UB Programs At-A-Glance

Environmental Design

Department of Urban and Regional Planning
School of Architecture and Planning
116 Hayes Hall
South Campus
Buffalo, NY 14214-3087

Phone: 716.829.2133
Fax: 716.829.3256
Web: www.ap.buffalo.edu/planning

Niraj Verma
Chair

R. J. Multari
Director of Undergraduate Advisement

About the Program

We live in times in which our urban and built environments are undergoing unprecedented change. The bachelor of arts and minor in environmental design provide students with the skills to understand, analyze, and solve problems associated with such change, with a view toward economic vitality, social fairness, and the design of sustainable environments. Environmental designers apply knowledge of social and behavioral science to plan and design community environments that affect, and are affected by, human behavior. While concerned about humanity’s use, misuse, and abuse of the natural environment, they are also concerned about the environment which humans build - the "artificial" or designed spatial environment - and its ability to meet user's needs. More subtly, they are also concerned about the cultural, economic, physical, political, and social environments. The purpose of the environmental designer is to gain better understanding of these community environments, and then apply that knowledge to design improved surroundings.

The bachelor of arts and minor in environmental design offers a preprofessional course of study grounded in the multidisciplinary traditions of the liberal arts and distinguished by active intervention and experience in community and regional environments through classroom activity, fieldwork, workshops, and internships.

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning offers a breadth of knowledge through its degree programs on understanding urban and built environments, and teaches skills in information analysis, computing, written communications, and graphic techniques. In addition, the department offers specialized courses in land use, community design, property development, local government policy, economic development, environmental affairs, real estate development, historic preservation, urban design, and geographic information systems. The preprofessional environmental design program utilizes the dynamic bi-national Buffalo-Niagara region as a laboratory for planning, design, and action.

Founded in 1969, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning has evolved to offer a number of degree programs, including an undergraduate preprofessional bachelor of arts (BA) and minor in environmental design, as well as an accredited professional master of urban planning (MUP) degree. In addition, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning offers a dual master of urban planning plus master of architecture (MArch + MUP) with the Department of Architecture, and a dual master of urban planning plus jurist doctor (MUP + JD) with the Law School.

About Our Degrees

We live in times in which our urban and built environments are undergoing unprecedented change. The bachelor of arts and minor in environmental design provide students with the skills to understand, analyze, and solve problems associated with such change, with a view toward economic vitality, social fairness, and the design of sustainable environments. Environmental designers apply knowledge of social and behavioral science to plan and design environments that affect, and are affected by, human behavior. The degree offers a preprofessional course of study grounded in the multidisciplinary traditions of the liberal arts and distinguished by active intervention and experience in community and regional environments through classroom activity, fieldwork, workshops, and internships.

Acceptance Criteria - B.A.

Minimum GPA of 2.0 overall.
Minimum GPA of 2.5 in PD 120 and PD 212.
Minimum completion of 24 credit hours.

Acceptance Criteria - Minor

Minimum GPA of 2.0.
Minimum “B-” in PD 120 or PD 212.

Acceptance Information

Deadlines: July 1 for fall admission and November 15 for spring admission.

Applications received after July 1 for Fall admission consideration and November 15 for Spring admission consideration will be reviewed on a space-only available basis as guided by the School of Architecture and Planning's admission statement. Contact the School of Architecture and Planning's Office of Undergraduate Advisement for assistance.

Number of applicants (2004-2005): 50
Number of accepted majors (2004-2005): 40
Total number of majors currently enrolled (2005-2006): 100

Admissions Statement

The School of Architecture and Planning has an admission policy that actively encourages applicants from protected groups and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or veteran status. Admission is competitive, and applicants are reviewed according to the admission criteria. Acceptance of students in the preprofessional, professional, and postprofessional programs is determined on the basis of the applicants’ qualifications and experience. However, since the school's size is limited, the programs may exercise discretionary powers of selection. Courses and programs offered by the School of Architecture and Planning may include an instructional technology fee. For additional information on undergraduate admission, contact the School of Architecture and Planning's Office of Undergraduate Advisement.

Degree Requirements

Please see the Undergraduate Catalog.

About Our Facilities

The Architecture and Planning Librarylocated in Hayes Hall, is one of ten libraries within the University at Buffalo. In addition to its book and journal collections, the Architecture and Planning Library collection includes student theses, maps and plans, a vertical file, a collection of CD-ROMs, census materials, and computer-aided design work.

