At the start of the current semester, SmithGroup entered into a five-year partnership with three Historically Black Universities—Florida A&M University, Hampton University, and Howard University—through which the design firm is providing financial support for programming needs, an internship program, and academic mentorship.
African-American students currently account for a minuscule number of architectural degrees awarded each year. The seven Black colleges and universities that offer National Architectural Accrediting Board-approved programs award nearly one-third of the architecture degrees earned by Black students in the United States, according to the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The intent of SmithGroup’s partnership program is to increase these numbers and, in turn, further diversify the industry’s talent pipeline.
Initiating this partnership program was Taft Cleveland, Assoc. AIA, Assoc. APA, LEED GA, NOMA, an alumnus of Florida A&M’s School of Architecture and Engineering Technology, who works as a design architect for SmithGroup’s healthcare practice in Chicago. Cleveland also earned an M.Arch degree from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Through this partnership, select SmithGroup architectural and engineering staff are lecturing at each university, giving students an understanding of how architects collaborate with other design disciplines, how successful businesses operate, and what collaboration skills are needed to be successful.
SmithGroup employees also participate in biweekly virtual desk crits providing feedback and mentorship as students advance through their coursework. Staff will serve as jurors for the program’s midterm and/or final projects.
FUND RAISING AND TUITION ASSISTANCE
The firm will select students from each university for paid summer internships with its Chicago, Detroit or Washington, D.C. offices to provide practical learning opportunities in a real-world setting.
Dr. Hazel Edwards, Professor and Chair in the Department of Architecture at Howard University’s College of Engineering and Architecture, says the partnership with SmithGroup is supporting the department’s third-year studio, which focused on housing. Some of SmithGroup’s instructors, who include some Howard graduates, complement the school’s studio instructors.
Smith Group also raised $12,000 in personal donations to provide Howard architecture students with personal laptops.
Since 2018, SmithGroup has conducted an annual Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion scholarship program that supports and mentors students from historically underrepresented demographics in architecture, interior design, planning, landscape architecture, and engineering. The firm has awarded $90,000 in tuition aid to 15 recipients across the country.
Related Stories
| Dec 5, 2012
Gilbane publishes Winter 2012 construction economic report
Report outlines impact of recent events; predicts continued movement, while slow, toward recovery.
| Dec 5, 2012
Gehry-designed New York City tower receives Emporis Skyscraper Award
8 Spruce Street is now the third New York tower to win the Emporis Skyscraper Award.
| Dec 4, 2012
MKK’s Denver Human Services Eastside Building wins ACEC Excellence Award
MKK provided mechanical, plumbing and fire protection consulting services on this LEED-NC Gold project.
| Dec 4, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti opens new office in São Paulo, Brazil
The move to São Paulo is strategic and timely, as the country continues preparations for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
| Dec 4, 2012
Greenhorne & O’Mara signs letter of intent to join Stantec
Acquisitions of C3TS and Architecture 2000 also completed.
| Dec 4, 2012
Sto Corp. announces new distributor in the Carolinas
Company will now have coverage in several parts of North Carolina.
| Dec 4, 2012
Wirtz Beverage Illinois’ corporate headquarters completed
WBI Center, a new state-of-the-art facility, is designed by Ware Malcomb.
| Dec 4, 2012
Wagner joins Ghafari as Manager of Structural Engineering
Wagner comes to Ghafari from Walter P Moore, where he served as a principal, chaired the construction administration task force and led the design of numerous projects ranging in size from $10 million to $70 million.
| Dec 4, 2012
City of Gainesville to break ground on $33 million bus fleet maintenance and ops facility
The 140,000-sf facility will include dispatch, administrative and maintenance facilities.
| Nov 28, 2012
Project team to showcase design for first mixed-use retail center of its kind in Mexico City
Project reaching construction milestone, offering national model for urban development in Mexico.