Drury replaces five-year architecture degree with master's program

Students at Drury University's Hammons School of Architecture will be paying a little more and studying a little longer as the result of a new Master of Architecture degree program.

Freshmen at Drury's Hammons School of Architecture during the 2008-09 academic year were pursuing their bachelor's degrees, but because the school was retroactively accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, those students will now be enrolled in the master's degree program.

"We were hoping and praying it would happen because other schools such as (University of Kansas) already have this implemented," said Layne Hunton, a sophomore architecture student at Drury.

Hunton noted that he's aware of Drury students who have transferred to KU to take advantage of the master's degree.

In some ways, the Master of Architecture is treated like a bachelor's degree in that it's considered a first professional degree for its recipients. Students in the master's program still have to meet Drury's requirements for an internship and a community design project.

The upgraded architecture program adds one more credit hour - equating to a summer's worth of coursework - for students. That coursework also will add about $200 to Drury's basic annual undergraduate tuition, which runs about $18,600 a year.

Giving students an edge

Michael Buono, director of the Hammons School of Architecture, said students will choose from three concentration areas - architectural history and theory, community and urban design, and sustainability - under the master's program. They also will have to complete a final thesis project centered on their respective focus.

Buono said the move to replace the bachelor's program came down to a desire to remain competitive among other universities and to develop the school's curriculum.

"Because of the focus areas, hopefully that might give (students) a little edge," he said. "But at the same time, our architectural education, whether it was a bachelor's or a master's, is, I think, a very comprehensive education that includes the strength of Drury's liberal arts core."

Still, Buono said that when it comes to finding a job after graduation, the degree is less relevant than individual skills.

"If I have a young man or a young woman with a bachelor's and one with a master's, unless I'm a graduate of that program that offers the master's, I'm going to be really looking at their portfolio," he said. "But in the eyes of the parents and ... students when selecting schools, obviously a master's (degree) looks so much better."

Architect Michael Sapp of Sapp Design Associates Architects PC vagreed that the upgraded title doesn't necessarily change the hiring process much.

"Usually the bachelor's degree suffices for what we're looking for in terms of hiring young interns and then putting them through the training process," he said. "That's not to say that we might not entertain an individual with a master's degree, but that wouldn't be necessarily a high priority."

Demand for designers

Sapp said he usually hires one or two graduates from Drury's architecture program, in addition to working with interns throughout the summer, but this year may be an exception.

"Right now we're in a hold pattern. Our work volume is steady, and we're not looking to employ anybody," he said. "I would say we're definitely in a hiring freeze for at least another six months until we see what happens with some of our current clients and the economy."

Drury has seen a drop of between 10 percent and 15 percent in freshmen students joining the architecture program, which normally has between 200 and 220 students, and graduates have had a harder time finding jobs in the architecture field, Buono said.

"Up until this past year, for about the past 18 years, there were more architecture jobs than there were graduates throughout the country, and our students had done well in finding positions," he said. "Right now, it is a disaster. We're hearing that things are starting to turn around, and hopefully that is the truth."

Master accreditation

Drury spent two years actively pursuing accreditation for the Master of Architecture program, though Buono said it had been on the minds of faculty and administrators longer than that.

Before the proposal was submitted to the accrediting board, faculty at the architecture school conducted studies and re-examined and changed the curriculum, Buono said.

Curriculum changes and other proposals attached to the upgrade had to pass through multiple levels of university administration.

The National Architectural Accrediting Board requires multiple visits, reports, meetings and evaluations before a program gets the seal of approval, and accreditation status is reviewed every two to six years.

The first class of Master of Architecture graduates is expected in 2013.