Message from the AIA Oregon Past President

Seth Anderson, AIA
AIAO Past President

As you may have seen from the Chapter’s previous announcements, including in this edition of T@3, AIA Oregon is seeking members who want to be considered for leadership positions on the board of directors. We have open positions for President-Elect, At-Large Director and Treasurer, as well as AIA Salem Section Director-elect. For those that haven’t served on the board of an organization, I thought I’d share what the AIA Oregon board of directors is and my own experience and perspective serving on the board.

First, what is the AIA Oregon Board of Directors? The Board is responsible for the governance of the Chapter and providing direction to the Executive Vice President who executes the strategic initiatives of the Chapter. We are fortunate in Oregon to have a paid staff that helps to organize and perform the day-to-day operation of the Chapter. This allows the Board to spend more time on the intentional structure of the board, consisting of locally elected Section Directors and state-wide elected officers (President, Secretary, Treasurer and President-elect or Past-president) and at-large directors, provides opportunity for a diversity of leadership while balancing the geographic representation and -- let’s be frank -- the power to set the direction of the organization. Each member of the board brings their unique skills, perspectives, and connections to the team, meaning that the board is a dynamic and ever evolving group. The constant is that members who serve in this capacity are dedicated to helping other architects and emerging professionals in our state.

I have served in some capacity on the AIA Oregon Board since 2014, starting as a delegate from the AIA Southwestern Oregon Chapter, then a member of the single state-wide chapter task force, and then as President-elect, two years as President, and now in my final year as Past-President. Serving on the board has been a rewarding experience, allowing me to participate in setting the direction for our Chapter, as well as feeling more connected and informed. While this is my last year on the Board, I will continue my service to the Chapter and our members by getting involved with one of the Chapter committees.

Committees are an excellent way to be involved with the Chapter, and take on a leadership role, without the longer-term commitment required of a board position. The board delegates authority and responsibility for specific areas of the Chapter’s initiatives to committees. Each committee is led by a committee chair (or in some cases co-chairs) who organize the meetings and activities of the committee. There may be only a few members involved, as in the case of ad-hoc committees or task-forces, or may consist of many members aligned around a specific area of focus. See www.aiaoregon.org for more information about specific committees.

So, now that you understand how our Chapter is organized and the opportunities for being an active member, how would you like to get involved? As Misti Nelmes, AIA Oregon Secretary, wrote in her August 6, 2020 Leadership Message, you will get far more than you give by being an engaged member of our Chapter. If you know you want to serve, but aren’t sure how, please reach out to the staff, a member of the Board, or our Committee chairs to see what’s available. We are grateful for the volunteers who help put on our programming and move forward our initiatives!

Are you interested in learning more about leadership positions at AIA Oregon, or opportunities to grow your leadership skills to advance your career?  Join the October 9 AIAO Virtual Happy Hour to discuss with emerging professionals that are leading now.  Follow this link to register.

Message from the President of the National Architectural Accrediting Board

Barbara Sestak, FAIA
PSU Professor of Architecture and President of the National Architectural Accrediting Board

Being asked to write this article had me reflecting over the transitions in my life and the people along the way that influenced who I am today and what I do.  I’ll tell you about a few.

I grew up on the east coast and attended the University of Pennsylvania to major in architecture, not knowing much about it but it sounded intriguing.  There were 48 students who graduated with a major in architecture, 2 of us were women. In order to get my professional degree I moved to the west coast to attend the University of Washington.  What a change in cultures! At both schools I had some wonderful experiences and a few that weren’t.  Fully focused on being in practice, I did think that if I ever had an opportunity to teach, that I would…….

I was in practice for several years in Seattle and Portland primarily doing multifamily housing, commercial and industrial work, and planned unit developments.  I was very fortunate that I was working in smaller firms where I was doing everything from initial design all the way through construction management.  I loved it.  Then a “recession” hit, interest rates went sky-high, construction stopped, and architectural firms were laying off their staff.  There was a 9-month full-time teaching position open at Portland State University that I was interviewed for and was hired.  This was an opportunity to try out some ideas that I had about teaching, and then I fully intended to go back into an architectural firm.  35+ years later, I am still teaching.

