6.1.1   Site visits are scheduled during February or March of the year after the term of accreditation has expired. Schools with extenuating circumstances may request that a visit be scheduled for the following fall semester of that same calendar year. Each request is considered separately by the Executive Director and the Executive Committee of the Board. The visit schedule arrangements are negotiated between the visiting team chair and the program head.

6.1.2   The program head works with the visiting team chair to develop a visit agenda that encompasses the activities described in Section 6.5, Participating in the Site Visit, and responds to the particular school and the requirements of the visiting team chair. (See Appendix D.) Adequate time must be allocated for reviewing student work, conducting interviews, and completing the initial draft of the VTR; elaborate or time-consuming receptions are unnecessary and unwelcome. For complex programs, the agenda may be altered in order to accomplish the necessary activities in the usual time frame.

6.1.3   At least 6 weeks before the site visit, the program head must finalize the schedule, have it approved by the visiting team chair (who has final authority in setting the agenda), and distribute it to team members so travel arrangements can be made. Team members and observers must arrive on Saturday and remain through midday on Wednesday.

6.2.1   A securable, reasonably soundproof room accessible only to the team must be set up in the school building so the visiting team can evaluate the program in confidence. Before the site visit, the program head and visiting team chair discuss the content and organization of the team room, which must contain fully labeled and easily accessible exhibits of student work. Exhibits must include examples of both the minimum passing grade and high achievement; be of sufficient quantity to ensure that all graduates are meeting the performance criteria; have been executed since the previous site visit; and span no less than a single previous academic year.

6.2.2   If work from more than one professional degree program or multiple sites is being reviewed, student work from each program and/or site must be clearly identified. While a range of work must be displayed for each required course, it is not necessary to present the complete output of a studio, lecture, or seminar.

6.2.3   The organization of the student work as presented is at the program’s discretion, but each piece must cross-reference the course matrix and criteria it addresses, be dated, and indicate its assessment from minimum to high achievement. Ideally, examples by several different students or teams will be furnished.

6.2.4   Exhibits in spaces outside the team room can augment, but not substitute for, team room exhibits. They should be identified in a manner consistent with team room displays, except that indications of minimum to high pass may be omitted in public displays. Class assignments must be available for all projects presented. As the team will need to gain an overview of the curriculum and the integration of studio and coursework during each year of the program, it is helpful to organize a single year’s documentation in one area.

6.2.5   The team room must contain the following:

a)   Student Studio Work. The majority of the visual material should be mounted on vertical surfaces; not placed in stacks. The presentation of studio work must represent the full range of approaches taken and assignments made by various studio critics, and must include project assignments, handouts, bibliographies, and corresponding samples of student drawings and models. In addition to final projects, in-progress work and student journals may be included, or the progress of one group of students may be illustrated.

b)   Student Coursework. A notebook should be provided for each required and elective course. The presentation of coursework must contain a syllabus showing weekly activities and assignments; a bibliography; quizzes and examinations, where applicable; and corresponding samples of student work.

c)   Team Work Area. The room must contain a conference table, with enough seating to accommodate the entire team.

d)   Equipment. The room must contain a telephone, a document shredder, computer equipment as requested by the visiting team chair, Internet access, a printer, an LCD projector, and a sufficient number and type of electrical outlets.

e)   Visit Agenda and Resumes. The visit agenda and resumes of the team should be posted in the vicinity of the room.

f)   Faculty Photos. Faculty photos should be posted in the team room.

g)  Matrix. A large copy of the matrix, described in Section 3.13, Student Performance Criteria, of the Conditions, should be posted in the team room.

An exhibition of faculty work is essential for assessing the quality of the program and its growth opportunities. Faculty work must illustrate the range of research, scholarship, and creative activity carried out since the previous site visit. Specify faculty rank and appointment status and, if the program has multiple sites, the location of each faculty member. Include a short summary of the projects and, if applicable, indicate the faculty member’s contribution.

Travel arrangements are made by team members for themselves; hotel accommodation and on-site travel are arranged by the program. Accommodations must include a private room with bath for each team member and a private space at the hotel for team meetings. The program should inform the team members of their accommodations at least 4 weeks before the visit. Each team member should provide the program head with an itinerary so that transportation can be arranged. (See Section 7.4, Expense Reimbursement, for reimbursement procedures.)

