Regents approve first accredited architecture program
South Dakota State University will develop the state’s first accredited program in architecture, following approval of the plan this morning by the South Dakota Board of Regents.
Today’s approval culminates nearly two years of study and planning by SDSU officials, led by Dean Jerry Jorgensen from the College of Arts and Sciences. The program will include a master’s of architecture degree completed in six years and a four-year bachelor’s degree in architectural studies.
The new program, which will have an emphasis in sustainable design and construction, aligns closely with several established disciplines at South Dakota State, including engineering, construction management, landscape architecture and interior design, according to President David L. Chicoine.
“The new architecture program fits the traditional land grant mission of teaching, research and service,” Chicoine said. “The sustainable design component holds the potential to make the architecture program at South Dakota State University unique and distinct from other programs nationally. The regents recognize the need for such an accredited program in South Dakota, and I am very pleased that they have entrusted its development to the people at SDSU.”
South Dakota is one of only seven states without an accredited program in architecture. Architects seeking licensure must earn their degrees from a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. As a result, South Dakotans who seek careers as architects must pursue degrees at colleges and universities in other states. Therefore, architectural firms in South Dakota have difficulties attracting young professionals and interns for positions in their companies, according to the report filed last year by the Architectural Feasibility Task Force.
The study also noted that students from South Dakota pay more in tuition and fees to attend programs out of state than they would pay at SDSU based on projected tuition and fees models.
The Architecture Feasibility Task Force included leaders from six architectural and engineering firms in South Dakota, and the state’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects formally endorsed the plan earlier this year.
“The licensed architects in South Dakota enabled today’s decision by the regents,” Chicoine said. “The industry’s contributions during the feasibility study helped us build a strong plan. Now, we can focus on building a strong program.”
Four companies and one individual have pledged to contribute private funds to start the program and will be represented on the program’s advisory board. The current founders include:
• Architecture Incorporated of Sioux Falls;
• Koch Hazard Architects of Sioux Falls;
• Perspective, Inc. of Sioux Falls;
• TSP of Sioux Falls; and
• SDSU alumnus Jerry Lohr, president of J. Lohr Properties and J. Lohr Winery, both located in San Jose, Calif.;
The founders group will include seven to nine architectural and engineering firms when it’s complete, Chicoine said.
University officials will not request new state resources from the Legislature to fund the architecture program, instead utilizing internal reallocations, private funding and student fees. The regents will set fees for the architecture program next spring when they approve all tuition and fee rates.
“Architecture programs are very resource-intensive, similar to other professional programs in law, pharmacy and medicine,” Chicoine said. “These founders understand the substantial early investment necessary to develop an exceptional program, and they have made commitments to help the university achieve that goal.”
The university expects approximately 60 students enrolled in prerequisite courses for architecture in fall 2010. Approximately 30 of those students will be admitted into the architectural program in 2011. That first group will be on track to complete the bachelor’s degree in spring 2014, and 16 of those will be admitted to the first master’s degree class for fall 2014. The first master’s of architecture students will be scheduled to graduate in spring 2016.
Founded in 1881, South Dakota State University is the state’s Morrill Act land grant institution as well as its largest, most comprehensive school of higher education. SDSU confers degrees from seven different colleges representing more than 200 majors, minors and options. The institution also offers 23 master’s degree programs and 12 Ph.D. programs.
The work of the university is carried out on a residential campus in Brookings, at sites in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City, and through Cooperative Extension offices and Agricultural Experiment Stations across the state.