Message from the Dean
August, 2007
One of the challenges of higher education is to be
visionary—to anticipate changes in the professions we represent so that the
learning experiences our programs provide prepare our students for the world
they will inhabit after graduation.
The recent change in our degree structure—offering master’s
degrees at the end of five-year, research-based professional curricula—is our
attempt to be ahead of our peers in terms of design education for the future. As
an institution, I think we are setting the pace in granting degrees which
appropriately recognize the amount of academic effort our students undertake. All
current second-year students in the college are enrolled in the graduate
programs, third-year students will make their decisions next spring, and many
of our fourth- and fifth-year students opted last year to enter the master’s
programs.
Equally, the addition of the new PhD program in
environmental design and planning to our academic offerings is timely and
unique. This fall, the first two students are entering our PhD program.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that we need to forge ahead
into additional areas which will advance our standings as a design college. While
we advertise ourselves as being “interdisciplinary,” in reality we have been
“multidisciplinary.” We have not taken full advantage of the opportunities we have as a
comprehensive design college when it comes to mixing the disciplines together
in real-life design problem solving or career exploration; we must do a better
job in the future. During the coming academic year, I will challenge our
faculty and students to explore opportunities to craft a curriculum which will
insure that, prior to graduation, our students have an interdisciplinary,
upper-level design studio experience where they can learn about the relationships
among the design disciplines and what each contributes to the design process. Additionally,
I’ve spoken to faculty and administrators in K-State’s College of Business
Administration to explore opportunities for MBA
students to become part of our interdisciplinary team to address business
planning. Architectural engineering may also factor into the concept of the
interdisciplinary team. It is my hope that we can obtain the sponsorship of
leading professional offices as part of the interdisciplinary setting to partner
with our professors on project design, construction and management.
The Dean’s Advisory Council of our college is composed of a
number of individuals, primarily alumni, from around the nation who contribute
heavily, both financially and with their very valuable time, to our long-range
planning and goals. I have the pleasure of
meeting with this group semiannually to seek advice and help forge programs
that benefit our college. The council has become increasingly concerned about
the state of our physical facilities—our studios, offices and classrooms. At
least half of our property is in disrepair, with no state funding on the
horizon to address the concerns. To this end, the council has readily assumed
the responsibility to help make plans leading to a new facility for our college.
We are starting to prepare a program and explore various funding mechanisms to
achieve our goal in the near future. Watch for updates.
We are in the process of bringing new leadership to the college.
Ms. Lorraine Cutler has assumed the headship of the Department of Interior
Architecture and Product Design. Dr. Peter Magyar has been appointed head of
the Department of Architecture; he will join us as the 2007-2008 academic year
begins. (See related story in News.) They come to us with a wealth of
academic and practice experience, and I know you will welcome them to our
K-State family. Joining Lorri and Peter will be a plethora of new faculty as
some of our senior faculty approach retirement. We have worked hard to hire new
department heads and faculty who are committed to providing the
“student-centered” professional education that we hold in high regard.
While we celebrate new faces in our teaching and
administrative ranks, we also are saying goodbye to some people who have been
stalwarts in our various programs for many years. Steve Murphy is “hanging up
his cleats” after decades of teaching and administrative responsibilities in
interior architecture and product design (see related story in News). He will
be missed. We also owe a great deal of gratitude to David Sachs who served as
interim head of architecture while we searched for a permanent head. The 2007-2008
academic year will be the final one for Tony Barnes and Dennis Day, landscape architecture,
who retire next May. Carolyn Thompson, interior architecture and product design
will complete her phased retirement next May as well. Tony Chelz, Rick Forsyth
and Robert Page, landscape architecture; Ray Weisenburger, regional and
community planning; and Carolyn Norris-Baker, architecture, are all at various
stages of phased retirement. Michael McNamara, architecture, retired this past
May. Gwen Owens-Wilson, interior architecture and product design, retired two
years ago. These wonderful faculty members have contributed much to our
award-winning set of academic programs. I know you join me in thanking them for
their hard work and dedication. At the same time, we will welcome a new set of faculty
with the same intense devotion to our students’ welfare and success.
I hope your summer was good and relaxing.
Sincerely,
Dennis L. Law, FASLA
Professor and Dean