College of Architecture & Environmental Design

The college's programs seek to develop professional values of ethics, social justice, functionality, economics, aesthetics, and technology. The educational process involves a wide spectrum of study in history, human behavior, the environment, design, structural systems, environmental control systems, life safety systems, business, finance and management, and laws and regulations. Moreover, the college encourages students to develop an understanding of the finite nature of resources, changing cultural values, plural clients and societies, and the international dimensions of professional practice, as well as the art and science of building. The CAED fosters an attitude of inquiry and discovery as students assume responsibility for their professional and intellectual development. This process of synthesis often balances between opposing sets of factors: harmony of form versus requirements of technology; aesthetic inspiration versus scientific reason; freedom of expression versus economic constraints. The college educates students to cope with these challenges by providing a curriculum of liberal arts, technology, and synthesizing design studios.