The "2003 Almanac of Architecture and Design" recently ranked Ball State's Department of Architecture as one of the top 15 architecture programs on the national level.
The department tied for 14th in the rankings with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. This is the first time the department has received this distinction in the almanac.
"We are a well-structured, well-disciplined education that develops the strength a student needs to be able to produce a strong work commitment," Joseph Bilello said, dean of the College of Architecture and Planning.
Among the 130 accredited architecture programs in the United States, Ball State's ranking stood side by side with universities such as Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Yale.
Employers of the top architecture firms in the United States were polled by the National Architecture Accrediting Board, in relation to the best professionally trained and educated graduates in the past five years.
"Many of our graduates are in positions of leadership in the leading firms," Bilello said. "Leadership is a good indicator of the on-going integration and training within the department."
The college has moved hand-in-hand with the growing emphasis of computerization, which is used for designing in digital studios. The architecture program was the first unit on campus to require its students to have laptops in the wireless building, Brian Sinclair, chair of the Department of Architecture, said.
Architecture students spend hours working in the various types of studios in areas such as architecture, landscaping and urban planning.
"I think the professors give us more freedom to use our own ideas," Rex Atkinson, a sophomore architecture major and member of the American Institute of Architecture Students, said.
"Instead of just teaching, (the professors) guide us," Atkinson said. "It's the hard work that makes us good."
Students interested in applying to the Department of Architecture face high admission standards.
Besides a student's GPA, high school rank and SAT score, students are encouraged to have a portfolio established as well as an essay explaining their passion for the field.
The architecture department annually selects 150 students from 600 to 650 applicants from all over the world.
"I think we strongly benefit from the diversity," Sinclair said. "Our faculty is diverse in its expertise, skills and mindsets."
The department has attracted students and faculty from many locations around the globe, including China, Thailand, Italy and Germany, Sinclair said.
Along with holding a wide variety of people in the architecture field, students are also taken to experience many different cities on the national and international scale to develop their skills through on-site learning.
"By taking the students into different environments, they have the opportunity to deal with international issues and ideas," Sinclair said. "Through the experience of traveling abroad, they can carry these experiences and values for a lifetime."
The Department of Architecture is currently making transitions to have the department's bachelor degree moved up to a master's, Sinclair said.
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