2008/09 ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 The College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture Advancing Sustainable Design and Planning for Arid Regions COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE 2008/09 ANNUAL REPORT Page 1

2 2008/09 CALA Annual Report TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Executive Summary 3 II. New Leadership for the University and CALA 3 III. CALA Accomplishments and Challenges 3 A. Increasing Achievements in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Expression B. Expanding Community Engagement and Workforce Impact C. Expanding Access and Enhancing Educational Excellence D. Improving Productivity and Increasing Efficiency E. Alumni Relations and Development IV. Single Major CALA Challenge 7 V. CALA Metrics 8 A. Increasing Achievements in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Expression B. Expanding Community Engagement and Workforce Impact C. Expanding Access and Enhancing Educational Excellence D. Improving Productivity and Increasing Efficiency VI. Appendices 10 A. Salary Equity Analysis for FY 2009 B. Faculty Recruitments and Diversity for FY 2009 C. Faculty Retention D. 2008/09 CALA Student Data Page 2

3 2008/09 CALA Annual Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AY 2008/09 was a year of major events and transition for the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture as well as The University of Arizona. Changes in executive leadership, college unification, university reorganization, historic budget reductions, national CALA ranking, and receipt of the largest single gift in CALA s history, all shaped the college and its programs. With the hiring of a new dean, transfer of the Planning Program into the college, and the strategic focusing of the college to become the nation s leader in sustainable design and planning for arid regions, CALA is poised for excellence. The College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, consists of two schools (School of Architecture and School of Landscape Architecture and Planning), five degree programs (Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Science in Planning, Certificate in Historic Preservation), and an outreach/service/research unit (Drachman Institute). CALA prides itself on being useful to the citizens of the State of Arizona, the nation, and the global society. I. New Leadership for the University and CALA As a result of two national searches, Dr. Meredith Hay was hired as the university s new Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and Janice Cervelli, FASLA, FCELA as the new CALA Dean. Dean Cervelli replaced then Dean Charles Albanese, a long-time CALA faculty member and administrator. Prof. Larry Medlin stepped down as Director of the School of Architecture and was replaced by Dr. Laura Hollengreen for a one year interim term. Prof. Corky Poster retired as the Director of the Drachman Institute and was replaced by Prof. R. Brooks Jeffery. And, finally, Prof. Ron Stoltz was appointed Associate Dean in place of Prof. Jeffery. II. CALA Accomplishments and Challenges A. Increasing Achievements in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Expression The College was honored with a number of significant awards, the most significant of which was the 12 th ranking of the Bachelor of Architecture Program by Design Intelligence, the only national ranking of design programs. A team of Architecture faculty was among 20 schools internationally to be selected to participate in the prestigious Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition. The Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory won the Award of Excellence and the President's Award by the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for the best project in Arizona landscape architecture. CALA continued Page 3

4 to increase sponsored grant activity with a total sponsored budget of $3,909,220 in 2008/09, a 3% increase over 2007/08. In support of the University s strategic direction, Increasing Achievements in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Expression, the College engaged in a process of unit consolidation, strategic planning, and disciplinary integration. As part of her hiring, Dean Cervelli negotiated the transfer of the graduate program in Planning from the Department of Geography in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences into CALA. The Planning Program is an essential element in CALA s goal of achieving excellence in sustainable design and planning for arid regions. In spring 2008, the Landscape Architecture Program moved into the new CALA Building Addition from its previous location on Speedway Blvd. For the first time in U. of A. history, all three programs Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Planning were co-located both administratively and physically. Complete physical integration has fostered a renewed development of interdisciplinary curricular, research, and outreach collaborations, both inside and outside the college. Under Dean Cervelli s leadership, the College engaged in the development of its first strategic plan. Utilizing a consultative process involving faculty, staff, and students, the planning effort focused on the advancement of four of the nine critical areas identified by the university: Climate, Environmental, Water and Energy Sustainability; Southwest, Native American, Borderlands, and Latin American Studies; Creative Arts; and Law, Public Policy, and Entrepreneurship. The result of the strategic planning process was the declaration of a mission and roadmap for how to establish CALA as the nation s leader in sustainable design and planning for arid regions. More specifically, the plan calls for the College to focus its efforts on excellence in the areas of solar architecture; energy and water conservation; emerging materials and technology; landscape ecology, planning, and management; healthy communities; historic preservation; sustainable housing and transportation systems; socially responsible real estate investing and sustainable tourism; border settlement patterns and border land use change. Toward this end, the plan calls for the initiation of new degrees as well as curricular redesign that achieves maximum disciplinary integration and research and outreach collaboration. The college began planning for a new Executive Master of Real Estate Development, a joint degree with the Eller College of Management. A dual Master of Science in Planning/Master of Business Administration degree was also initiated with the Eller College. B. Expanding Access and Enhancing Educational Excellence As a professional college with selective admissions policies for all of its degree programs and limited enrollments due to space limitations, CALA s capacity to expand access is more limited than other units at the university. Despite this, the College has been worked to incrementally increase enrollments in the Bachelor of Architecture (415 entering freshman in AY 2007/08; Page 4

