News

Announcement: Stay on NAAB Conditions with DEI-related language

  

NAAB is committed to ensuring that programs are positioned for success in ensuring student achievement and program improvement. It is our goal to support programs through the shifting landscape in higher education and ensure that our conditions are not interfering with programs’ ability to comply with federal and/or state law.

In light of policy changes at the state and federal level, earlier this summer NAAB facilitated conversations with our accredited programs to explore potential concerns with their ability to meet NAAB Conditions focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In response to this input, we are considering potential revisions to those Conditions. We recognize that the process for proposing revisions to the Conditions will take time to ensure that we receive and incorporate feedback from our stakeholders through the process of public comment.

In the interim, and in support of programs faced with challenges in their respective states, NAAB will “stay” requirements in the Conditions that reference diversity, equity and inclusion, which means we will temporarily pause these provisions in the Conditions. This includes relevant provisions of the following Conditions. The pause will be in effect if and until proposed changes to the Conditions take place. These measures are intended to ensure that NAAB does not interfere with programs’ ability to comply with federal and/or state law and should not preclude programs from determining their own path with regards to DEI initiatives.

The following table indicates Conditions with areas under a temporary stay.

Condition

Stay

Required Compliance

2—Shared Values of the Discipline and Profession 
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Architects commit to equity and inclusion in the environments we design, the policies we adopt, the words we speak, the actions we take, and the respectful learning, teaching, and working environments we create. Architects seek fairness, diversity, and social justice in the profession and in society and support a range of pathways for students seeking access to an architecture education. Entire value Programs may, but are not required to, respond while the stay is in place.
Leadership, Collaboration, and Community Engagement: Architects practice design as a collaborative, inclusive, creative, and empathetic enterprise with other disciplines, the communities we serve, and the clients for whom we work. Reference to “inclusive” Leadership, Collaboration, and Community Engagement: Architects practice design as a collaborative, creative, and empathetic enterprise with other disciplines, the communities we serve, and the clients for whom we work.
3—Program and Student Criteria 
PC.4 History and Theory—How the program ensures that students understand the histories and theories of architecture and urbanism, framed by diverse social, cultural, economic, and political forces, nationally and globally. Reference to “diverse” PC.4 History and Theory—How the program ensures that students understand the histories and theories of architecture and urbanism, framed by social, cultural, economic, and political forces, nationally and globally.
PC.6 Leadership and Collaboration—How the program ensures that students understand approaches to leadership in multidisciplinary teams, diverse stakeholder constituents, and dynamic physical and social contexts, and learn how to apply effective collaboration skills to solve complex problems. Reference to “diverse stakeholder constituents” PC.6 Leadership and Collaboration—How the program ensures that students understand approaches to leadership in multidisciplinary teams and dynamic physical and social contexts, and learn how to apply effective collaboration skills to solve complex problems.
PC.8 Social Equity and Inclusion—How the program furthers and deepens students' understanding of diverse cultural and social contexts and helps them translate that understanding into built environments that equitably support and include people of different backgrounds, resources, and abilities. Entire Condition Programs may, but are not required to, respond while the stay is in place.
5—Resources 

5.5 Social Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion—The program must demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusion among current and prospective faculty, staff, and students. The program must:

  • 5.5.1—Describe how this commitment is reflected in the distribution of its human, physical, and financial resources.
  • 5.5.2Describe its plan for maintaining or increasing the diversity of its faculty and staff since the last accreditation cycle, how it has implemented the plan, and what it intends to do during the next accreditation cycle. Also, compare the program’s faculty and staff demographics with that of the program’s students and other benchmarks the program deems relevant.
  • 5.5.3Describe its plan for maintaining or increasing the diversity of its students since the last accreditation cycle, how it has implemented the plan, and what it intends to do during the next accreditation cycle. Also, compare the program’s student demographics with that of the institution and other benchmarks the program deems relevant.
  • 5.5.4Document what institutional, college, or program policies are in place to further Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action (EEO/AA), as well as any other social equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives at the program, college, or institutional level.
  • 5.5.5Describe the resources and procedures in place to provide adaptive environments and effective strategies to support faculty, staff, and students with different physical and/or mental abilities. 
Entire Condition Programs may, but are not required to, respond while the stay is in place.


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