The Computing Resource Laboratories comprise two sets of facilities: a central collection of laboratories and computing classrooms, and a collection of distributed facilities located in the graduate and undergraduate architecture and planning studios. A wide variety of software packages is provided to support the specific needs of architecture and planning students. Input and output resources include a variety of specialized devices, including color scanners, a large-format scanner, a slide scanner, a film recorder, several digital cameras, CD-R/CS-RW writers, and large- and small-format digitizers. Hard-copy output is provided through laser printers, color printers, and a large-format color postscript plotter.

The design studios and workshops, located within the School of Architecture and Planning, have more than 63,000 net square feet of studio and studio support space including four critique rooms, wet cells for plaster and paint work, a full-service plotting and printing facility, and a total of six educational technology classrooms, including a newly renovated, 115 seat, educational technology lecture hall. Digital technology is distributed throughout the studios located in Crosby and Hayes Halls, reflecting our belief that digital media should be seamlessly integrated with the making and representation of architecture and planning. Studio and workshop spaces are networked and outfitted with multiple high-end computers supporting a wide range of CAD, GIS, and graphic software programs.

The Dyett Exhibition Hallis an exhibition space created as a place to display student and faculty work, as well as to feature national and international traveling exhibits.

The Materials and Methods Shop, machine and assembly space, is available for schoolwide projects and independent work. This complete machine and assembly shop, one of the finest in any U.S. architecture and planning school, contains 7,000 square feet of high-bay space and is supplied with full woodworking capabilities, welding and milling equipment, lathes, sheet-metal machines, a vacuum-forming machine for molding plastic, and a variety of hand tools.

The Visual Resources Center is a joint School of Architecture and Planning and University Libraries facility. It directly supports the curriculum with its growing collection of 31,500 slides, 250 videotapes, and audiovisual equipment. It is linked to the university’s other collections through the University Libraries’ online computerized index service.

Publications
Intersight is a schoolwide, student-edited scholarly journal published biennially. The founders of the journal set out to create a participatory forum for distinguished colleagues, faculty, graduates, and students to express their views and ideas about architecture and urban planning. The mission of Intersight is to publish writing, research, and design work that reflects the intellectual life of the School of Architecture and Planning.

Community Outreach Programs. Students in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning have unrivalled access to agencies, municipalities, and local leaders for information, resources, and undergraduate internships. Workshop courses offered in the pre-professional environmental design program focus on real-world exercises in planning and design throughout the Buffalo-Niagara region. In the senior-year workshop, environmental design students work with a public, private, or nonprofit client to analyze and engage in the social, economic, political, and physical design issues associated with complex planning problems. Recent clients have included Heartland Forest Niagara; Buffalo’s Massachusetts Avenue People United for Sustainable Housing community agency; Buffalo’s Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood development corporation; the Roycroft Revitalization Corporation; Buffalo's University Heights Community Initiative; Hilbert College; and the Burchfield-Penney Art Gallery located at Buffalo State College.

About Our Courses

Suggested Introductory Courses

PD 120 Introduction to Urban Studies
PD 212 Urban and Environmental Planning

The typical class size for:

Freshman/sophomore introductory courses is: 155
Upper level/advanced courses is: 30

For course descriptions, please see the Undergraduate Catalog.

About Our Faculty

Senior faculty from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning teach many courses in the undergraduate preprofessional environmental design program. In addition, some courses are taught by professional urban planners, public officials, environmental administrators, and community developers. Visit our Web site at http://www.ap.buffalo.edu/planning/people to learn more about the department's faculty.

Practical Experience and Special Academic Opportunities

Undergraduate Research and Practical Experience

Internships. Environmental design students have the opportunity to work in urban or regional agencies in such areas as housing, strategic planning, transportation, community development, environmental affairs, and urban design. Environmental design internships are coordinated by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning’s Center for Urban Studies, located in 333 Hayes Hall.

Study Abroad. Traveling can enhance students' awareness of the world, bringing them closer to understanding global diversity, and appreciating what is universal and unique to a culture. In addition to the programs offered by UB’s Office of Study Abroad, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning offers undergraduate environmental design students an opportunity to participate in the following in-house study abroad programs:

Monteverde, Costa Rica. In residency at the Monteverde Institute, this eight- week summer course of study offers students the opportunity to live and work on ecological and social projects in a rural, but rapidly developing region in Costa Rica. This is a multidisciplinary program designed for students from various disciplines, including architecture, environmental design and urban planning, landscape architecture, resource management, and international development. Students may earn up to 13 credits participating in a seminar on sustainable development, Spanish language classes, and an intensive 7-credit studio/internship with one of the many organizations in the Monteverde zone working toward sustainability. The program is sponsored jointly by the UB School of Architecture and Planning and the University of Maryland at College Park Department of Natural Resource Sciences and Landscape Architecture. Fluency in Spanish is encouraged but not required.

