Mission Statement
The mission of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies is to understand, through acts of creation, design, construction, and analysis, the forces that give meaning and value to the built environments that shape our lives.
 

Founded in 1964, the college is among the largest of its type in the nation.

Annual Report

(23.8 MB)


CAUS Contact Information

Contact Us

Jack Davis, FAIA, LEED

Dean

Reynolds Metal Professor
(540) 231-6416
davisa@vt.edu

Robert "Bob" Schubert
Associate Dean for Research
(540) 231-5607
silver@vt.edu

Patrick Miller, PhD, FASLA, FCELA

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Outreach

(540) 231-5506

pmiller@vt.edu

John Browder, PhD

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

(540) 231-6217

browder@vt.edu

Marty Simpson
Director of Finance and Administration
(540) 231-4120
msimpson@vt.edu

Jan Wilson

Director of Alumni Relations

(540) 231-1486

wilsonje@vt.edu

Heather Riley Chadwick

Communications Manager

(540) 231-2108

hrchadwi@vt.edu

Christy Porterfield

Human Resources Administrator

(540) 231-9936

christyp@vt.edu


Schools/Department
School of Architecture + Design
Myers-Lawson School of Construction
School of Public and International Affairs

Department of Art and Art History

Degrees Offered
Bachelor of Architecture
Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design
Bachelor of Science in Interior Design
Bachelor of Art
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Science in Building Construction
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
B. of Science in Environmental Policy & Planning Bachelor of Arts in Public & Urban Affairs

Master of Architecture
Master of Science in Architecture
Master of Landscape Architecture
Master of Public & International Affairs
Master of Public Administration
Master of Urban & Regional Planning

Master of Science in Building Construction

Master of Arts Government & International Affairs

PhD in Planning, Governance & Globalization
PhD in Public Administration & Public Affairs

PhD in Architecture & Design Research

Numbers/stats
 # of faculty: 163 +/-
 # of students: 2,000+
 # of degrees offered: 24

Total approved research funding
$16.4 million (FY05-FY07)

Outreach Mission
To help organizations, communities, governmental agencies, industry, and the public make informed policy, planning, design, construction and management plans regarding the built and natural environment.

Development
More than $2.4 million in private gifts,
an increase of 41 percent over last yea
r

National Rankings

Design Intelligence rankings of programs in the School of Architecture + Design:

Architecture, undergraduate                    1

Architecture, graduate                            5

Industrial Design, undergraduate*            14

Interior Design, undergraduate                 5

Interior Design, graduate                         7

Landscape Architecture, undergraduate   15

Landscape Architecture, graduate           10

*Education Portal, a web-based magazine, ranks the industrial design program #1 in the nation based on data from U.S. News and World Report.

Urban Planning, graduate                        7

Urban Planning, faculty publications        10

U.S. News and World Report rankings:

Public Administration, graduate              12

Public Affairs                                        27

These high rankings have been instrumental in attracting exceptionally qualified students and faculty to CAUS.

 
      

WELCOME TO THE

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN STUDIES

The hands-on, extraordinary experiences available in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies can change your life and the world in which you live.

The School of Architecture + Design

The highly competitive architecture program is creatively cross disciplinary. Top faculty teach entry-level classes and students make the large, open studios their second home away from home. The industrial design graduates are in demand establishing corporate identities, initiating new strategies, developing new products, and creating expanded markets. Interior design graduates are prepared to think critically and develop solutions that not only enhance quality of life, but also protect the health, safety, and welfare. Landscape architecture students not only graduate ready to go into private or public practice, they graduate with landscape architecture experience under their belts. In all four programs, ideas go from brain to page to life as students sketch, model, sculpt, and digitize, while surrounded by faculty and other students who encourage and critique, in this open-format, hands-on setting.

The Myers-Lawson School of Construction

A joint school with the College of Engineering, this school is the first of its kind. The blend of the two strong disciplines of building construction and civil engineering establishes a new standard for construction education and research. The program stresses ethics in the construction industry. Building Construction students benefit from seminars, field visits, and collaborations with firms in the construction and construction management fields.

The School of Public and International Affairs

Students in this school learn about government, public administration, international affairs, planning, public policy, and urban affairs. They go on to help individuals and communities across the world understand their most critical problems and most promising solutions. Students have the opportunity to visit communities, communicate with and assist citizens and community leaders, and work individually or in groups to come up with a variety of solutions. Often, their ideas are presented directly to the city or county government leaders. Graduates of this school provide the answers decision makers, from world leaders to grass roots organizations, need to set wise policies regarding the environment, development, transportation, social services, and more.

The Department of Art & Art History

The studies of art history, studio arts, and visual communication design lead to jobs in museums, auction houses, galleries, graphic design, computer animation, and more. Art and Art History’s VDS4 is the college’s professional design firm where student intern teams work on professional projects under the supervision of graphic design faculty. The XYZ gallery, at 221 N. Main St., is home to the Student Art Association, which operates its program of exhibitions by students and local artists.

 

Switzerland, Italy, Peru, Dominican Republic, and beyond... the College of Architecture and Urban Studies has a long history of being committed to making education abroad opportunities available to students. Programs in Europe and South America have enriched many a College of Architecture and Urban Studies student’s college experience. Some of the locations for these popular programs are:

 

Riva San Vitale, Switzerland

Many architecture students in the college choose to participate in a study abroad trip during their 4th and/or 5th years. The residency studio at the Virginia Tech Center for European Studies and Architecture is in Ticino, the Italian-speaking canton of Switzerland close to major northern Italian cities such as Milan.

 

Alexandria, Virginia

Each year, students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban affairs and planning have the opportunity to study for a year in the national capital region at the college’s facilities in Alexandria. The center provides the perfect setting for studying in an urban environment, and offers an abundance of cultural and metropolitan experiences.

 

Chicago, Illinois

Architecture students who participate in Chicago Studio, a NCARB-winning program, may find themselves sitting in a boardroom of a well-known firm looking out onto the city skyline from a 50th story window. These students work right alongside practicing architects. If the wind doesn’t blow them away, the experience surely will.

 

Big Projects

Students from architecture, industrial design, and landscape architecture created a solar house that won high honors at the 2005 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon and attracted praise from critics and attention from national media, including Popular Mechanics magazine, Dwell magazine, This Old House television program, and many more. Another project students worked on last year was the hit ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Nearly 16 million viewers tuned in to see Virginia Tech students at work creating a new home for a Blacksburg resident in need.


 

 
last modified: 1/24/2007