著：（美）李明翰（美）奈徳·克倫肖（美）布萊德·戴維斯（美）金姆·道格拉斯（美）羅伯特·休伊特（美）克里斯多佛·普理查德譯：楊陽

有關近年美國風景園林專業(yè)本科五年制變四年制的教改工作

著：（美）李明翰（美）奈徳·克倫肖（美）布萊德·戴維斯（美）金姆·道格拉斯（美）羅伯特·休伊特（美）克里斯多佛·普理查德譯：楊陽

本文概述了5個美國風景園林學位從5年改革為4年在專業(yè)課程安排、大學核心通識課程要求、實習要求等方面的情況。這場教育改革工作的最主要的原因多數(shù)來自大學內(nèi)部教務行政單位的要求。該要求源于大學所在州的命令，都要求一個本科學位必須在4年內(nèi)完成120個學分。其次，這場變革還要歸根于2008—2009年的全球金融風暴，其觸發(fā)了對高等教育在責任和效率方面提出更高的要求。雖然有些大學可以為繼續(xù)實施五年制本科課程尋求免責，但是目前的五年制學位自身也正面臨著很大的挑戰(zhàn)，尤其在招生方面。文章內(nèi)容還包含了美國風景園林學科認證委員會關于該教改的一些觀點。最后，筆者們就風景園林本科學位應該在多長時間內(nèi)完成提出觀點。

風景園林；風景園林教育；學制；學科認證；風景園林本科學位

(美)李明翰/1968年生/男/博士/教授，博士生導師/美國德州農(nóng)工大學建筑學院風景園林與城市規(guī)劃系副主任/2015—2016風景園林教育委員會主席/美國注冊風景園林師/美國注冊土木工程師

Authors:

Dr. Ming-Han LI is a professor and the associate head in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A＆amp;M University. He was President of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture from 2015-2016. Dr. LI is a Professional Engineer and licensed Landscape Architect in Texas, USA.

1 背景

近幾年，美國高校中的一些風景園林本科項目將其本科文憑的完成時間從5年縮短至4年[1]。這些教改工作主要來自于學校內(nèi)部高層管理部門的壓力[2]。這種壓力又來自這些教改工作所在州的一項強制要求，即一個大學學位需要在4年內(nèi)完成120個學分。這場變革的觸發(fā)可歸根于2008—2009年的全球金融風暴，引發(fā)對高等教育在責任和效率上的更高要求。加之五年制大學學位所需要的額外學費，也遏制了家長讓孩子選擇學習風景園林專業(yè)。因此，經(jīng)濟低迷導致了招生數(shù)量的減少，一些大學招生數(shù)額尚未完全恢復。為了應對該問題，一些風景園林聯(lián)合組織正共同協(xié)作，包括美國風景園林師協(xié)會(American Society of Landscape Architects，簡稱ASLA)、風景園林教育委員會(Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture，簡稱CELA)、風景園林基金會(Landscape Architecture Foundation，簡稱LAF)，以期通過加強公眾對本專業(yè)的了解促進招生。例如，在2014年，ASLA特為招生創(chuàng)建了一個名為“通往風景園林之路(Your Path to Landscape Architecture)” 的新網(wǎng)站[3]。

根據(jù)風景園林學科認證委員會(Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board)的數(shù)據(jù)，2016年，美國總共有44個被認證的本科專業(yè)學位，其中的25個屬于四年制學位，19個屬于五年制學位。在2013—2015年的過去3年中，有5個學位進行了從五年制向四年制的轉(zhuǎn)變，其中的1個發(fā)生在2013年，2個在2014年，另外2個在2015年。沒有一個是從四年制向五年制轉(zhuǎn)變的。這場變革似乎還將繼續(xù)，正如風景園林教育委員會2016年年會上一個相關小組討論的議題，該小組討論的題目為“4年還是5年？美國幾個風景園林本科學位從五年制到四年制轉(zhuǎn)變的最新動向討論(Four Years Or Five Years? Discussions on the Recent Movement of Several Undergraduate Landscape Architecture Programs from Five to Four Years in the United States)[2]”。