5 425 entering freshmen in AY 2008/09) and Master of Landscape Architecture programs. In order to expand access to graduate education in Architecture by those without a previous degree in the field, planning was begun on the initiation of a first-professional accredited Master of Architecture degree that will increase enrollments in the School by 60 students. Thanks to a strong student-centered college culture, low student-faculty ratios as required by accreditation, strong advising services, and a highly directed curriculum, graduation rates for all CALA programs exceed the university average. CALA contributes significantly to workforce development in Arizona with over 80% of its masters-level graduates remaining in-state. Nationally, minorities are under-represented in all environmental design and planning educational programs and professional groups. Despite that, CALA has maintained a high level of commitment to diversity. One-third of Architecture students identify themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority and 43% are women. Full-time Planning faculty are 75% female with one African-American faculty, and 50% of the student group is female. Landscape Architecture is 50% female and one male Hispanic Faculty. The student group was more than 70% female. C. Expanding Community Engagement and Workforce Impact Curricula across the College emphasize integrative studies that join knowledge and skill through innovative application in partnership and service to the state of Arizona. CALA holds true to its mission to support the institutional vision of The University of Arizona. Among its goals are: To apply as a professional college dedicated to educating students for professional practice in a global context through knowledge; To engage the community by reaching out and interacting beyond the university, thus having a signature on the entire region; and To partner by seeking relationships with alumni, the professions, and the public and private sectors including non-governmental organizations. CALA is recognized in the University as one of its premier community outreach units, aided by a predominately studio-based teaching and learning environment. In collaboration with Pima County officials, the College initiated planning for a downtown center to include a diverse set of academic programs from across the university as part of an overall strategy for downtown revitalization. CALA administrators and faculty engaged in the initiation of a public/private initiative focused on the creation of a regional vision and plan for the greater Tucson area. The Drachman Institute, the College s nationally recognized, research-based outreach arm, acts as a nexus for research-knowledge transfer between community needs and the College s curricular programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and planning. In addition, the community outreach projects undertaken through the College have directly translated into Page 5

6 private sector funding for subsequent planning projects, reinforcing the College s role as an incubator for community design work. The products of these outreach and engagement activities include award-winning design-build energy-efficient affordable housing, sustainable design, historic preservation, water conservation, landscape master planning, and healthy neighborhood planning proposals. These projects are based on a reputation that has been developed over decades of innovative partnerships with lower-income neighborhoods, schools, community and rural organizations, non-profit organizations, community housing development organizations, municipalities, as well as local, state, and federal agencies and tribal nations that normally would not be able to afford the cost of professional services. This service-learning approach has proven to be a successful model serving the needs of communities while providing a community outreach experience for students as a fundamental educational goal consistent with the mission of CALA and the U. of A. This service-learning ethic has had a profound effect on student recruitment and leaves a lasting impact on communities, rural areas, and underserved populations throughout Arizona and beyond the international border into Mexico. D. Improving Productivity and Increasing Efficiency Toward improving productivity and efficiency, the University entered into a process of transformation and a major reorganization and consolidation of colleges and other units. CALA participated by submitting two proposals as part of the Provost s call for white papers on Transformation, Thematic Interdisciplinary Schools, and, The College for Design and the Sustainable Environment. After consultation with Provost Hay, it was determined that due to CALA s predominant mission of the preparation of licensed practitioners, the college should be considered a professional college, much as is the College of Law, Engineering, Pharmacy, and Nursing. Therefore, autonomy as a college unit is the best structure for the advancement of the CALA s nationally ranked programs. Toward greater college productivity and efficiency, CALA reorganized itself in order to reduce the cost of administrative overhead. The merger of the School of Landscape Architecture with the School of Planning realized savings through the reduction of the number of school directors (from two to one) as well as greater integration of faculty, students, and curricula across landscape architecture and planning disciplines was also the year that the nation suffered from a slide into a record-breaking recession resulting in historic state budget cuts to the College. Along with units across the campus, CALA shouldered two major budget cuts ($190,600 or 5% and $136,900 or 4.2%) totaling $327,500 or 9.2%. Dean Cervelli utilized the new College Strategic Plan to help guide decisions regarding budget reductions in the college. Reductions were realized through increases in teaching loads Page 6

