Architecture Outcomes

Your Path to SUCCESS ARCHITECTURE

Bristol & Providence | Rhode Island

is filled with OPPORTUNITIES AS A STUDENT IN THE CUMMINGS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

you will be part of an educational community dedicated to the creative, collaborative and ethical design of the built environment. Students are guaranteed multiple opportunities for hands-on learning and professional experience throughout each of your four years. From collaborating on projects in top-notch design studios, to working with real clients in paid internships and partnering with communities to make positive change, our graduates are well-prepared for leadership in professional practice, service and individual creative pursuits upon graduation.

SUCCESS by the NUMBERS

100%

PLACEMENT OF 2022 GRADS

Our 2022 Architecture graduates found success in employment or in graduate school within 6 months of graduation.

SAVE 1 YEAR WITH OUR ACCELERATED MASTER’S DEGREE

Our students have the opportunity to efficiently earn an M-Arch degree with the highest, most prestigious accreditation in only 5 1/2 years.

MASTER’S IN ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM

Our NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture program prepares students to take the next step toward becoming a professional architect.

Students get taught and their work critiqued by accomplished professionals through RWU’s one-of-a-kind Teaching Firm in Residence Program. Over 70% of RWU Architecture majors take advantage of the 1.5 to 2 year accelerated program.

Cummings School

students participate in the Career Investment Program, providing paid student assistantships on or off campus, with firms, organizations and government agencies.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF MINORITY ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS (NOMAS)

Get involved with the RWU Chapter and help advocate for the growth and implementation of justice and equity within the architectural profession and the campus. NOMAS’s mission, rooted in a rich legacy of activism, is to empower local chapters and membership to foster justice and equity in communities of color, through outreach, community advocacy, professional development, and design excellence.

Graduates Share Their EXPERIENCES

I underestimated how my professional network would expand from being a student. I was fortunate enough to have two internships with two different professors, as well as do freelance work for others. In professional architecture community, Roger Williams has some serious name recognition and firms have always told me that they’ve had great experiences hiring and working with Roger Williams students and Alumni.

ELIAS CHRISTO ‘18 ‘20M

ARCHITECTURE

Designer at Hutker Architects, Inc. in Falmouth, MA

I really enjoyed the Architecture program. It’s important to be able to learn about your area of interest and also have it relate to different aspects of the humanities. As a designer, it’s important to be able to understand human interactions, so you can design more appropriately. If I had gone to a more technical school, that’s something I wouldn’t have obtained.

ALANNA RYAN ‘22 ARCHITECTURE

Master’s Degree Candidate in Sustainable Design at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA

The best experience is that the school brings in professional architects from different businesses and different firms to teach. Roger has a successful program because we get to work with actual architects who are working in the field.

JUAN OSORIO ‘19 ‘20M

ARCHITECTURE

Designer at Summit Design and Engineering Services in Cary, NC

Faculty Profile

ROBERTO VIOLA OCHOA

ASSISTANT

PROFESSOR

OF ARCHITECTURE,

DIRECTOR

OF ADVANCED STUDIES IN THE ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM

Viola Ochoa works on a wide range of projects, both academic and mixed-use residential, nationally and all over the world. In parallel to his 22 years of professional practice, Viola Ochoa had an active private practice focusing on smaller-scale residential interventions and competition projects. He brings a global perspective to his work, and involves his students with architecture around the world through study abroad opportunities and collaborations with international architects.

DEDICATED STUDIO SPACE

Starting in their first-year, every Architecture student benefits from their own studio space with individual Samsung flat-panel monitors and access to more than 100 software packages in a state-of-the-art virtual environment.

MANY FULL-TIME FACULTY SPEAK MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE, INCLUDING SPANISH, FRENCH, TURKISH AND ITALIAN. THIS PROVIDES STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY IN ADVISING SESSIONS, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK FLUENTLY WITH FACULTY WHO SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE.

The RWU Difference

FIRST-YEAR MENTORING

Cummings School assigns two upperclass mentors to help first-year students adjust to college life and specifically the architecture program and studio space. With additional support from faculty and administrators, the mentorship program is a critical component of community-building within the Architecture program.

CAREER INVESTMENT PROGRAM

Program provides students with paid assistantships both on and off campus in partnership with a variety of firms, organizations, and government agencies. Through these opportunities, students gain valuable research and professional experiences as they approach their advanced study and future career placements.

TEACHING FIRM IN RESIDENCE

Cummings School brings the highest quality educator practitioners from all over the world to the Bristol campus to work directly with students for an entire semester. They teach graduate design studios, deliver lectures, and participate in design review critiques at both RWU and on-site at the firm.

SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES

Many students pair Architecture with Sustainability, seeking solutions to the Earth’s most pressing problems. This pairing allows them to develop a deeper understanding of the complex relationships among environmental, social and economic issues. Students are well-prepared for careers in the growing field of sustainable architecture and as 21st century citizens.

GET INVOLVED

The Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) connects students and alumni with leading faculty members and practitioners to provide mentorship, host events, and support female Cummings School students and alumni in program success, career placement and advancement. Plus, RWU has one of the largest coed chapters in the country of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), which organizes lectures, programs, conferences, and excursions.

ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY

STUDY ABROAD

Spend a semester in Italy or Spain during your junior or senior year studying Architecture in Florence at the Palazzo Rucellai, or in Barcelona at the Barcelona Architecture Center. Our Florence study abroad program includes classroom, art studio and design review space at the Palazzo Rucellai, a landmark of the Renaissance, designed by the renowned humanist and architect Leon Battista Alberti and erected between 1446 and 1451. In Barcelona, known as the “City of Architects,” RWU offers specialized courses in design, field studies and history of European cities, making the city and the surrounding area the campus.

The Architecture Library collection includes more than 24,000 books and 60,000 slides, a digital collection comprising over 80,000 images, and subscriptions to over 200 periodicals and journals. The Historic Preservation collection, considered one of the best of its kind in New England, includes the H.R. Hitchcock Collection of American Architecture books on microfilm, the complete HABS photographic collection and international serials.

STUDENT ATHLETE MENTOR PROGRAM

Cummings School has a specific mentorship program that is the only one of its kind in the country—the StudentAthlete Mentor Program for Architecture students. The program works closely with student-athletes, the athletic department and the faculty to coordinate time management and scheduling, facilitating the balance of each individual student’s academic studies and their intercollegiate athletic activities.