Program Description

Kennesaw State University’s College of Architecture and Construction Management is the only public state institution in Georgia to offer an accredited five-year professional degree: The Bachelor of Architecture. It offers unique educational opportunities for its students including: The Summer Design Workshop, the Focus Studio: a research-based studio with and invited studio critic, and an individually structured Thesis project. The Program also offers students organized travel opportunities within the U.S. and abroad.

The curriculum is divided into two components; the lower division and the upper division. The lower division constitutes the first two years of the program and its curriculum is designed to introduce basic skill sets, fundamentals of design and building technologies. The upper division constitutes the last three years of the program. Its curriculum is designed to enhance the students understanding of the relationship between people and the built environment, the role of technology, structures in comprehensive design, the importance of history and theory to design and introduce the broader challenges of urbanism and design research.

The mission of the Architecture Department is to expand and extend the University’s mission into the realm of Architecture, preparing students for professional practice in the design, planning, development and stewardship of the built environment. The Architecture Program fosters invention, creativity and craft through hands-on exploration that is the foundation of technological innovation. Moreover, knowledge of cultural diversity, communication, history and criticism is seen as inseparable from the application of such innovation. This holistic process is “the making of architecture.”

Program Student Learning Outcomes

The Bachelor of Architecture (B Arch) program at KSU is a 5-year National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited, professional degree in architecture, that meets the education requirement standards leading to architecture licensure, professional practice, and National Council for Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) certification. 

Outlined below and in accordance with the Bachelor of Architecture program’s most recent NAAB accreditation reporting (Architecture Program Report (APR) September 2022), the program assessment standards currently follow the NAAB 2020 Conditions for Accreditation:

http://www.naab.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-NAAB-Conditions-for-Accreditation.pdf

Highlighted below, these accreditation education performance standards include Program Criteria (PCs) and Student Criteria (SCs), which in essence translate into Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs) for assessment purposes.  For NAAB, the criteria are inclusive of career paths and professional development opportunities, related design subjects and practices, educational environments, learning and teaching culture, supportive curricular frameworks, leadership and collaboration opportunities, equity and inclusion, accessibility, quality of facilities, resources, extracurricular activities, community and outreach (a holistic education model of how we engage at multiple levels and in conjunction). Underlying these standards are consistent and comparable learning outcomes to ensure public and environmental health, safety, welfare, and well-being for the continued practice of architecture and the construction of built environments across multiple regulatory jurisdictions, which the KSU Bachelor of Architecture program meets. 

 

Students who successfully complete this program will be able to:

1. Examine career paths to becoming licensed as an architect in the United States and the range of available career opportunities that utilize the discipline’s skills and knowledge. 
2. Identify and analyze multiple factors that inform design decisions, and incorporate appropriate design methods and techniques to integrate these factors in conjunction into applicative design processes, taking into account the various contexts and scales of development from built environments to urban settings.
3. Incorporate ecological knowledge and responsibility toward a holistic understanding of the dynamics between built and natural environments to mitigate climate change responsibly by leveraging ecological, advanced building performance, adaptation, and resilience principles in their work and advocacy activities. 
4. Synthesis historical and theoretical knowledge of architecture and urbanism, and analyze the social, cultural, economic, and political forces that have shaped the history of architecture and urbanism from a global and national perspective.
5. Engage and participate in multiple architectural and multidisciplinary research and innovation practices to test and evaluate innovations in the field.
6. Develop an understanding of the roles within leadership and collaboration in multidisciplinary teams, diverse stakeholder constituents, and dynamic physical and social contexts to effectively co-operate with others to solve complex problems. 
7. Co-develop an effective learning and teaching culture that fosters a positive and respectful behavioral environment and encourages diverse perspectives, open dialog, optimism, mutual respect, sharing, engagement, creativity, and innovation.
8. Foster practices of social equity and inclusion to develop deepened understandings of diverse cultural and social contexts and translate these understandings into built environments that equitably support and include people of different backgrounds, resources, and abilities.   
9. Apply knowledge of the impact of the built environment on human health, safety, and welfare in the built environment at multiple scales, from buildings to cities, to make informed design decisions within architectural projects, while prioritizing the well-being of participants and communities.
10. Apply professional practice knowledge of professional ethics, regulatory requirements, and fundamental business processes to make informed decisions within architecture practice in the United States, while recognizing the forces that influence change in these subject areas.
11. Analyze the regulatory context of professional architectural practice, understand the impacts of life safety, land use, current laws, and regulatory requirements on architectural projects, and use evaluative processes to assess the implications of these principles and laws on project design and development.
12. Develop effective technical knowledge required to identify and describe the established and emerging systems, technologies, and assemblies of building construction, and use appropriate methods and criteria to assess those technologies against the design, economics, and performance objectives of projects.
13. Apply design synthesis aptitudes toward holistic design-thinking, problem-solving, and performance-based decision-making within architectural projects while demonstrating the synthesis of user requirements, regulatory requirements, site conditions, accessible design, and consideration of measurable socio-environmental impacts.
14. Make building integration design decisions within architectural projects while demonstrating the combinatory incorporation of building envelope systems and assemblies, structural systems, environmental control systems, life safety systems, and the measurable outcomes of building performance.