7 of tenured and tenure track faculty, reduction in the hiring of adjunct and part-time faculty, elimination of low enrollment courses, and reductions in electives. E. Alumni Relations and Development Dean Charles Albanese placed as a high priority the reconnection of the college to its alumni and the practice community. A number of college events were held in spring 2008 to celebrate the college and its alumni. Dean Cervelli continued this effort by initiating monthly open breakfasts with alums and practitioners, restructuring the Dean s Advisory Council, opening CALA meeting facilities to local practitioner interest groups, and holding a successful college 50 Th anniversary event. Gifts to CALA in 2008/09 increased 100% over that of with a total annual giving of $1,028,554. CALA UAF & UA Endowment Assets total $3,590, In 2009, CALA received the largest single gift in its history, a $750,000 unrestricted cash gift from an anonymous donor. The gift was placed in an endowment dedicated to advancing excellence in faculty and graduate scholarship. The Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory was recognized with the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects President s Award as the best of Arizona landscape architecture for 2008/9. The project was a 100% donation from the green industry and the profession totaling an estimated $800,000 of materials and other in-kind contributions. IV. CALA Single Major Challenge The single most critical issue facing CALA that will materially influence the ability of the College to advance in the next few years relates to the ongoing drastic state budget cuts. While not unique to CALA, state budget cuts over the past year have seriously impacted the ability of the College to maintain the quality of its programs particularly in such critical resource areas as sufficient number of full-time faculty positions, competitive faculty salaries, and advising staff. The College s strategy for dealing with this challenge is to increase student tuition and fees as well as to ensure continued growth in sponsored projects and fund raising. Beyond the funding issue, the College is well poised to continue to gain national stature as a leader in sustainable design and planning for arid regions. CALA has dealt with budget reductions in the past through the application of differential tuition and substantial program fees. Additional revenue to the college has helped to fill the gap from budget cuts. Unfortunately, additional tuition and fees have not kept pace with rapid increases in budget cuts. The prospect of any additional cuts to the college will seriously threaten the ability of the college to provide the minimal standards of faculty and staff resources required by various accreditation boards. In order to gain additional revenue, CALA has developed a proposal for increases to current differential tuition and program fees which it hopes to have approved by the Board of Regents this year. The college also hopes to be able to negotiate a higher percentage of return to the college of the revenue generated by tuition and fee increases. Page 7

