Architecture Program Report Tulane University New Orleans ...

3.1. PROGRAM RESPONSE TO NAAB PERSPECTIVES
Preamble
Since the previous Architecture Program Report was written, both Tulane
University and the School of Architecture have installed new
administrations. A newly-appointed Provost (Dr. Michael Bernstein) and
a long-standing President (Dr. Scott Cowen) have articulated a mission
for the university-at-large: Tulane: a Renaissance of Thought and Action.
Under the aegis of the School of Architecture’s new administration, Dean
Reed Kroloff, ‘a renaissance of thought and action’ has been embraced.
The current APR reflects the challenges and changing circumstances of
the School of Architecture within its institutional and regional contexts,
that of Tulane University and the City of New Orleans.
In addition, the University has undertaken a broad recovery plan since
the Fall of 2005 (and the event of Hurricane Katrina). This recovery plan
is known as the Tulane Renewal Plan, aspects of which are reflected in
the Program Response to NAAB Perspectives.
Architecture Education and the Academic Context
The School of Architecture, Tulane University and New Orleans provide
substantial resources for the study of architecture and culture. Tulane
University is a major, mid-sized research university, ranked by the most
recent U.S. News and World Report in Quartile One for national
universities. Tulane intends to provide the highest quality of education to
it students, and the Provost, Dr. Richard Bernstein, oversees all the
professional schools so that equally serious training and scholarship
flourishes in each.
On the undergraduate level, Tulane School of Architecture is one of five
major divisions. These include the School of Architecture, A.B. Freeman
School of Business, the School of Science and Engineering, the School
of Liberal Arts, and the School of Continuing Studies. On the professional
level, the School of Architecture is one of five professional schools: A.B.
Freeman School of Business, Tulane Medical School, Tulane Law
School, Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and School of Social Work.
Within its academic context, the School of Architecture enjoys the
advantages of two worlds, as part of a major research university, and as
a distinct institution with its own administration, faculty, staff, students,
physical facilities and admissions. The diversity and resources of the
university support the approach to the curriculum, which emphasizes the
broad-based concerns of architecture, and relationships to other
disciplines of thought and action. Housed in the Richardson Memorial
Building, the School of Architecture, situated on the oldest and most
attractive quadrangle of the Tulane campus, enjoys high visibility within
the life of the university. In addition, placement under this one roof