Master of Architecture

The School of Architecture + Art explores in many dimensions the meaning of making and the making of meaning. The School reinforces the student’s ability to think creatively and independently, reflecting the University’s ideals to develop citizens with integrity, conviction, and self-respect who are educated and motivated to be leaders in service to the community. The School of Architecture + Art offers a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and a Master of Architecture (NAAB-accredited).

The School of Architecture + Art graduate program encourages creativity, critical thinking, independent learning, and the exploration of ideas through hands-on making.  Our innovative approach to education integrates ongoing, experiential learning with traditional classroom learning. Students develop an understanding of community scale and have the skill set to engage in the development, design and construction of projects that enhance that way of life through their actions as professional architects.

Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) Degree Program Pathways 

The graduate program challenges students to carve out their own path of study. We are committed to preparing our graduates to be critical thinkers, global citizens, and design-build leaders. Students progress through the program from 1-3 years depending on their educational backgrounds. Most typically, the M.Arch. I enables students with an undergraduate degree in Architecture to earn the M.Arch. in one year and the M.Arch. III enables students with a program of study not in architecture to earn the M.Arch. in three years. Students accepted to the M.Arch. III pathway with an undergraduate degree not in architecture but in a related field may receive transfer credit and shorten the three-year course of study accordingly.

In most states and territories an accredited first professional degree, like the Master of Architecture, is a requirement for professional licensure.

Mission

The School of Architecture + Art honors its position within a teaching institution in its emphasis on service amidst ever-developing strengths in research. We nurture the study and practice of architecture as a great and noble pursuit, inherently interdisciplinary and requiring a balance of art and science, pragmatics and poetics, ecology and economy, social responsibility and personal artistic expression. Our curriculum promotes the notion of the "citizen-architect" in the spirit of Alden Partridge's ideal of the "citizen soldier." 

The Master's degree in Architecture prepares students for the profession of architecture. The School emphasizes practical experience (through a practicum) as well as autonomy and rigor (through an architectural thesis and graduate seminars).

Goals

Graduates of the Architecture Program will:

• Be respected and recognized for technical competence in the creation of solutions that balance sustainability, resiliency, societal and economic issues.

• Become successful architects with a range of capabilities including residential design, small and large institutional project design, civic projects and urban planning projects.

• Help their communities by advocating and implementing good design principles at a broad range of scales

• Communicate to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Actively engage in continuing education throughout life.

• Be recognized for their leadership skills and their abilities to work with all people.

Potential Careers

• Private architectural firms

• Commercial, industrial, and retail design

• Facilities management

• Real estate and development

• Engineering

• Sales and manufacturing

• Government

• Industrial corporations

• Public and private institutions

• Academia

Accreditation

The M.Arch I is a combined bachelor and master five-year professional degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), www.naab.org, 1101 Connecticut Ave NW #410, Washington, DC 20036, phone, 202-783-2007. The M.Arch. III, the pathway to the M.Arch. for students with an undergraduate degree in a field other than architecture, is pending NAAB approval.

Master of Architecture I (Previous B.S./B.A. major in Architecture)

This pathway builds on a student’s undergraduate experience to provide the foundation for a career as a professional architect. This is a one year program consisting of a summer internship and one academic year comprising graduate-level seminars and an individual, custom-designed thesis experience designed around a topic of the student’s choosing.

In the summer, students work as an intern in an architecture office (or in a design-related firm). Coursework is completed using distance-learning techniques, which permits students to work where they wish and encourages them to master digital communications technology, important to architectural practice.

Admission Requirements:

Students who are enrolled in the Architecture major at Norwich, may apply to the M.Arch. accelerated program at any time after their 7th semester. If they choose to graduate with the BS/AS and leave the university, they may apply to the program at a future date. Students from other universities should contact the Graduate Program Director for Admission Requirements and Deadlines.

Admission to the M.Arch. accelerated pathway is based on:

• minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50

• minimum GPA of 2.75 in all design studio courses

• Submission of a portfolio, conforming to the criteria in effect at the time of application, for review and approval by the architecture graduate admissions committee. 

Students are provisionally accepted until they meet the graduation requirements for the BS degree. Accepted students may defer their start of coursework for one year. Beyond the one-year deferral, they must reapply. Reapplications will be evaluated under the admission criteria in effect at the time of reapplication.

Architecture III (B.S./B.A. in a major other than Architecture)

For students who hold a baccalaureate degree in any field from an accredited college or university, the M.Arch. III provides a pathway for completion of the Master of Architecture in three years. Students with a pre-professional undergraduate architecture degree (e.g., B.S.A.S.), coursework taken in a NAAB-accredited program, or other architecture-related coursework may be eligible for transfer credit after evaluation of a portfolio submitted with the required application materials.

The curriculum follows a prescribed core of foundational courses, graduate-level seminars, a comprehensive studio, and an individual, custom-designed thesis experience designed around a topic of the student’s choosing.

The Master of Architecture degree is the first professional degree and is required for licensure.

Admission Requirements

Please contact the Graduate Program Director for Admission Requirements and deadlines.