One of the most exciting things about being an architect is seeing your designs come to fruition and walking into spaces that you envisioned.  I love to build whether it is a physical environment, an academic program or an organization. Since joining PSU as the only full-time faculty member in architecture, I helped guide and develop the program over the years from a 2-year transfer program, to a 4-year BA/BS major in architecture to a fully accredited 4+2 Master of Architecture degree.  I certainly did not do it alone, and skills in building and working as a team were definitely influenced by work done in school and in practice.

For all that I enjoyed teaching and developing the architecture program, I did miss practice. 

Staying connected with the profession was important to me and I started to get involved in AIA Portland through the Architects in Schools program, which was originally run by the chapter before being taken over by AFO.  I served on the AIA Portland Board and became the first woman President of AIA Portland.  Nominated by AIA Portland and selected by the Governor, I served 12 years on the Oregon Board of Architect Examiners.  Each connection led to more.  During that time I was on several AIA NW & Pacific Region committees, did 12 accreditation visits, including two internationally, and was on a series of NCARB committees ranging from Education, Practice Analysis, IDP and ARE, each area having some impact on practice.  The breadth of service and connections with different architectural organizations was a reason why NCARB nominated me to be on the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).  I joined NAAB in October 2017 and am currently the NAAB President.

Through its Conditions and Procedures, the NAAB influences architectural programs in what they teach and how they operate.  The Conditions and Procedures are revised every 6 to 8 years.  Starting in October 2017, ARForum19 was a totally different approach to revising the Conditions and Procedures for Accreditation by involving other sister organizations over two years of collaborative work culminating with the Board of Directors of ACSA, AIA, AIAS, NAAB, NCARB and NOMA coming together for several days to finalize the direction of the Conditions and Procedures.  Not only was this the very first time that all the Boards got together, but each organization influenced, accepted and approved the Shared Values that we all espouse.  These Shared Values became the cornerstone of the NAAB Conditions and Procedures for Accreditation. 

Topics and research during that time included the direction and needs of the profession, the lack of diversity within our profession, the cost of education and debt for students, studio and teaching culture, the breadth of what the curriculum needs to include, and how we assess ourselves, our programs and our students. All of this is reflected within the final NAAB 2020 Conditions and Procedures for Accreditation approved in January 2020, which has some major differences from the previous documents. NAAB’s focus shifted to implementing these new documents through training on the new changes with programs and visiting teams.  And then COVID-19 hit…..

We all have been impacted in a variety of ways.  As for me, our program went to remote teaching and is continuing to do so.  The NAAB went to a remote office and changed how the Board worked. Accreditation visits and timelines were revised, virtual accreditation visits for the next three years were mandated starting this fall, and information on COVID-19 is highlighting its disproportionately high impact on communities of color and systemic racism that we need to grapple with.  All of this requires new ways of operation and thinking.

What I learned along the way:

• It is rare that anything can be done alone; connections with others is critical

• Get out of your comfort zone and try something

• Be flexible

• Get involved

• None of this is easy but doing it is important

There are a variety of ways to make a difference.  Take the step to get involved at whatever level you are in your career: in AIA Oregon serving on committees or as participants at events; as mentors, crit reviewers, guest speakers and in an advisory capacity at the universities; find your passion within your communities and let your voice be heard.

I plan to join the October 2 AIA Oregon Virtual Happy Hour to discuss the NAAB and the future of the profession.  Click here to register and join me!

Message from the Director of the School of Architecture, Portland State University

Jeff Schnabel, Director
School of Architecture
Portland State University

I am pleased to be sharing my thoughts with my professional colleagues.  Too often there seems to be this strange line between academia and the profession.  For me it is a very faint line, if it exists at all.  I came to Portland State University after practicing decades in architecture and landscape architecture firms in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Portland.  For many years I straddled the fence between practice and adjunct teaching. I see what we are doing in the University as part of a continuous stream of activities to educate future architects.  At PSU we are blessed with a design community that engages with our students at every level of their education.  But, in the spirit of blurring that line even further, I offer the following information in hopes of a deep and meaningful dialogue.

