In 1914, the first courses related to architecture were taught in the Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanic Arts. In 1922, this institution granted its first Bachelor of Architectural Engineering degree. From its beginning until World War II the architectural program maintained a strong engineering bias.
The National Architectural Accrediting Board sent a visiting committee to the department in 1959. Accreditation was not granted, but under the leadership of Knute Henning, the department chair from 1945 to 1968, the department set about correcting conditions that had received adverse comment. In 1969, the new chair Harlan Thompson invited the visiting committee from the NAAB to tour the school, resulting in initial accreditation of the five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree. Mr. Thompson resigned in 1973 and Harold Jenkinson served as acting administrator until Cecil D. Elliott began his term as department chair in 1975. The three-year accreditation granted in 1971 was extended in 1974 because of the NAAB Restructuring Study being conducted at the time. In 1975, the Department was granted a postponement of inspection since a new chair had just arrived and a new dean (Joseph Stanislao) was soon to assume his duties. A NAAB Visiting Committee again came to NDSU in 1976, and the following year accreditation was extended for five years with a provision for an interim visit during the 1979-80 academic year if the Department's Educational Development Plan (EDP) did not fully address concerns of the visiting team. The EDP was prepared and submitted by the Department, and the interim visit was not deemed necessary by the NAAB. The B. Arch. degree was reaccredited for five years in 1982 and 1987. In 1987, Professor Elliott resigned and Harold Jenkinson again assumed leadership of the department until 1989, when Rurik F. Ekstrom was appointed chair.
In 1992, NAAB granted a three-year accreditation due to concerns about facilities and institutional support. Establishment of a degree program in Landscape Architecture in 1983 brought about the current structure of the Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. In 1992 the fledgling Landscape Architecture program hosted their first accreditation visit and subsequently received a full three-year accreditation, followed by a five-year accreditation in 1995. The Landscape Architecture program was re-accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accrediting Board in 2000 and 2005 for full five-year terms. In 1993 Rurik Ekstrom resigned as chair of architecture in order to continue teaching full time. Vincen W. Hatlen was named chair, and the 1995 NAAB accreditation visit resulted in a five-year accreditation. Vincen Hatlen remained Chair until June 1997, when he resigned in order to continue teaching full time. Dennis C. Colliton was named Interim Chair for one year, from 1997-1998.
Paul H. Gleye assumed leadership of the department in 1998 and set the Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture on a course of long-term stability. The 2000 NAAB visit resulted in a 6-year accreditation with a focused evaluation scheduled in 2003 to address social equity (number of minority and female students and faculty), human resources (inadequate support staff), physical resources (lack of elevator and substandard studio spaces in two Quonsets), and financial resources (low faculty salaries). The department, with university support, responded to the concerns and passed the 2003 focused evaluation. Between 2000 and 2005, the NDSU architecture program has made significant progress in a number of areas.
In 2000 the architecture program completed a strategic plan to address important needs and goals. By 2005, most of these goals had been achieved. The 14,700 sq. ft. Ehly Hall addition was completed in the fall of 1999, adding substantial accessible space to the department for design studios and library space, alleviating severe space problems. In 2004 the Architecture and Landscape Architecture department totally vacated the two Quonsets on campus and moved into NDSU Downtown, a 75,830-sq.-ft. historic loft building specifically renovated to house the NDSU Visual Arts department and half of the Architecture and Landscape Architecture department. NDSU Downtown provides outstanding studio and breakout spaces, two classrooms, faculty and administrative offices, a flexible exhibition/activity space, a formal art gallery space and fully equipped wood shop shared with the Visual Arts department. This facility provided an outstanding boost to the department.
Also in 2004 the State Board of Higher Education granted the department a substantial increase in student program fees to help fund educational excellence beyond the capacity of the State. A program fee of $150 per semester had been charged to students since 1995, primarily for computer support. Since this fee had become inadequate, the fee was raised in 2004 to 1/3 of in-state tuition, which was $719 per semester in 2005-06. This fee has allowed the architecture program to fund personnel and student support that are vital to educational excellence. To relieve substantial teaching loads and to help the department prepare for its application for a Master of Architecture degree, the university granted the department two additional faculty FTEs. In addition, the increased program fee has allowed us to hire an additional faculty member dedicated to freehand drawing. By 2005 the department had a total of 19 faculty FTEs for a student enrollment of over 600 students, which has relieved the teaching and advising burden substantially but which we believe may still be the highest student-faculty ratio of all NAAB-accredited schools. Through increased program fees, the department hired a full-time studio technician and a full-time computer support specialist. We were also able to increase the student services support staff member from 0.6 to 1.0 FTE. To support NDSU Downtown, the university provided a 1.0 FTE office staff person. Thus between 2000 and 2005 the support staff for the department increased from 1.6 to 5.0 FTE.
In the year 2000 the department reconstituted its Advisory Council into two Advisory Boards, one for architecture and one for landscape architecture. The advisory boards were instrumental in helping establish the department���s first endowments. In July 2005 these totaled about $260,000, which remains modest but reflects a substantial increase from previous levels. To encourage alumni involvement in the department beyond financial contributions, we established a group called the Professional Council. The Council holds no formal meetings, but members have expressed interest in serving as guest critics in design studios, mentoring students, and other support functions as their times allows. Currently 39 alumni serve on the Professional Council. - Another recent initiative of the department is the annual Design Expo, a job fair for architecture and landscape architecture students. Begun in 2002 with six firms attending, in 2005 we hosted 12 firms. The Expo is still relatively small but is growing, and has attracted firms from Minnesota to California.
In 2005 the department initiated a request to replace the Bachelor of Architecture degree with a Master of Architecture degree. The new curriculum totals 170 credit hours including 30 graduate credits. This new degree program was approved by the NAAB as the accredited professional degree offered by the department in 2006.
Between 2000 and 2006 the faculty made extensive efforts to achieve greater cohesion by establishing a common set of expectations for all students in each curriculum year, by assigning oversight of curricular areas to faculty for discussion and adoption at faculty meetings, and through other measures. We believe that the culture of the department has changed greatly in the direction of cohesion and common purpose in the intervening five years.
Finally it should be noted that the chair appoints a program director for architecture, and a similar position for landscape architecture, to oversee the specific curriculum in each discipline, to make teaching assignments, to oversee preparations for accreditation, and to carry out similar responsibilities. Ganapathy Mahalingam has served as architecture program director since 2002. His leadership has been instrumental in achieving many of the architecture program's goals and advancements in the past few years.