  This program is part of the College of Architecture and Construction Management  

Accreditation

In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The Bachelor of Architecture program at KSU is a 5-year, NAAB accredited, first professional degree in architecture, leading to eligibility for licensure (Architectural Registration Exam). The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an 8-year or 2- year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

The NAAB grants candidacy status to new programs that have developed viable plans for achieving initial accreditation. Candidacy status indicates that a program should be accredited within 6 years of achieving candidacy, if its plan is properly implemented. In order to meet the educational requirements set forth by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NAAB), an applicant for an NCARB Certificate must hold a professional degree in architecture from a program accredited by the NAAB; the degree must have been awarded not more than two years prior to initial accreditation. However, meeting the educational requirement for the NCARB Certificate may not be equivalent to meeting the education requirement for registration in a specific jurisdiction. Please contact NCARB for more information.

The Kennesaw State University, Department of Architecture has been accredited since 1995 and offers the following NAAB-accredited degree:

5- year B.ARCH (150 undergraduate credits)

The next accreditation visit for the B.ARCH program is 2031.

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Admissions, Enrollment, and Graduation Criteria

Admissions Criteria

Admission to the Architecture program is separate from Admissions  to Kennesaw State University. Students must meet the program admission requirements, outlined below.

Students seeking entry to the lower division of the B.ARCH program as freshmen must first be accepted to KSU and in addition must have:

• 3.00 High School GPA
• And either the minimum SAT OR minimum ACT scores:
  • SAT minimums: EBRW 500 and Math 570
  • ACT minimums: 18 English or Reading sub-score, 23 Math sub-score

Current KSU students may apply for a Change of Major to Architecture. The following conditions must be met for acceptance:

• 24 KSU credit hours earned.
• 2.50 KSU GPA.
• Ready to take MATH 1113: Precalculus  or higher upon acceptance.

Transfer students seeking entry to the lower division of the B.ARCH program must first be accepted to KSU and in addition must have:

• A 2.50 College GPA.
• Completed MATH 1111: College Algebra  (or higher) and ENGL 1101: English Composition I  with a minimum grade of “C”.

Accepted transfer students with course work from an architecture or related design program may make a Curriculum Placement Request to the Architecture Department Chair. Please see the Curriculum Placement Request requirements here: https://www.kennesaw.edu/cacm/academics/architecture/about/admission.php

Select students may be admitted into the B.ARCH Accelerated Program. This program is a three-semester track (Fall/Spring/Summer), that fulfills the requirements of the lower-division Architecture curriculum. Entry into this track is for change of major and transfer students with 36 or more degree-applicable credit hours, who have completed a minimum of 6 General Education courses required by the Architecture curriculum, including MATH 1113: Precalculus   or higher. 

Enrollment Criteria

In addition to meeting the requirements of Academic Policy 4.0 ACADEMIC STANDING, DISMISSAL, & REINSTATEMENT , students are expected to meet the following enrollment criteria: 

Degree Progression 

To progress into upper-division course work students must pass Portfolio Review in conjunction with a profess review of course completion and GPA. Requirements include: 

• A 2.50 minimum university adjusted GPA.

• Meet all ARCH core course requirements of the lower division with a minimum grade of “C” or higher.

• A 2.50 minimum ARCH course GPA.

• Have completed at least 28 credit hours of General Education Core Curriculum courses, including PHYS 1111: Introductory Physics I  and PHYS 1111L: Introductory Physics Laboratory I , required in the program map.

• Submit a portfolio of work for evaluation with a minimum score 2.50 or higher. 

Graduation Critteria

Each student is expected to meet the requirements outlined in Academic Policy 5.0 PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS & GRADUATION .

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Program Course Requirements