6.5.1   The site visit allows the visiting team to validate the APR and gain a better understanding of the intangible aspects of the program. The team reviews the program’s role within the institution, examines student and faculty exhibits, conducts interviews, and tours the facilities to identify concerns that may not have been evident in the APR. At the request of faculty or students, individually or collectively, the visiting team chair may provide an opportunity for confidential interviews either with the full team or privately with the visiting team chair.

6.5.2   Although the following may be combined in different ways, they are the typical elements of a site visit agenda:

a)   Team Orientation. Team members and observers attend a mandatory meeting in which the visiting team chair reviews the Conditions and the Procedures, discusses visit protocols, and establishes expectations for each team member for how the team will work. (See Appendix B.)

b)   Review of the APR. This review allows team members to share thoughts on issues the APR raises and to identify and prioritize the questions to be addressed during the visit. In light of this discussion, the visiting team chair outlines team assignments and may revise details of the agenda.

c)   Tour of the Facilities. The school conducts a tour of the facilities that must include an explanation of how the team room is organized, the facilities the program uses, and meetings with the personnel of media centers, workshops, and laboratories. The library tour includes a meeting with the architecture librarian and visual resources professional to discuss their assessment of those components.

d)   Meeting with Staff. This is a meeting with key staff of the department, without the presence of any administrators. Staff that attend this meeting should include but not be limited to administrative assistants, shop personnel, librarian, career placement, advising, etc.

e)   Meetings with the Program Head. These include a discussion of issues arising from the APR, the program’s strategic plan and self-assessment procedures, progress made since the previous site visit, any changes required to the visit agenda, and any requests for additional materials the team may need.

f)   Entrance Meetings with the School or College Administrator, Chief Academic Officer, Faculty, and Students. These separate meetings allow comparison of the views held by each constituency on the program’s strengths and causes for concern or any issue raised by the visiting team, the program, or the institution. Meetings with faculty must be open to all ranks from the various curricular areas, including those from other disciplines supporting the program. Meetings with students, generally lead by the AIAS representative, without the presence of any administrators, staff, or faculty, should be arranged so that all students can attend. All meetings are confidential informal discussions, not presentations.

g)   Meeting with Student Representatives. This is an informal gathering of a small group of students, without the presence of any administrators, staff, or faculty, who may be officers in student organizations or elected to attend by their peers.

h)   Contact with Graduates and Local Practitioners. This is generally a social event that may include recent and past graduates, local registration board members, and representatives of the AIA chapter.

i)   Review of Student and Faculty Exhibits. Team members are individually and jointly responsible for assessing work in the team room and elsewhere.

j)   Observation of Studios, Lectures, and Seminars. The team may divide to attend scheduled classes and may use evenings to observe unscheduled studio activity.

k)   Review of General Studies, Electives, and Related Programs. This review includes meetings with faculty or administrators to discuss prerequisite general studies courses, minors or concentrations that students may pursue, and any programs or groups that have a significant relationship with the accredited degree program.

l)   Review of School Records and Transfer Credit Assessment. The visiting team chair may request school and student records, which should be presented with names removed. (See Appendix B).

m)   Debriefing Sessions. Each evening, the team meets to evaluate its progress, adjust assignments, and assess the need for additional information.

n)   Accreditation Deliberation and Drafting the VTR. The last evening of the site visit is devoted to developing consensus on the program’s satisfaction of each of the NAAB conditions, drafting an assessment of the latter, and agreeing on the confidential recommendation to the NAAB Directors on a term of accreditation. By the end of the evening, the VTR should be in a draft form and ready for editing by the visiting team chair. Observers may contribute to the draft but do not participate in deliberations on the recommended term of accreditation.

o)   Exit Meetings with the Program Head, School or College Administrator, Chief Academic Officer, Faculty, and Students. During these meetings, the visiting team chair summarizes the team’s assessment of the program, reviewing the major points that will appear in the VTR. The visiting team chair does not disclose the team’s recommendation on the term of accreditation. The exit meeting(s) with the program head and school or college administrator(s) is followed by another with the chief academic officer. The faculty and student sessions are typically combined as a school-wide meeting. Questions and comments are not entertained at the school-wide meeting, which normally concludes with team members’ and observers’ providing their insights on the visit.