2012 NM letter

MEMORANDUM FROM

Woodbury University School of Architecture

Burbank-Los Angeles /

San Diego

Norman R Millar AIA

Dean

Date: November 27, 2012

To: Re:

Personnel Committee Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter Performance Evaluation Recommendation for five-year contract renewal

I am writing this performance review for Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter of the School of Architecture, who is applying for a five-year contract renewal. In my view, Ingalill continues to demonstrate the highest level of fulfillment of the ideals of a teaching scholar at Woodbury University as established by the Faculty Association. In the period of her current three-year appointment, she played an important role in leading and improving the undergraduate architecture program in LA and, since fall 2011, in leading and improving the graduate programs in LA. For that effort and accomplishment, we owe her a great measure of gratitude and acknowledgement. She has demonstrated to me that she is worthy of the five-year reappointment and she has my highest level of support.

Introduction I have read Ingalill’s self-reflection as well as her updated CV. I believe the completeness and clarity her package will make the work of the personnel committee easy in their decision to recommend her for five-year reappointment.

During the last 3 years: Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter has demonstrated the highest level of fulfillment of the University’s ideals of a teaching scholar.

Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter has satisfied teaching requirements and demonstrated the highest level of teaching skills through her teaching development, academic commitment, and with student evaluations, the recommendations of her colleagues, and the recognition of her students.

Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter has satisfied university service requirements by showing consistent leadership in areas central to the mission and functioning of the university and a commitment to higher education as a profession. She has done so by representing the faculty on university committees, advising student organizations, through her active participation in faculty development and university initiatives, and through her participation in community and service organizations.

Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter has satisfied professional and scholarly requirements by demonstrating professional growth with her serious involvement in professional associations, her scholarly activities leading to publication and presentation, and with her creative endeavors resulting in presentation and publication of her design work.

TEACHING Teaching / Chair Evaluation Ingalill taught PPDV 200 for the first two years of the past three-year appointment and was instrumental in setting scores of students on the right track to be successful in their undergraduate architecture studies at Woodbury.

The collective results of the design studios taught collaboratively by Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter since her last renewal application are nothing short of remarkable. These include Undergraduate degree project and summer Tahiti studios in 2010 and 2011, and the graduate thesis studio in 2012. She works closely with her students to develop passionate, confident, sophisticated, highly resolved end products that are not only beautifully represented but so uniquely beautiful. The progress that I see over these last three years is that her student work, although still beautiful and critical, seems to be getting more diverse, showing less the hand and eye of Ingalill and more the hands and eyes of her individual students. This is a demonstration Ingalill’s growing confidence and competence as a teacher, skilled at helping the students develop their own initiatives, and aesthetic sensibilities and thus helping each better meeting their own greater potential. This is a sign of mature teaching.

As the chief advisor of the LA BArch students as LA undergrad chair through spring 2011 and then to the LA MArch students as LA grad chair since fall 2011, Ingalill has worked with Associate Deans Vic Liptak and Randy Stauffer to maintain the high standard of student advising. As the final word in hiring and evaluating the teaching performance and curriculum delivery of LA adjunct architecture faculty, Ingalill has taken on the role of chief teacher of teachers.

To that end, in anticipation of our first NAAB MArch accreditation visit, as graduate chair she held many meetings with graduate faculty to make sure they were aware of expected learning NAAB outcomes for their courses. She also held regular monthly lunch meetings with grad students seeking input on ways to be more successful in curriculum delivery and meeting desired student learning outcomes. It was these meetings that gave way to the intensive summer Groundwork Program to help new and returning graduate students get a crash course in making, software and other design tools in our discipline.

Student Evaluations Ingalill has strong student evaluations of her classes which consistently express student appreciation for the enthusiasm and rigor of her teaching. Indeed it is great to watch Ingalill with the students as she treats each student with the respect due of a close colleague hers, while demanding rigorous and tireless work at the highest level.

Academic Commitment Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter is a teaching scholar who consistently demonstrates a commitment to the academic processes at the university.

Ingalill, working with Vic Liptak, Andrea Dietz, Randy Stauffer and me for the last year, and especially with Randy Stauffer and the students over the summer in the team room, took very personally the success of the September NAAB visit. It was the smoothest NAAB visit I can remember. We expect a draft of the visiting team report (VTR) any day from NAAB and we expect it to be positive UNIVERSITY SERVICE REQUIREMENTS Ingalill shows consistent leadership in areas central to the mission and functioning of Woodbury University and commitment to higher education as a profession.

Committees Ingalill currently serves on the Faculty Development Committee, and served two years on the Curriculum Committee. She served on the Elections Committee in 2011. She was a member of the faculty search committee that resulted in Kathryn Hagen being hired as Chair of Fashion Design. She also served on an ad hoc Adjunct Faculty Review Committee in 2010.

SoA Initiatives For the School of Architecture Ingalill has also served on so many important search committees in the last three year period. She chaired the 2010 committee that resulted in Maxi Spina being hired and she served on the first annual visiting committee that resulted in

Jennifer Bonner getting hired. In 2011 she chaired the committee that resulted in Mark Ericson getting hired and she served on the director of communications staff position search committee that resulted in Mimi Zeiger getting hired. In 2012 she served on the career and outreach staff position search committee that resulted in Catherine Roussel getting hired.

In the 2011-2012 year in addition to contributing to writing the Architecture Program Report for the initial MArch accreditation visit, Ingalill managed all preparations leading up to what I will prophetically claim was a very successful visit (since we won’t have the official decision until March 2013).

In the summer of 2012 Ingalill initiated the new two-week Groundwork program for incoming grad students as well as the Re:work program – a series of five-week workshops for professionals, alumni and continuing students. Ingalill continues to manage the WUHO Gallery.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Ingalill has demonstrated that her professional development activities have enhanced her performance in the classroom and her skills as a teaching scholar.

Research Working with Doris Sung and Mathew Melnyk, Ingalill secured several grants to develop their “Bloom” project for an installation at the M&A Gallery in Silverlake. The experimental installation uses thermobimetal to passively open and close from the heat of the sun.

Professional and Creative Work and Accomplishments Ingalill’s research interest in materials and material behavior can also be seen in the work with her partner Roland Wahlroos-Ritter and their office [WROAD]. Last fall, Ingalill along with an impressive list of very well known architects was featured in a book by Tanja Kullack titled ‘Architecture: A Woman’s Profession’.

Workshops/Conferences Since her last reappointment, Ingalill has attended and actively participated in ACSA Administrators Conferences in Washington DC (2010), Hollywood (2011), and Austin, Texas (2012). She was an invited participant in the last two ACADIA conferences – Banff (2011) th and San Francisco (2012). At ACSA’s 100 anniversary Annual meeting in Boston last year, Ingalill was invited to convene and moderate a special panel on women and technology that morphed into one titled “Bachelors, Brides, and Open-Source Technologies”.

Conclusion Ingalill has vision, passion, and charisma. She is adept at building consensus and getting work done. She has improved her constructive ability in building and realizing a collective vision for the school, to advocate for all of the multiple voices of her full-time and part-time faculty, and her proactive oversight of the progress of the courses as they are being taught with a willingness to step in when problems arise.

Imgalill’s record of teaching, service and scholarship has earned her my highest recommendation for a renewal of her contract. She is a crucial leader at Woodbury University and a person that I prize as a colleague. Her thoroughness and vision helps me to do better at my own job. I thank the personnel committee for their assessment of her package and their favorable recommendation for a five-year reappointment.

Norman Millar, AIA Professor and Dean,