Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

About the College of Architecture and Design


Colleges  > Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design  > About the College of Architecture and Design 

Office of the Dean

(713) 743-2400

Student Services Office

(713) 743-3463

William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library

(713) 743-2340

General College Information

Voice:  (713) 743-2400
Fax:  (713) 743-2358

Dean:

Patricia Belton Oliver, FAIA.  B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; M. Arch., University of California, Los Angeles.

Associate Dean:

Lannis Kirkland. B.Arch., Auburn University; M.Arch., Rice University.

Assistant Dean/Director of Student Affairs & International Programs:

Trang Phan.  B.A., University of Houston; M.Ed., University of Houston. tphan@central.uh.edu

Director of Graduate Studies:

Gail Peter Borden, FAIA, B.A., Rice University; B.Arch., Rice University., M.Arch., Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Advising:

Students seeking assistance with specific admissions or programmatic questions may contact an Academic Advisor by calling (713) 743-3463.

General Information

The Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston seeks applicants who are curious, committed, and creative.  Dedication and inventiveness are necessary to undertake the challenges of architectural practice in a changing world where diminishing natural resources, rapid urbanization, and changing economic conditions need to be addressed.  We strive to educate students to become critical thinkers.

The college offers professional, post-professional and advanced study degree programs in architecture and industrial design.  Advanced study concentrations are available in Urban/Suburban Design, Sustainable Design, Digital Fabrication, Digital Media, Sustainable Urban Systems and History/Theory.  International summer study programs are available in Asia, Europe and Latin America.  A student exchange program with the Technical University Graz, Austria, is in place.

We are located just southwest of downtown Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States with a diverse and vibrant international economy.  Houston provides a fertile environment to understand the challenges of designing in a contemporary city.

Accreditation

In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure.  The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture.  A program may be granted a four and eight year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards. The College of Architecture and Design program has earned an eight year accreditation term.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education.  However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.  The Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design graduate program at the University of Houston offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs: 

  • M.Arch. (pre-professional degree + 60 graduate credits)

  • M.Arch. (non-pre-professional degree + 97 credits)