8 V. CALA Metrics A. Increasing Achievements in Research Scholarship and Creative Expression Interdisciplinary Research Yielding Innovations in Graduate and Undergraduate Education Interdisciplinary clusters Faculty and students in architecture and landscape architecture complete funded energy conservation master plan for Petrified Forest National Park. Faculty in landscape architecture undertake collaboration with Biosphere II for research into plant selection for extreme climates Total CALA sponsored budget activity for 2008/09: $3,909,220, a 3% increase over 2007/08 CALA UAF & UA Endowment Assets total $3,590, Interdisciplinary clusters Architecture faculty collaborated with faculty and students in mechanical engineering and material sciences, and Eller College of Management on the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon and the design and fabrication of a solar house. Initiation of research in GeoDesign, a new field that combines planning, landscape architecture, natural resources, geography, sociology, anthropology, public health, and others interested in comprehensive environmental design. Research focused on both an enabling technology (software) coming from a private corporate partner and a new comprehensive planning and design approach. B. Expanding Access and Enhancing Educational Excellence Integrated statewide network of student recruitment CALA professional programs are nationally-based. As a result, CALA students represent a higher percentage of out-of-state students (43%) than the university average. CALA students enter directly into professional programs. National accreditation curricular requirements make it difficult for students to transfer into CALA programs. The application rate for all CALA programs was above that of the university in general. The M.Arch is a second professional research degree attracting students from around the world to study solar architecture and energy conservation. CALA recruitment efforts are largely based on exposure from the many outreach projects delivered throughout the state including underserved and minority communities. Seeking Private Scholarship Donations CALA received $750,000 gift dedicated in part to the creation of graduate scholarships Increasing enrollments & expanding diversity One-third of Architecture students identify themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority and 43% are women. Full-time Planning faculty is 75% female with one African-American faculty and a student group that is 50% female. Landscape Architecture is 50% female with one male Hispanic Faculty. The student group has been more than 70% female. Architecture, the largest student group, has fluctuated between 27% and 50% in the undergraduate cohort. Page 8

9 Increasing freshman retention The Architecture Program has selective admission with entry into the professional phase occurring in second year. Graduation rates for professional phase B.Arch students were above 80%. C. Expanding Community Engagement and Workforce Impact Bring research to bear on vital social needs Total number of CALA has conducted 32 community based service-learning outreach projects throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Baja California and Sonora, Mexico Through its commitment to integrated community service, outreach, and research, CALA delivers support to those communities and organizations that normally could not afford professional services. The Drachman Institute has served rural Arizona and native populations with award-winning work for years. Research into schoolyard habitats and learning grounds, a concentration in the MLA program, and energy conservation for affordable housing in Architecture are examples of how CALA extends its scholarship into the community Programs supported by federal and state grants, funding from businesses and civic organizations and partnerships with state agencies and local schools. Recent sponsored contracts with the National Park Service alone have topped $300,000, with additional contracts under negotiation. Grants with State Agencies including the Department of Housing, the Department of Game and Fish, State Historic Preservation Office, and Arizona State Parks comprise a large proportion of funded research. Schoolyard Habitats and learning gardens remain an area where CALA has extended it reach into local schools. Networks disseminate research and technological innovations to strengthen the Arizona economy and advance undergraduate education The Solar Decathlon Competition and the House Energy Doctor has generated new innovations in manufactured housing, solar architecture, energy conservation, and building monitoring systems. Drachman Institute study, Affordable Housing and Transportation demonstrated linkages between urban sprawl and the rising cost of transportation. Drachman Design Build Coalition generates innovations in affordable housing, and energy conservation for the building industry. D. Improving Productivity and Increasing Efficiency The College used retirements in the Dean s Office to reduce 1.5 upper-level administrators (a.5 FTE reduction in the Associate Dean and 1.0 FTE in the Assistant Dean) to extract savings and efficiencies. Former School of Planning returned to the College and was integrated into a new School of Landscape Architecture and Planning reducing the administration to one School Director. As well, there was a full FTE reduction in the administrative support. Further improvements in efficiencies in advising and application processing (use of the College of Arts on-line application and monitoring software) are leading to great effectiveness with lower cost. Page 9

