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What is architectural accreditation?
Architectural accreditation signifies that a professional program in Architecture has a satisfactory standard of educational achievement. This achievement is ascertained by an evaluation process carried out by the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB).
Accredited status is a signal to students and the public that an institution or programme meets at least minimal standards for its faculty, curriculum, student services and libraries.
Accreditation typically requires a self-evaluation on the part of the institution, followed by a site visit and review conducted by a team representing the CACB. The decision regarding accreditation is made by the CACB.
The values of accreditation are many and CACB serves concurrently a number of constituencies, including the Schools of Architecture and their universities, students and prospective students, licensing and examination bodies, the profession of architecture, and the general public.
Accreditation is also an agent for change. It will be fairly obvious how the process of quality assurance can result in change in an academic program. If a program is found through self-assessment and external review to be below standard, and if the university wants to achieve or maintain accreditation status, then changes must be made so that the deficiencies are removed.
It may be less obvious how accreditation can lead to program enhancement. The key is the Accreditation Standards and the dynamic nature of the process. The CACB Conditions and Procedures are reviewed and updated on a three-year cycle. Thus, every School of Architecture in Canada that wants to be accredited is challenged by a revised set of standards which reflect both new knowledge and changes in practice.
The accreditation process is ideally situated to achieve change in both architectural education and architectural practice because it serves as a link between the two. Representatives of the profession and of the schools, through their involvement on the Board, are responsible for establishing the standards for the academic programs and for conducting program evaluations. Accordingly, the challenge of getting new architectural knowledge applied in practice and of getting new concepts of architectural practice incorporated into the curriculum is facilitated through the accreditation process.
Accredited status is a signal to students and the public that an institution or programme meets at least minimal standards for its faculty, curriculum, student services and libraries.
Accreditation typically requires a self-evaluation on the part of the institution, followed by a site visit and review conducted by a team representing the CACB. The decision regarding accreditation is made by the CACB.
The values of accreditation are many and CACB serves concurrently a number of constituencies, including the Schools of Architecture and their universities, students and prospective students, licensing and examination bodies, the profession of architecture, and the general public.
Accreditation is also an agent for change. It will be fairly obvious how the process of quality assurance can result in change in an academic program. If a program is found through self-assessment and external review to be below standard, and if the university wants to achieve or maintain accreditation status, then changes must be made so that the deficiencies are removed.
It may be less obvious how accreditation can lead to program enhancement. The key is the Accreditation Standards and the dynamic nature of the process. The CACB Conditions and Procedures are reviewed and updated on a three-year cycle. Thus, every School of Architecture in Canada that wants to be accredited is challenged by a revised set of standards which reflect both new knowledge and changes in practice.
The accreditation process is ideally situated to achieve change in both architectural education and architectural practice because it serves as a link between the two. Representatives of the profession and of the schools, through their involvement on the Board, are responsible for establishing the standards for the academic programs and for conducting program evaluations. Accordingly, the challenge of getting new architectural knowledge applied in practice and of getting new concepts of architectural practice incorporated into the curriculum is facilitated through the accreditation process.
