Crisis and the New JAE Website

In a happy coincidence, the JAE unveiled two exciting projects here in Toronto. First, the new JAEOnline.org, an expanded digital platform, which was the result of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Work on the site’s design began last fall in collaboration with Berlin-based design firm HenkelHiedl. The goal was to give the JAE’s online presence a more immersive format for its expanding content, ranging from design projects, reviews of books, exhibits, and buildings, in addition to traditional scholarship.

And second, the March issue of JAE, “Crisis,” edited by Timothy Hyde, MIT has been circulating around the conference. Look for it in your mailbox or explore the table of contents at JAEOnline.org.

Looking Ahead

At the Annual Business Meeting today, Vice-President Marilys Nepomechie invited the chairs of the upcoming ACSA conferences to take the stage and talk about their programs. Roger Hubeli and Julie Larsen of Syracuse University encouraged members to submit abstracts to the ‘debate-style’ Fall Conference before April 1. You can also submit your paper topics to the 2016 Annual Meeting in Seattle, by the same date. New this year is the ability to include visuals with your abstract submissions. Visit acsa-arch.org/conferences for more information.

New Atlas Graphics

At her session, ACSA Data: Research Goals, Methods, and Projects, ACSA Director of Research and Information Lian Chang unveiled the 2015 set of Atlas graphics. These fourteen charts and maps cover salaries, firm hiring, race and ethnicity, gender, and more. Visit acsa-arch.org/atlas to see the full set.

Connecting With Future Architecture Students

Executive Director Michael Monti, shared insights from Edwards Co., the marketing and communications firm retained by ACSA to conduct the research phase of the communications campaign. In some ways, the results confirmed what we already know—that architecture students are diligent people who want to make a difference in the world. But we also learned some things that can help schools connect more effectively with prospective students, such as the realization that architecture schools can do a better job of helping students understand their options—whether that’s all of the possible careers one can pursue with an architecture degree, or what their earning potential is across a whole career. The ACSA plans to publish a more in-depth report for our full and candidate member schools in the next month.

Moving forward, we will share out what we hope will be a useful set of resources that you can use at your schools. Simultaneously, ACSA will develop a digital communications campaign to reach high school and college students, anchored around the hashtag: #IMadeThat. I Made That will be the basis for building awareness, and student and parent recruitment, and ultimately connecting them back to your schools, to your websites, and to your admissions information. Watch out for our website launching the coming months and help us build awareness, with your students and your alumni first, but then beyond.