The National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB) requires, as a condition for accreditation, that the School of Architecture share its policies on Social Equity and Inclusion. The following statement is taken from the program’s response (submitted as part of the 2021 Architecture Program Report) to several prompts regarding curriculum, classroom culture, and inclusivity. In all cases, the School of Architecture follows the requirements of state law, university policy, and the regulations established by the Board of Governors regarding instruction, curriculum, admissions, and personnel.
A commitment to social equity demands inclusivity in both what we teach and how we teach. The School of Architecture faculty actively reexamines and revises the methodology and content of our courses and curricula to address concerns over representation, social engagement, and ethical practices. Faculty and staff are adopting best practices for recruiting excellent students from underserved communities and working to help students overcome economic barriers to academic success. With the support of the Dean and the college staff, the school is expanding its efforts to attract, hire, and retain a broadly diverse faculty. The Architecture Advisory Council, composed of alumni and supporters of the program, advises the Director on successful strategies for building a more diverse student body and faculty, and contributes ideas for how the academy can work with the profession to enhance architecture’s role in service to society.
Social justice has always been a concern of the architecture curriculum at UF. In 2020, Interim Director Frank Bosworth and members of the newly constituted Equity Committee met weekly with students, alumni, and faculty to discuss problems identified by the students and consider potential remedies. A group of alumni and students published a lengthy critique which indicated the extent of student and alumni concern with structural inequalities within the School of Architecture and its educational programs.
Faculty, staff, students, and alumni recognize there is work to establish and sustain a welcoming and equitable community of diverse creators, scholars, and practitioners. When lived experiences are heard, when differences are supported and celebrated, we all gain new insights into the work we do to create just environments at every scale. UF SoA aims to give full voice to all, to establish a safe and respectful learning environment, to actively expand and support a greater diversity of students and faculty, and to connect our work to our alumni and communities beyond our academic realm.
As faculty, we recognize the scope and limits of our reach to focus on the areas we can change. Along with school culture, the curriculum, graduate admissions, peer mentoring and hiring directly involve current faculty and therefore have focus of the events and changes made thus far.
Curriculum Review: Faculty are engaged in a long-term review of curricula and individual course syllabi. Assignments, course materials, and other curriculum elements are being reviewed in terms of representation, inclusivity, and implicit and explicit bias.
Equity Committee: Constituted in 2020, the committee is open to all faculty and meets monthly. The committee reports to the full faculty and began including student representatives in 2021.
Student Government: Students raised the concern that student government did not equitably represent the student body. Through a number of meetings during the 2020-21 academic year, the SoA Policy and Planning Committee, with input from NOMAS, created the Bylaws of the School of Architecture Student Council. This document was created “to create a more equitable community of learners, to allow for more voices to contribute to the discourse, and to promote equity.” The Bylaws created a Student Council made up of twenty-nine (29) student representatives elected by their peers.