Aruba, Dutch Antilles. The Planning for Sustainability summer program offered by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning is a one month overseas summer abroad. The 2006 program, hosted in Aruba, Dutch Antilles, offered a focused concentration on Tourism, Culture, and Environment in the Caribbean. The Planning for Sustainability is a multidisciplinary program designed for students from various disciplines, including architecture, environmental design and urban planning, environmental studies, economics, geography, engineering and applied sciences, anthropology, sociology, and political science. The academic program includes a 3 credit lecture and seminar course with a corresponding 3 credit hour studio. Classes are held at the University of Aruba as well as other environmental sites of interest.

Other in-house study abroad programs, such as Havana, Cuba, will be offered on an ad-hoc basis by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning based upon faculty and student interest.

Research Centers. As a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), the University at Buffalo considers advanced research integral and fundamental to its mission. Consequently, the School of Architecture and Planning faculty are actively involved in the creation of new knowledge through sponsored research, creative design work, and text-based scholarship. This research activity is intertwined with the departmental curricula, allowing students to take full advantage of the faculty's expertise. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning is affiliated with the following centers, providing students interested in the urban and built environment with an opportunity for applied research activities:

Center for Urban Studies, 333 Hayes Hall, South Campus. A research and service entity seeking solutions to the problems facing central cities and metropolitan regions. Founded in 1987, the Center conducts action-based research on community and economic development, focusing on the needs and issues of traditionally marginalized groups, including blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, women, and low-wage workers. Recent projects include a community health study of Buffalo’s East Side, analysis of vacant lots and community economic development opportunities for Buffalo’s Fruitbelt neighborhood, and a physical design analysis of the city’s Old First Ward. The center employs graduate students to assist with projects, including The Cyberhood, an online resource to engage and educate viewers on issues of neighborhood and community development.

Urban Design Project, 272 Hayes Hall, South Campus. A university center devoted to research, teaching and scholarship in the pursuit of a critical practice of urban design. Founded in 1990, it focuses on issues of community development and urban revitalization while fostering the intellectual exploration of architecture and planning. From 1994 through 1999, the project led the five-year public visioning process for downtown Buffalo and all its council districts. The project also oversaw the master planning and conceptual design development for the facilities supporting the Bosque Eterno de los Niños and the Instituto de Monteverde in Costa Rica. More recently, it has led the effort to develop the City of Buffalo’s Downtown Strategic Plan. The work of the Urban Design Project has encompassed faculty consultations, student internships, studio projects, and supervised thesis investigations dealing with New York sites ranging from Niagara Falls to Buffalo to Jamestown and engaging such institutional partners as Buffalo Place, the City of Buffalo, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, the City of Niagara Falls, and the Chautauqua County government, as well as several regional and national architectural and planning firms.

Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth Beck Hall, South Campus. The institute initiates and supports efforts to strengthen Western New York and the Buffalo-Niagara region. A major public service program of UB, the institute contributes to and supports regional planning, government efficiency, economic development, service delivery, and other areas crucial to the region’s vitality. The Institute conducts research, assists municipal and county governments, and sustains ongoing projects including the State of the Region Project, the Western New York Regional Information Network, and the Regional Economic Development Database project.

Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/), 378 Hayes Hall, South Campus. The IDEA Center is dedicated to improving the design of environments and products by making them more usable, safe, and appealing to people with a wide range of abilities through their life spans. It is active in basic and applied research, design development, community service, and education. Current programs focus on home modifications, functional assessment, and universal design within the built and constructed environment.

Honors, Awards, and Scholarships
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning gives a series of annual awards and prizes to honor undergraduate environmental design student excellence. These include:


  • Dean’s Award for Academic Performance to the continuing environmental design student with the highest grade point average

  • Award of Academic Excellence to the graduating environmental design senior with the highest grade point average

  • Chair’s Award for Excellence to the graduating senior who excelled in and contributed most to the bachelor of arts in environmental design program

  • R. Buckminster Fuller Award (biannually) to the graduating senior who is continuing on for graduate studies within the UB School of Architecture and Planning and exemplifies attributes of creativity, inventiveness, and intellectual excellence

  • Departmental Honors are awarded to graduating environmental design students who achieve a high level of academic excellence and ingenuity within the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Extracurricular Activities

These include the Architecture & Planning Student Association and the Environmental Design Student Association. For additional information, call 716-829-2133.

See the UB Student Association.

Complementary Programs and Courses

Majors that Complement Environmental Design



Minors that Complement Environmental Design



Courses Outside Environmental Design that Could Improve Employment Opportunities

Career Information and Further Study

Environmental designers take knowledge provided by the social and behavioral sciences and apply those principles to the design of environments that affect, and are affected by, human behavior. While concerned about humanity’s use, misuse, and abuse of the natural environment, they are also concerned about the environment which humans build - the "artificial" or designed spatial environment - and its ability to meet user's needs. More subtly, they are also concerned about the cultural, economic, physical, political, and social environments. The purpose of the environmental designer is to gain better understanding of these environments, and then apply that knowledge to design improved environments.

