College of Architecture
This page contains important general information about the college of architecture. Please read before visiting the individual program pages:
Architecture
Interior Design
Landscape Architecture
http://www.arch.ufl.edu/ http://www.arch.ufl.edu/
The College of Architecture provides education, research and service for the built and natural environments of Florida, the nation and the world. Established as a school in 1925, the college has grown to be one of the largest design, planning and construction institutions in the country. A unique aspect of the college is the scope of its professional disciplines that include architecture, building construction, interior design and landscape architecture. Graduate programs at both the Masters and Ph.D. level are available in all five of our academic units.
The college’s teaching, research and community service philosophy recognizes the interdependence of these professional disciplines. A number of required and elective courses are open on a space-available basis to all majors (e.g., ARC 1701, 1702, 2201; BCN 1210, 4012, 4237, 4464, 4471; IND 1020, 2100, 2130; LAA 1920, 2710, 4935; URP 3001, 4000). In addition, the first one and one-half years of design course work are common to the three undergraduate design disciplines (architecture, landscape architecture and interior design). Research and service projects conducted through the research centers and institutes often entail multidisciplinary, cross-campus student input and effort.
The Architecture and Fine Arts Library and the Visual Resources Center are the largest collections of their kind in the Southeast. Together they provide books, government documents, American and foreign periodicals, subject files, microtext, slides, photographs, reproductions and other materials. The AFA Library also maintains its own Rare Book Collection for scholarly research. Services include a professional reference service ready to assist in guidance and information searches. Students may use additional resources in the university libraries.
The Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction each have celebrated over fifty years of service to the citizens of Florida.
Students considering application to the College of Architecture should anticipate as part of their budget planning expenditures for computers, travel, equipment and tools essential to their education as design, planning or construction professionals. For further information contact the appropriate department/school.
Research/Education Centers
The college contributes to community, state, regional and national efforts to conserve and improve the quality of the natural and built environments through these research projects:
The college has established research and training programs of national and international prominence that include the Preservation Institute: Nantucket, the Vicenza Institute of Architecture: Italy, the Miami Beach Education & Research Center and the Preservation Institute: Caribbean. The latter program is part of the college’s mission to develop teaching, research and service programs with institutions in the Caribbean Basin and Latin America.
Student Organizations
Student Government and student organizations take an active part in the educational programs of the college. The college encourages and assists participation with the professional organizations and societies of each discipline. Student professional chapters include:
Honorary societies in the college include:
Student Aid
Students interested in part-time employment, assistantships, fellowships, loans, prizes and awards are referred to individual departments and the university’s Office for Student Financial Affairs in Criser Hall.
Requirements for Admission
Admission to this college is selective and cannot be guaranteed automatically to applicants who satisfy minimum requirements. The college has established a selective admission process and priority is given to those applicants who, in the judgment of the appropriate department/school’s admissions committee, have the greatest potential for successful completion of the program.
|
Major/Specification |
Minor |
Degree |
Credits |
|
Architecture |
No |
B.Des. |
120 |
|
Building Construction |
No |
B.S.B.C. |
126 |
|
Interior Design |
No |
B.Des. |
120 |
|
Landscape Architecture |
Yes |
B.L.Ae. |
154 |
General Admission Protocols – All Students
To be eligible for admission at the junior year into the College of Architecture, students must have completed all requirements for the A.A. degree, passed the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) and completed two sequential foreign language courses in secondary school or 8-10 credits at the postsecondary level (or documented an equivalent level of proficiency). Admission at the junior/senior level is open to applicants who have completed all general education and pre-professional course work and qualify for enrollment into third-year professional course work.
Conditional admission is open to applicants who have accumulated 60 credits of college-level course work and met the admissions criteria, yet still need to complete first-year and second-year pre-professional courses. Generally, transfer students with an A.A. degree and CLAST or students from other universities that do not offer approved pre-professional programs or courses required at the University of Florida are considered for conditional admission into the junior year. These students may require as many as four semesters at the university to complete pre-professional requirements because of the sequential nature of the courses.
Each department/school may include any or all of the following criteria for admissions review:
Admission Protocols for Native UF Students
Freshmen at the university are admitted directly to the College of Architecture. The college will monitor the progress of all students. Students who fall below the critical tracking criteria for the degree program will have a hold placed on their records and they must see an adviser in the college/academic unit before they can advance register and continue in the program. They also may be referred to the Academic Advising Center to seek admission to another college.
Admission Protocols for Transfer Students
Transfer students who will receive their Association of Arts degree from a Florida public institution must meet or exceed the 60-hour admission protocols for admission to the college. The admission protocols for each department are as follows:
Architecture: Through an admissions committee, the Department of Architecture annually selects students to enter third-year professional studies. All students who satisfactorily complete the two-year pre-professional programs at University of Florida, Miami-Dade, Broward, St. Petersburg (Clearwater) and Hillsborough community colleges are eligible for consideration for third-year admission. Applications for transfer from one of the approved pre-professional programs must be filed by the deadline. Transfer students with conditional admission status (3AR or above) must also notify the department. All transfer students must have a minimum overall pre-professional architectural GPA of 2.00.
Interior Design: Transfer students must consult the program adviser. Students in the pre-design programs at Miami-Dade, Broward, St. Petersburg and Hillsborough community colleges must contact the department for the pre-professional courses not available at those colleges.
Students who must complete pre-professional requirements should apply to the summer term for the architectural design, building arts and architectural history sequences. The remaining pre-professional courses may be completed during the next academic year. Students accepted for the sequence are admitted conditionally and their records shall be reviewed during the next spring term for entry to the professional courses in the junior year.
