30 NORTHERN NEVADA ARCHITECTURE .22 | 2022 | aiann.org Designing the Future with the Next Generation of Architects Today, per capita, Northern Nevada has an extremely low rate of young qualified architectural design professionals with accredited degrees. Thriving architectural firms are faced with a reduced labor force and therefore have to go out of the area and out of state to hire qualified architects to fill job positions. Excellence in design has a positive effect on the quality of life of Northern Nevada communities and we are better served by alumni with accredited higher educations to provide that service. The Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) architecture program began in 1984. At that time, the highest conferrable degree, a non-accredited two-year associate’s, was the only model in place for Northern Nevada. However, the program has grown over a period of nearly four decades and has become a respectable program that gives many students and graduates an early foundation for their collegiate careers in architecture. Unfortunately, though, since states across the nation minimally require a professionally accredited degree in order to qualify for the architectural licensing exam, TMCC’s associate degree falls short of serving those who want to complete licensure to practice architecture. Therefore, TMCC architecture graduates have been forced to conclude their college careers outside the Northern Nevada region. This presents many disadvantages. Anyone interested in an architectural career in Northern Nevada has been faced with either the inconvenience of leaving our community to complete their architectural education, moving into the workforce and capping at a lower-paid position in a firm with no hope of gaining licensure, or abandoning the career entirely. Essentially, to become an architect, unless students attend UNLV and remain instate, TMCC’s associate degree leaves architecture students with only the option of going out of state. This increases the cost to unaffordable levels, which encourages most to choose alternate careers. Additionally, for those who leave for out-of-state educations, the statistics are low for alumni returning to northern Nevada. TMCC’s current aim is to create an accredited Bachelor of Architecture degree.
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