It is long overdue that those of us in higher education own the fact that we are a major, if not THE major, barrier to diversity within the profession of architecture.  It is late, but I am pleased to say that the Portland State University School of Architecture is enthusiastically working to break down these barriers. We are doing so with the architecture profession as our partner.  I would like to acknowledge that the following proposals build upon the thoughtful work of Professor Andrew Santa Lucia and Professor Anna Goodman who are leading diversity and inclusion initiatives for both the School and the College.

Our initiatives currently fall into three broad categories:

1.     Increasing awareness of architecture as a profession for students of color.

2.     Removing financial barriers for students of color to attend a professional architecture program.

3.     Creating an environment within the School of Architecture where students of color can thrive.  

Increasing awareness of architecture as a profession for students of color.

The Architecture Foundation of Oregon does a spectacular job getting young students excited about design and planning.  Unfortunately, as students get older the prospects of attending college cool this excitement.  Starting the summer of 2021, PSU Architecture will offer a free summer immersion program for high school students.  Initially we will be working with counselors from local high schools to identify and encourage potential students.  The program will be led by Professor Santa Lucia, but will be taught by graduate students from within the program.  We want to reignite these students’ interest in architecture, connect them with students that are already enrolled, and normalize the campus experience.  By reaching out to architecture firms, I have received excellent recommendations on how to conduct outreach and to ensure participation.  I have also been given generous offers from practitioners of color to participate in the program as mentors and evidence for these students that a career in architecture is indeed possible.

Removing financial barriers for students of color to attend a professional architecture program.

This is going to be a significant challenge, but one we must confront head on.  Currently the 4 plus 2 professional architecture degree we offer at Portland State has in-state tuition and fees costs of around $70,000 (we are on the inexpensive end of the spectrum).  This does not include housing, transportation, or supplies.  Yes, student loans are available and we do offer some scholarships, but these tend to be in the $2,000 range.  The current scholarships do indeed make an impact on students, but if we are going to get serious about diversifying our student body, we need to think in terms of full scholarships for students.  On the University side, we need to reduce costs and bolster tuition remissions.  We can also make choices that ensure a student gets a quality education in timely matter. On the community side, we need to raise funds for scholarships. None of us has the resources for funding full scholarships, but if we all contribute a little, we can bundle the contributions to create a funded pathway for deserving students.

Creating an environment within the School of Architecture where students of color can thrive. 

For students of color who join our program we can and must do a better job of creating an environment where they feel a sense of belonging and their forms of expression are heard and appreciated.  To that end, we are committed to the following:

• Creating peer and professional mentor groups that simultaneously create community and offer advice on navigating the architecture curriculum as a student of color.

• Providing clear, safe lines of communications with faculty, advisors, and administrators to give voice to students about what is working and what is creating hardship within the program.  This must be followed with thoughtful responses and actions.

• Enhancing the diversity of full time and adjunct faculty.

• Diversifying review panels to better reflect the diversity of our students.

• Updating our course precedents to reflect architecture work from all over the world, not just Europe and North America.

• Offering studios that engage a full spectrum of communities and project types.

• Featuring the work and voices of architects of color in our courses, symposia, and lecture series.

The truth is that by embracing actions to serve the underserved and underrepresented, we are actually making our program richer and more meaningful for all who teach and attend.  By extension, it will do the same for the profession.  I am deeply grateful to the firms who have spoken with me about these initiatives.  Your insights continue to be incredibly valuable and necessary. I look forward to expanding these conversations with practice and partnering to make these ideas our new reality.

I will be participating in the 9/25 AIA Oregon Virtual Happy Hour to discuss all this and I encourage you to join me.  Click on the following link to register.