With major endowments funded by the estate of J.B. Jackson and the daughter of the pioneering architect John Gaw Meem, the School is also able to enhance the program requirements with many visitors and elective opportunities. Roger Schluntz, FAIA Dean Curricula of the School provide the students with the ability to analyze and synthesize. Students learn concepts and methods that will enable them, as future professionals, to address the complex behavioral, technological and socio-economic factors that are imbedded in historical and cultural contexts. This knowledge will prepare graduates to create effective and responsive environments. The School nurtures students' creative efforts, intellectual development, and judgment in individual and collective efforts to create the built environment.
Students build professional skills develop a set of ethics consistent with community-based values.
Students in the School develop a strong awareness of the region using New Mexico and the Southwest as a laboratory for learning fundamental concepts and analytic methods. The School is also dedicated to making the public more aware of the importance of the natural, social, and built environment through active public service grounded in excellent education opportunities and has a marked reputation for its history of community activism and design excellence. The professional degree, accredited by the National Architecture Accrediting Board, is the Master of Architecture degree. There are two tracks to the professional degree. The professional degree in planning is the two-year Master of Community and Regional Planning , accredited by the National Planning Accrediting Board.