Fay Jones School of Architecture Listed in Architect Magazine Guide

As high-school students consider their college careers, a new guide aims to make the selection of an architecture school simpler. The Fay Jones School of Architecture is listed in the guide for its excellence in community design.

Architect magazine published this guide that features 53 schools and programs in its December issue. Forty-four of them were grouped into 11 categories based on program strength: design/build; traditional architecture; integration of city and landscape; practice-based education; community design; sustainable design; building technology; digital design; global outlook; architectural history and theory; and architecture in an art college setting. Nine additional programs were listed for “uncommon specializations.” Architect magazine is published by Hanley Wood Business Media.

Other guides and lists exist, but comprehensive book-length guides can be cumbersome to thumb through, and some top-school rankings don’t detail the aspects that distinguish the schools. With this guide, Architect magazine intends to fill a void for an “accessible, applicant-oriented guide that identifies the varied teaching and research strengths of architecture schools, as well as their acceptance criteria,” according to its Web site.

The listing for the Fay Jones School of Architecture notes the contributions of Jones, a longtime professor and recipient of the American Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal. It describes how the Community Design Center, a nationally recognized outreach program of the school, has engaged in projects such as envisioning a light-rail plan for the region and rethinking the big-box store. It also mentions the more than 40 awards garnered by the center since 2005.

Other points of interest cited in the school’s listing are the study abroad semester required for fourth-year students and the Leadership by Design course required for first-year students. It also notes a concentration in architectural history offered in the school, as well as practical design/build opportunities.

The listing includes undergraduate admissions and demographics data, the student-to-faculty ratio and tuition.

The magazine’s editors collected data through 53 school questionnaires and more than 90 faculty surveys last fall. Schools were categorized according to their own program descriptions, the faculty surveys and school Web sites.

The first edition of the guide to architecture schools is also available on the magazine’s Web site. An update to the guide is planned for September, with a second edition in the works for 2011.