architecture, urban design, architectural history, architectural computer graphics: one way or another, you'll be going back to architecture school.

btw, it's tight out there. while it's not unlikely that you'll find a 'part time instructor' position, more stable posts are few. and don't take too long; right now m.arch. is cool, but if you delay, by the time you finish, it may take a phd to teach. try to get some studio teaching in as a graduate fellow or begin building a research path for yourself as a research fellow while you're getting your masters. anything to get a leg up.

Since your degree is a BA, it isn't a professional degree (as opposeed to a B.Arch), which is a requisite for licensure eligibility. A professional degree and eligibility for licensure is typically part of the minimum requirements for any teaching job (some schools require a license as well). You're going to have to find an accredited M.Arch program. I suggest when you are looking at schools, to ask about teaching opportunities for graduate students.

In my experience, it seems to be the case that it is difficult to get that first teaching job, nobody really wants to take a chance with you, so part-time might be the way to go, but not for too long.

Steven's right, there seems to be a movement towards PhDs in teaching. I don't see this as a good thing, but that's a topic for another thread.

thank you steve and adso. my Barch is a professional degree. according to the naab it is accredited and a 5 yr prof degree. im sorry i didn't say this earlier. so does this make a difference in what you guys said? thank you again for all your advice.

johnathan... the University of Florida SoA is pioneering a post-graduate phd/ second masters in Architectural Education. Check it out... Also a good school to teach while a grad student.

What do you want to teach, and where do you want to teach it? If you want to teach studio, drawing, representation, materials, structures, building systems, professional practice, and most other "core" subjects in an architecture school curriculum then the M.Arch is pretty much a must these days. If you want to teach in the Ivy league or in other very competetive programs then it will help if your degree is from a comparable program.

There are occasionally exceptions to these rules - people without M.Archs who have become well-published experts in a field, people whose work is well-known, especially if they are young "up and comers", etc. Often these people are guest lecturers though, or adjuncts, and will typcially be the first to go during an administrative change or budget crisis, because it's easy to justify to the faculty as a whole that they were cut because of minimum credential requirements...

Professional registration is often stated as a requirement for teaching positions - especially for anything fulltime - but I've found that almost all programs are willing to bend on that requirement, especially if they're looking for younger faculty. At most they may set a condition that registration is to be attained by a certain date in the future in order to be considered for contract renewal.

If you want to teach architecture history and/or theory it is becoming difficult to be considered for many positions if you're without a PhD. In these fields of study the degree doesn't always have to be in architecture, especially if one of your other degrees is in architecture. There are many people teaching theory in architecture schools who have advanced degrees in things like urban studies, american studies, history, philosophy, etc. But if you're going to take one of those routes then you'd have to demonstrate that much of your work/research is architecture-related. Again, it will usually help if your degree is from an institution comparable in selectivity/reputation with those at which you wish to teach.

thank you eeayeeayo and j .. its good help and information. i go to the university of houston which is a school accredited by the naab.org so i think its a good school or reputation? i want to teach students in studio. and i want to do a masters at the university of hong kong (which is an accredited school over there). my gre score is not good at all and im afraid i wont be accepted in the usa. HK doesn't require that and i am chinese ...so.. i wonder if that is a bad decision to make. i'd love to study in NY at yale/ columbia or some where there. thank you again for all your help and advice

TAing for a school that has an undergraduate studio curriculum is usually a good way toget a foot in the door and to develop a portfoilio of work produced under your guidance <---important to remember that it's not your project, just your framework.

the hard part is that next step to an actual full-time tenure track position which is becoming harder and harder to find as the old guard has more or less passed onto the newer guard and education is more dictated by economics and the bottom line --- i.e. expect to be an adjunct unless you've got a mouth that's smooth as silk. just my 2 cents.

galvanize - did they actually start that program at UF? while I was there it was only a rumor...but I'm thrilled if it came to fruition

soleil / jonathan

the UF SoA teaching degree exists. The student / visiting faculty member who was greatly responsible for pioneering the program has recently completed it. It may not even be on the web yet??

aaron
are you talking about towers?
if thats the case
i want an honorary one
*jealous*

...I was 2 years too soon :(

In my experience, all Profs teaching architecture have to be registered Architects (regardless of whether they practice or not). Anything less than being registered is just a Teaching Assistant position.

Colm--

I know quite a few arch profs who are not registered. And while a number of schools (I'm sure with a strong lobby from the AIA) are leaning towards this as a preference, it cannot account for the breadth of architectural practice outside the US (or even within -- ie, non-licensed-practitioner). It may also be the case that NAAB/ACSA has a requirement regarding a certain percentage of faculty be licensed or at least practicing as part of the professional-practice acredidation standards.

A professional degree (BArch or MArch) is certainly the minimum for tenure-track positions, though adjunct and visiting positions may be available with less (BA+MS in some specialty) -- and with grandfathering, even others (MED, MDes, etc) are still visible in some departments.

Greg Lynn isnt registered. is he just a teaching assistant?

Not necessarily. I frequently look through the ads for academic positions and licensure is rarely a minimum requirement, though it is usually one of the desired qualifications. A terminal, professional degree (an MArch) however, is usually required.

Colm: I became registered only within the past year, but have taught off and on for about 10 years in a few different architecture programs. Often licensure WAS listed as a requirement if the position had a published listing, but I just applied anyway, was upfront about my credentials, and never found that to be an impediment. To teach studio or any course for which practical experience would be an issue one is generally expected to have a portfolio of built work or other professional experience - but registration isn't really an issue.
I have had a variety of titles depending upon the school's standard nomenclature ("Adjunct Professor", "Part-Time Faculty", "Visiting Fellow" etc. - all because I don't teach fulltime) but was certainly never considered a "teaching assistant" once I graduated from an M.Arch program. I've usually been assigned one or more "teaching assistants" and all have been current grad students. In one school there were some staff positions called "course assistant" - these were usually fulltime shop technicians and such, not people with direct responsibility for teaching students.

soleil - yes, towers

I have a M.Arch (and B.Arch - dual degree) from Tulane and want to teach studio and more. I also want to study indepth sustainable design/green architecture and sustainable urban design. Are there fellowships for any of these type of things? Should i go get another masters or go for my PhD?

Also what schools or areas would be best to look into these things. I'd love to teachand work on becoming a registered architect too.

thank you for u guys help

soleil, how's it goin? havent passed you by recently. I do not have much info on how the program has progressed but I'm sure you will findout. btw. J.T. is not teaching now, he has moved to Orlando.