The Texas A&M Department of Architecture has a “strong” Master of Architecture program and its students and faculty “have a lot to be proud of” said Kevin Montgomery, leader of the five-person National Architectural Accrediting Board team that completed its accreditation visit to College Station Wednesday, March 26.
“We saw an openness, a transparency, and a candidness that tremendously helped our effort,” Montgomery told faculty, students and staff at the close of the team’s three-day visit. “It’s a strong program and you have a lot to be proud of. There is extraordinary faculty here. The quality of the education, the credentials, are second to none.”
Montgomery, a fellow in the American Institute of Architects, represented the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards on the visiting NAAB team. He was joined by architects Barbara A. Sestak, with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture; Luis Badillo, representing the American Institute of Architects; Jonathan K. Bahe, with the American Institute of Architecture Students, and Paul Bohn, a Texas A&M architecture graduate who observed the review on Texas A&M’s behalf.
“Dr. Robin Abrams and Dr. Elton Abbott did a superb job collecting materials and putting together the team room,” said Mark Clayton, interim head of the Department of Architecture. “All of the members of the visiting team made particular mention of the thoroughness of their work in preparing for the visit.”
Part of that effort was preparing a “Team Room” in which student work was displayed and documented. That exhibit, on the first floor of Langford Building A, will remain in place for faculty and student review on dates to be announced.
The accreditation team has 30 days to complete its report and submit its findings to the NAAB office in Washington, D.C. and the Department of Architecture.
The NAAB is the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture in the United States.