10 VI. Appendices Appendix A: Salary Equity Analysis for FY 2009 Faculty salaries in the School of Architecture fell considerably below the AAUDE average ranging as low as 80%. Architecture salaries also showed significant salary compression at the associate and full professor ranks. The salary of the only female assistant professor in Architecture was below comparables and an increase adjustment of $3,000 was made. Minority faculty salaries in Architecture are above the AAUDE average. Salaries in Landscape Architecture across faculty ranks were within 90% of the AAUDE average. Planning faculty salaries were within 100% of AAUDE average. Women and minority faculty salaries fall within the same range. In order to be competitive, CALA offers/hires salaries have of necessity been approximately 15% higher than existing faculty of comparable accomplishment/standing, thereby in effect contributing to further salary inequity, and decreased morale, within the faculty as a whole. Strategies to address this issue short of increased state funding for salary market equity are limited. They include increased endowed professorships, supplemental compensation opportunities, and summer session teaching. The summary table below based on CALA faculty salaries indicates that 75% of the salaries range 10-18% lower than the AAUDE peer University group. In reality, CALA faculty who are planning to leave or have been approached by other universities have been offered salaries that are 1/3 or more higher than ours. Architecture Rank # in rank UofA Avg Salary 2007 AAUDE Avg. % of 2007 AAUDE Avg. Assistant Professor 4 $56,000 $59,000 95% Associate Professor 1 $58,000 $76,000 76% Professor 5 $89,000 $101,000 89% Landscape Architecture Rank # in rank UofA Avg Salary 2007 AAUDE Avg. % of 2007 AAUDE Avg. Assistant Professor 1 $60,000 $59, % Associate Professor 2 $71,000 $76,000 93% Professor 1 $80,000 $101,000 80% Planning Rank # in rank UofA Avg Salary 2007 AAUDE Avg. % of 2007 AAUDE Avg. Assistant Professor Associate Professor* 1 $57,000 $76,000 74% Professor 2 $123,000 $101, % * full-time Associate Professor of Practice Page 10

11 Appendix B: Faculty Recruitments and Diversity for FY 2009 CALA Recruitment for 2009 was very successful with gains in female, Asian, and African American faculty. The School of Architecture conducted three-tenure track assistant professor searches and one for a visiting professor of practice. Two of the tenure track positions were successfully filled as was the visiting professor of practice. The third search did not result in a satisfactory candidate with the search being continued in AY 2009/10. One of the Architecture hires is a female, increasing the total number of women in the school to four. The second Architecture hire is Taiwanese, representing the only Asian faculty in the School. The School of Planning and Landscape Architecture conducted three faculty searches, including one tenure-track assistant professor and two visiting professors. The tenure track hire is a female, one visiting professor is a black African American female, and the second visiting professor is a white male. Faculty Searches # Position Advertised Positions Filled Gender Ethnicity 4 Assistant Professor 3 1 M, 2 F 1 Asian 3 Visiting Professors 3 2 M, 1 F 1 African Am. Page 11

12 Appendix C: Report on Faculty Retention CALA lost six faculty in 2008/09 due to spousal hires, retirements, departure for other positions, and denial of tenure. No formal retention offers were made to faculty. Faculty U. of A. Position Department Destination New Position Departure Reason Prof. C. Poster Professor Architecture Retirement Prof. J. Folan Assoc. Prof. Architecture Carnegie Melon Assoc. Prof. Spousal employment Dr. L. Hollengreen Assoc. Prof. Architecture Georgia Tech Assoc. Prof. Spousal employment Prof. I. San Martin Assoc. Prof. Architecture U. of Minnesota Director For director position Prof. D. Clifford Assist. Prof. Architecture Carnegie Melon Assist. Prof. U. of A. Tenure denial Prof. J. Vollen Assist. Prof. Architecture Rennselear Assist. Prof. Pursue position Prof. M. Kim Assist. Prof. Land. Arch. V. Tech Assist. Prof. U. of A. Tenure denial Page 12

13 Appendix D: 2008/09 CALA Student Data B.Arch Program (professional phase) Total student # Gender Residency Diversity Degrees Conferred (38%) F 167 (62%)M 94 (35%) NR 175 (65%) R White 186 Hispanic 48 Asian Am. 19 African Am. 3 International 12 Master of Architecture Program Total student # Gender Residency Diversity Degrees Conferred (59%) F 15 (41%)M 32(86%) NR 5(14%) R White 18 Hispanic 2 Asian Am. 0 African Am. 1 International 16 Other Master of Landscape Architecture Program Total student # Gender Residency Diversity Degrees Conferred (52%) F 22(48%) M 31 (66%) NR 16 (34%) R White 35 Hispanic 5 Asian Am. 3 African Am. 1 Native Am. 1 International 1 Other 3 Master of Science in Planning Program Total student # Gender Residency Diversity Degrees Conferred (48%) F 14 (52%) M 6 (22%) NR 21 (78%) R White 16 Hispanic 5 Asian Am. 2 African Am. 2 International 1 Asian Pacific Page 13