Architecture Program Report Master of Architecture - Roger Williams ...

such diverse competitors in terms of program type, cost and institutional culture, and coupled with
RWU’s comparatively strong ARE exam results, the Roger Williams Architecture Program and the
School are able to pursue a mission-driven long-range planning strategy. This offers us a uniquely
framed mission of local and global engagement that we believe capable of competing in this region
among this group of institutions, while also being able to recruit and retain students nationally and
internationally.
The Architecture Program and the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation have been central
participants in the evolution of Roger Williams University’s mission and streategi direction embodied in the
statement “Learning to Bridge the World” since 2001, and the subsequent development of the 2020
Roger Williams University Strategic Plan outlined in 2007. Roger Williams University has appointed a new
President, Donald J. Farish, Ph.D. in Summer 2011, who will take up the strategic direction of his
administration and potentially adjust the direction of the previous 2020 Plan over this coming year,
working with all university constituencies.
The School and Program strategic and diversity planning and assessment have had an ongoing impact
on the Architecture Program since 2006 directly in terms of curriculum development, faculty hiring
particularly in the Visiting Professor and Teaching Firm in Residence programs and adjunct faculty,
selection of Public Events lectures and exhibitions, study abroad planning which has expanded to nonwestern
sites increasingly, student engagement, as well as approaches to partnerships with communities,
institutions and professions, and our facilities and information resources approaches.
The Five Perspectives on Architectural Education are engaged within our Strategic Priorities categories of
Student Development, Faculty Development, Globalization and Diversity, Research and Development,
and Capital Projects in ways that related directly to the Five Perspectives’ Academic Community,
Students, Regulatory Environment, Profession and the Public Good. As an outcome of our 2011 Spring
Planning and Assessment Conference, a SWOT Analysis was done on 24 areas of our organizational
structure, as outlined in I.1.5 Self-Assessment Procedures. Results are available in the SAAHP PLANES
site, as are results of our Strategic Planning Session with Architectuer and Historic Preservation Alumni at
the University’s Alumni Weekend in June 2011.
The 2011-17 SAAHP Strategic Priorities for the School inclusive of the Architecture Program are outlined
following. Many of the priorities below are fundamentally interrelated with the 2011-17 SAAHP Diversity
Plan (see I.1.2 Learning Culture and Social Equity). Additional confirmation and contextual adjustment is
anticipated as the university re-confirms its upcoming strategic evolution under the new President Farish,
which will be available through the SAAHP PLANES site, and for the Visiting Team in Spring 2012.
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2011-2017 Strategic Priorities
The School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation: Achieving
National and International Distinction through Local and Global Engagement
Context: Vision and Recent History
The School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation was established in the late 1990’s as an
undergraduate academic community dedicated to the creation and stewardship of the built and cultural
environments. At that time Roger Williams’ undergraduate professional programs in Architecture and
Historic Preservation, each of which boasted national “firsts”—the first undergraduate program of its kind