Graduate Catalog: School of Architecture

Dean: Gregory K. Hunt, M.Arch., F.A.I.A.

Mission Statement

Founded in 2009, Marywood's School of Architecture is the University's newest professional school and the first school of architecture established in northeast Pennsylvania. The School was established to further the University's mission of service and excellence in education by preparing its graduates to make significant contributions to improving the quality of our built and natural environment. 

The cornerstone of our various degree tracks is the firm belief that all design professionals must address the earth's diminishing natural resources, build sustainably, and confront our present and future environmental challenges with creative effectiveness. Above all, we strive to educate individuals that will assume leadership roles in the creation of inspiring, socially-responsible, and sustainable interiors, buildings and communities for all citizens.

Goals

Students pursuing graduate degree tracks within our programs deal with advanced studies focusing on the design of physical worlds that directly impact people at many different scales and in many different contexts-interiors, houses, buildings, plazas, and streetscapes, as well as consumer products, graphics, and digital environments.

Consistent with the University's tradition of educating students to live responsibly in an interdependent world, Marywood University's School of Architecture is dedicated to the education of a new generation of architects-environmental stewards who will assume major responsibility for the built environment of the region, the nation, and the world. Their studies are therefore explicitly bound to social responsibility and societal well-being, and our curricula have been created to enable our graduates to deal effectively with the many future challenges they will inevitably confront as design professionals.

Architects must be educated to think critically, to assess holistically, to synthesize comprehensively, and design with environmental responsibility. The School's programs-in both Architecture and Interior Architecture/Design-recognize that architecture, both as a discipline and as a profession, engages the realms of art and science. Buildings and physical spaces created by architects involve design and aesthetics, along with laws of gravity and requirements of constructability. Architects create unique and inventive realities that emphasize spatial organization, proportion, and beauty, as well as materials, budgets, codes, and structural/environmental systems. 

The School of Architecture offers graduate degree programs in Architecture and Interior Architecture/Design.

Application Requirements

Applicants for graduate study in either Architecture or Interior Architecture/Design must meet the general requirements for admission to the University. In addition, applicants must submit and/or satisfy the following:

1. A Statement of Purpose, 150-200 words in length.
2. Three letters of recommendation (only one of which may be from a Marywood University faculty member).
3. If requested, a personal interview with the School's Graduate Admissions Committee.
4. A portfolio of design projects, with narrative descriptions, submitted no later than one month before the last official registration date. The School's Graduate Admissions Committee will evaluate the portfolio for its diversity of project types, the complexity of programs resolved, and the quality of visual and written presentation and communication. The purpose of this review is to determine if the student is suitably prepared to meet the rigors of advanced professional study.
5. Any applicant who, in the judgment of the School's Graduate Admissions Committee, lacks adequate undergraduate preparation to pursue this degree program, will be required to take additional coursework, thereby extending the program completion period beyond one year. The extent and nature of this coursework will be determined by the Graduate Admissions Committee after reviewing all required application materials.
6. For students holding a Marywood undergraduate degree in the discipline, a minimum QPA of 3.0 (or "B") is required for admission to the program. For those holding undergraduate degrees from other institutions, a minimum overall QPA of 3.0 (or "B") is expected. Individuals who do not meets this minimum QPA requirement (or other requirements), but demonstrate outstanding or unusual qualifications that promise significant contributions to the program, may petition for a special review by the School's Graduate Admissions Committee.