Students are admitted selectively to the professional program on the basis of portfolio review, overall grade point average, interview and letter of application. Notification of the admission decision will be made before the end of the spring semester for the junior class that begins that fall. Contact the department for current information.
Landscape Architecture: Transfer and postbaccalaureate students must contact the department to determine admission timing and eligibility. All students must complete the general education and pre-professional course work before admission to professional studies. Criteria for admission include review of design performance, transcript, letter and interview.
Building Construction: Refer to the M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction section of this catalog.
Application Deadlines
The programs in architecture, interior design and landscape architecture will admit students for third-year professional course work only in the fall. Students who need to complete some or all of the pre-professional requirements shall be reviewed for the fall, spring or summer semesters. The Office of the University Registrar (for transfer students) or the dean’s office must receive applications and all required credentials (for UF students) as follows:
Application deadlines for spring and summer are listed in the university calendar. Applicants unable to meet these deadlines may apply on a space-available basis.
The M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction will admit students for third-year professional course work in the fall and spring semesters. Refer to the Building Construction section for application deadlines.
Academic Advising
Freshman and sophomore advising begins in the dean’s office and is handled by Associate Dean Anthony J. Dasta. Transfer students and those students classified 3AR and above are to report to their department:
College Regulations
Maximum and Minimum Loads:
A normal load is 14-16 credits a semester. A student may be permitted to register for more than 17 hours when the adviser feels the student’s record justifies it.
The minimum is twelve credit hours for full-time status; students who wish to take fewer credits should be aware that certain university privileges and benefits require full-time status. It is the student’s responsibility to verify the minimum academic load necessary.
Students who seek an adjustment to their academic load may petition the dean through the director of student services and the appropriate department chair.
While the pre-professional and professional course sequence must be maintained, variation of general education and elective course work may occur. The four-year plans shown require an average of more than sixteen credits per term, which may not be appropriate for all students. Students should plan their curricula well in advance, so that course sequence and credit-hour loads will accommodate the most effective academic progress, regardless of the number of terms required.
Summer Attendance: Students with fewer than 60 semester hours at the time of their first enrollment in a state university system institution must earn at least nine (9) credit hours before graduation by attending one or more summer terms at a state university. The college can grant a waiver of this requirement for health, academic, financial or personal reasons. Written documentation is required to support the petition.
Dean’s List:
Undergraduate students who complete a minimum of 12 credits in a semester with a grade point average of 3.7 or better will earn a position on the Dean’s List. Students with grades of I* or N* are not eligible.
Graduation Requirements:
To be eligible for graduation, the student must earn a minimum grade point average of 2.0 overall and a 2.0 grade point average for all work attempted in the college. Courses taken while enrolled in another college do not apply to the College of Architecture average.
Students planning to enter the Graduate School must maintain a 3.0 average in the junior and senior years.
Graduation With Honors:
The faculty recommends students for graduation with honors, high honors or highest honors based on grade point average, distribution and quality of course work, faculty and other pertinent qualities of his or her work. Students must earn a minimum academic average as established by the department or school. For high or highest honors, a thesis, research project or other creative work also is required.
Architecture: Honors designations are calculated on all courses in the professional curriculum resulting in the following GPAs: honors 3.3, high honors 3.6 and highest honors 3.65. For high and highest honors, a final fourth-year design project is required.
Interior Design: Honors designations are calculated on all courses in the professional curriculum resulting in the following overall GPAs: honors 3.3, high honors 3.6 and highest honors 3.80. For high and highest honors, a fourth-year design project is required.
Landscape Architecture: Honor designations are calculated on all courses in the professional curriculum resulting in the following GPAs: honors 3.2, high honors 3.5 and highest honors 3.75. For high and highest honors, a final fourth-year design project is required.
Student Work: The college can retain student work for the purpose of record, exhibition or instruction. Work produced while the student is enrolled in the College of Architecture is the property of the college.
Practical Experience: Before graduating, students should get some experience in the employment of practicing professionals in their field or in some allied professional practice. Such employment provides an introduction to the methods of actual practice and enables the student to derive increased benefit from advanced work in school. Students should contact their adviser for recommended or required practical experience.
Field Trips: Each year there are field trips to give students an opportunity to broaden and expand their educational experience through study of planning, design and construction projects. Students frequently combine such studies with attendance at state and national professional meetings.
Students should plan to have adequate funds available for field trips, equipment and tools essential to their education as design, planning or construction professionals. These expenses also include a week-long field trip that is required of all junior and senior level architecture, interior design and landscape architecture students.
Supplemental fees also are required for participation in off-campus programs, including the Vicenza Institute of Architecture (VIA) and the Education and Research Center in Miami Beach. It may be necessary to assess studio fees to defray increasing costs of base maps and other materials.
Computer Requirement: Personal computer design, graphic and operational competence is an essential component of the contemporary professional environment. Appropriate computer skills now are required for all entry-level opportunities in each professional discipline within the college.
Course content increasingly relies on computer skills and personal access to computers with the proper software.
All students entering third-year professional programs and entering graduate programs within the college must purchase, lease or otherwise obtain continuing access to a personal computer. Each academic unit within the college will maintain information concerning computer hardware and software requirements, as appropriate to the discipline and curriculum.
Refer to the university’s web page at http:// www.ufl.edu or to the CIRCA home page at http://www.circa.ufl.edu/computers for general computer information as well as a link to the college’s home page at http://www.arch.ufl.edu for specific information for each program.