America's Best Architecture & Design Schools 2006 (Paperback)
by DesignIntelligence
List Price: $39.95
Book Description
An invaluable resource for prospective students searching for the right
school: America's Best Architecture & Design Schools. This seventh
annual survey is the definitive guide to design education and includes
invaluable information on architecture, landscape architecture, interior
design, and industrial design programs across the nation. One reader
called America's Best Architecture & Design Schools: "the most useful
assistance our family has had on our quest to get reliable information."
Highlights of the 2006 edition include historical design program
rankings - the only such rankings available anywhere - and a
comprehensive directory of accredited design programs in the United
States. The new, expanded survey also includes, for the first time,
rankings of accredited industrial design schools.
Firms can tailor college recruitment programs to the schools their peers
say produce the most profession-ready graduates. High school counselors
can use this guide's facts, figures, and resources to advise students
interested in design careers, and parents can gain an in-depth
understanding of design education and the profession.
Included in the 2006 Edition:
Directory of Accredited Design Programs
Top Rated Industrial Design Programs
Historical Review of Top Architecture Schools
Regional Reviews of Design Schools
Architecture Schools with the Most Faculty Awards
Skills Readiness Survey Results
Most Admired Industrial Design Educators
Top Rated Interior Design Schools
Insightful Academic and Professional Commentary
Helpful Tips for Choosing a Design Program
Fellowship and Summer Program Listings
Product Details
* Paperback: 42 pages
* Publisher: Greenway Communications (December 15, 2005)
* ISBN: 0975565435
* Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
* Amazon.com Sales Rank:
Today: #567,347 in Books
Yesterday: #563,933 in Books
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http://www.di.net/article.php?article_id=502
Leadership and the Future of Design Education
James P. Cramer
Managing change is where it’s at for today’s leaders. This is true in
professional practice as well as for deans and faculty in architecture
and design schools. Leaders understand that change is about renewal,
growth, and relevancy. Change in some places is radical, in others
gradual. Change may go unnoticed by some but, in fact, change happens
constantly in every firm and in every program. Organizations continually
struggle to remake themselves. Each firm and each education program is
either getting stronger or getting weaker by the month. And where
complacency is tolerated, relevancy erodes.
Not all change is progressive. Several years ago the University of Idaho
merged their professional school of architecture into a much larger
campus unit during a massive reorganization. It made sense to them at
the time, for it brought about new efficiency; it served the needs of
the administration and the bursar well. But, it tore the heart out of
one of the Northwest’s historically finer colleges. Several months ago
the University of Idaho board of regents reversed its decision after
considering direct appeals and protest by students, faculty, and alumni.
More than 250 concerned stakeholders met to tell the stories of the
unintended negative consequences change can sometimes bring; they
comprised a courageous leadership group, these stakeholders. The wisdom
and advice of people who have lived through mistakes to discover new
ascendant success is fundamentally what this issue of DesignIntelligence
is all about.
Bob Dylan’s verse, “he not busy being born is busy dying,” affords some
insight, of sorts, into why the Design Futures Council initiated an
annual study of America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools. Early
DFC board-level discussions, led by presidents of architecture and
design firms, addressed concerns over the failure of local schools of
design in teaching to a level of desired satisfaction. Firms, as a
result of this, were recruiting from schools outside their region; firm
leaders began to share information with each other about the most
relevant programs. The one primary question posed by leaders in
professional practice was: “in your hiring experience, what college or
university programs in architecture and design do you believe are best
preparing students for the future of professional practice.” For several
years the results were not published but rather shared privately between
firms. Then, seven years ago, the results became more transparent, with
the express purpose of stressing the importance of quality and relevancy
in design education. The DesignIntelligence report is essentially a
customer satisfaction survey.
Warning: this survey has flaws. This research should only be used as a
part of a comprehensive analysis. For instance, we receive more than 400
survey responses from firms and organizations employing architects and
designers; the actual number of office responses is higher, however,
because we survey select firms, including SOM, Gensler, HOK, and NBBJ,
several times, recognizing the diversity of office locations and
cultures. It can be argued that smaller schools are at a disadvantage
because they do not produce as many students and may not be as well
known. Programs such as Cooper Union, Renssealaer Polytechnic Institute,
Drexel University, Hampton University, and California College of Arts,
to name just a few, are smaller and perhaps lesser-known despite the
quality of their programs. Students should not consider this survey as a
single resource for answers to vital questions concerning their
education. Students should visit campuses, talk to students and recent
graduates, sit in on classes, and very importantly, interview
practitioners who will provide a point of view. All of this information
should then be collectively weighed.
Let’s say you are a student from Rapid City, South Dakota, and you wish
to enroll in an accredited architecture program. Right away you
understand that there are no accredited programs in your home state. But
there are a variety of accredited programs in the region, including
Montana State University, North Dakota State University, University of
Colorado, University of Nebraska, University of Minnesota, and others,
depending upon your definition of the greater region. Each of these
campuses has produced architects of international importance and each of
these colleges has enthusiastic alumni boosters who could wax for hours
on the attributes of their programs. Can a graduate from these schools
land jobs in New York, Los Angeles, London, or Hong Kong? Definitely. It
happens all the time. In fact, many of the country’s leading firms are
headed by architects from smaller schools, less prestigious schools,
schools not on the DesignIntelligence top 15 lists, and schools with
brand recognition below the top 25.
Regular readers of DI will notice that new to this 2006 survey is the
professional education in industrial design. It is a hot field. And, as
design professions continue to morph and blur boundaries, we have
discovered that professional practices and other organizations have an
underlying bias towards educational programs that offer integrated
discipline options. Architecture students at Virginia Polytechnic and
State University in Blacksburg, for instance, benefit significantly from
the model building tools and sophisticated laser technology used in
industrial design. Yes, the field of industrial design is growing in
importance, but so too are the other design professions. Our leading
firm surveys inform us that today’s practices are expanding their
employee bases to include professionals from both inside and outside the
design fields.
There is a tipping point to keep in mind. It is time for design
institutions to squash any negative energy and historical mythology
about the future vitality of the design professions. This is not just a
time of change, but of incredible significance, of a drive for a more
positive transformation of our planet’s future - by design. The
intrinsic link between professional practice and design education
necessitates the discovery of new means of communication and new methods
of strengthening our leadership and value propositions. A stronger
profession needs stronger schools, and our schools need stronger support
from architects and designers.
Thus, we see ahead a new epoch, an epoch expressed at higher levels with
emerging commitments to quality, excellence through innovation, and
integrity through leadership.