Faculty, including adjunct faculty, present their proposed studio syllabi and receive feedback and suggestions from their teaching colleagues. End of term meetings typically assess studio outcomes, attend to individual student problems and discuss upcoming studio proposals. In the spring, the faculty as a whole meet to project the planning and design program's needs for the coming year, to discuss staffing, and to allocate resources to visitors, guests and adjunct studio instructors. The effectiveness of this management process depends on an experienced, cooperative faculty, a shared understanding of program structure and objectives, and regular, thoughtful coordination. Students preference their studios, and the department head assigns final placements, attempting to give all students their first choice.
Students have their own desk and networked computer connection in a secure setting.
They are encouraged to take full advantage of the creative interchange that takes place when they do the majority of their work in the studio environment. Over the past five years, the use of digital tools has become a commonplace part of the studio experience. Students taking the full sequence of studios will typically get planning and design instruction from the majority of the landscape faculty, and exposure to a rich variety of approaches to design and designing, and an introduction to a full range of project types and scales in landscape architecture. Its principle objective is to enhance the student's ability to make appropriate, imaginative and sustainable proposals through creative problem solving. Students are asked to synthesize their understanding of environmental design problems of increasing scope and complexity, to take increasing personal responsibility for their work and to develop and present project-specific planning and design proposals.