and support of alumni, professionals, industry, and friends of the College. This year we received more than 2.7 million dollars in pledges and gifts. These commitments fund academic scholarships, an endowed Professorship in Architecture, guest lecturers, technology, a library collection on sustainability, student design competitions in all three disciplines, equipment, faculty travel to conferences, and support for numerous college activities. Excellence requires a continual commitment to the task from all parties. We are grateful for everyone who is involved in this important work.