UB's bachelor of arts and minor in environmental design provide students with the skills to understand, analyze, and solve problems associated with the unprecedented change in our urban and built environments, and provide a view to social fairness and the design of sustainable environments. The bachelor of arts and minor in environmental design offers a preprofessional course of study grounded in the multidisciplinary traditions of the liberal arts and distinguished by active intervention and experience in community and regional environments through classroom activity, fieldwork, workshops, and internships.

Skills gained in this program include:

  • Researching, analyzing, and interpreting information during project work
  • Verbal, written, and graphic communication skills, including the ability to give presentations
  • The ability to conceptualize community and regional environments
  • Project management
  • The ability to define and address complex community and environmental problems
  • An awareness of the multifaceted circumstances surrounding a design project, including cultural, environmental, physical, political, and social concerns
  • Negotiation and conflict resolution
  • Graphic design skills, including the ability to visually communicate ideas to others
  • Creativity when addressing complex community, environmental, and regional issues
  • Computing skills
  • Writing and editing skills



Career Choices

  • Architecture
  • Business administration
  • Community and economic development
  • Educational administration
  • Environmental affairs
  • Historic preservation
  • Landscape architecture
  • Law and legal affairs
  • Public policy and administration
  • Real estate
  • Urban and regional planning



Work settings include:

  • Architecture, planning, and engineering consulting firms
  • Banks
  • Development corporations (including community, economic, and industrial)
  • Environmental organizations
  • Government (local, state, federal)
  • Information technology firms
  • Nonprofit organizations
  • Real estate management



Alumni in Environmental Design have found employment in the following fields:

  • City, town, or village planning
  • Community development
  • Construction management
  • Economic development
  • Environmental planning
  • Geographic information systems
  • Historic preservation
  • Market research
  • Property development
  • Real estate development
  • Regional planning
  • Urban development



What percentage of graduates goes on to find related employment?

30% directly after graduation

Salary Information

Salaries range greatly from one occupation, position, and work setting to another. According to the 2006 U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, in federal, state, or local government, entry-level environmental designers with a bachelor’s degree and no experience could start at $24,677 to $30,567 per year, depending on their college academic records. Beginning salaries were slightly higher in selected areas of the country where the prevailing local pay level was higher.

Postbaccalaureate Opportunities

Both the bachelor of arts and minor in environmental design, offered by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, aim to provide students with the versatility to succeed in a variety of fields. Graduates of the preprofessional undergraduate environmental design program have sound preparation for entry-level employment in urban planning, community design, environmental affairs, real estate or related fields; in town, city, county, or state government; and in nonprofit organizations, such as development corporations, historic preservation societies, and housing or transportation agencies.

Environmental design graduates are also prepared for graduate study in the professions or the social sciences, in fields such as urban and regional planning, architecture and landscape architecture, environmental studies, geography and geographic information systems, real estate development, political science, public policy and administration, environmental education and research, educational administration, law, and business administration.

Information gathered from graduates indicate one-third of environmental design alumni continue their postbaccalaureate studies at the University at Buffalo.

Postbaccalaureate educational options at UB include the opportunity for application to the accredited professional Master of Urban Planning or the accredited professional Master of Architecture. Additional postbaccalaureate programs include a dual Master of Architecture plus Master of Urban Planning offered with the Department of Architecture, and a dual Master of Urban Planning plus Jurist Doctor offered with the Law School. Contact the School of Architecture and Planning’s Office of Graduate Recruitment for graduate admission information.

Formal system of tracking graduates?

Periodic mailings and an alumni survey are sent to graduates.

What percentage of graduates goes on to graduate school?

60%

Additional Resources

  • American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1717 K St. NW., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006
  • American Institute of Certified Planners, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036
  • American Planning Association, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036
  • American Society of Landscape Architects, 4401 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20002
  • Building Owners and Managers Institute, 1521 Ritchie Hwy., Arnold, MD 21021
  • Community Associations Institute, 225 Reinekers Ln., Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314
  • Environmental Design Research Association P.O. Box 7146, Edmond, OK 73083
  • Institute of Real Estate Management, 430 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611
  • National Association of Realtors, 500 New Jersey Ave., Washington, DC 20001-2020
  • National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers, P.O.Box 25037, Alexandria, VA 22313



Links to Further Information About This Program

Last Modified: Tuesday, 7-Nov-2006 10:26:08 EST