本文將概述5個美國高校的風景園林學位在專業(yè)課程安排(必修和選修)、大學核心通識課程要求、實習要求、海外課程學習等方面的改革結(jié)果。這5所大學分別是德州農(nóng)工大學(Texas A＆amp;M University)、佐治亞大學(University of Georgia)、肯塔基大學(University of Kentucky)費城大學(Philadelphia University)和克萊姆森大學(Clemson University)。文章主要介紹這些教改工作的共同點和區(qū)別，同時，筆者們還將就風景園林本科學位應該在多長時間內(nèi)完成的問題提出觀點。

(美)奈徳·克倫肖/男/教授/美國肯塔基大學風景園林系主任

(USA)Ned CRANKSHAW is a professor and chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Kentucky.

(美)布萊德·戴維斯/男/ 副教授/美國佐治亞大學環(huán)境與設計學院風景園林本科負責人

(USA)Brad E. DAVIS is an associate professor and BLA program coordinator of the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia.

(美)金姆·道格拉斯/女/ 副教授/美國費城大學風景園林本科主任

(USA)Kim DOUGLAS is an associate professor and landscape architecture program director at Philadelphia University.

2 近期四年制改革項目的概述

2.1 德州農(nóng)工大學

德州農(nóng)工大學的風景園林本科學位在2015年從五年制向四年制轉(zhuǎn)變。這個變革主要源于：1)德州議會要求大學學位需在4年內(nèi)完成120個學分；2)大學內(nèi)部行政管理的要求。在變革之前，德州農(nóng)工大學的風景園林本科是該校148個本科學位中僅有的五年制學位。該校的內(nèi)部行政管理部門最終要求風景園林本科縮短學位完成時間(表1)。需指出的是該學位原來的8個設計類課程在改革前后均保持不變。該變革使得新生在第一學期就開始接觸設計的課程，其中最明顯的不同點在于學分從148減少至128，另一個主要區(qū)別在于選修課學分的減少(包括自由選修課和規(guī)定選修課)。

2.2 佐治亞大學

佐治亞大學的風景園林本科學位也是在2015年開始從五年制變成四年制，并且同德州農(nóng)工大學具有相似的原因：財政和議會的壓力。此外，佐治亞州提供的一個獎學金計劃，僅資助最多127個學分，這些學分通常需在4年內(nèi)完成。該校的風景園林本科學位教改同樣允許新生在第一學期開始設計課程。為了實施這項變革，他們將大學核心通識課程分散到整個4年期間，而不是如之前的學程主要集中在第一年。其采取的另一個有效的策略是將9個學分的風景園林專業(yè)課程變成大學核心通識課程的一部分。同德州農(nóng)工大學一樣，佐治亞保留了所有8個設計課程，但是減少了這些課程的學時學分以適應新課程(表2)。雖然處于初始階段，佐治亞大學在教改實施后已經(jīng)取得了積極的成果，如增長的招生率、更多的內(nèi)部調(diào)動、更多的夏季課程需求、新的選修課程、較高的學生留在本系和較低的轉(zhuǎn)系率。

2.3 肯塔基大學

表1 德州農(nóng)工大學的變革概要Tab. 1 Summary of Texas A＆amp;M University's change

肯塔基大學的風景園林本科項目在2014年進行了自主式變革，而非來自本州和學校方面的壓力。項目管理部門作出此變革以減少學生的投入時間，降低學費，和加強招生優(yōu)勢。其中推動該變革的一個因素是該學校在2011年將大學核心通識課程的學分從45分減少為30分(表3)。兩個最主要的變化是，其設計課程從原來的8學分減至7學分；實習和海外課程學習成為了必修課程。盡管減少了設計課程學時，新生仍將在第一學年就開始接觸風景園林專業(yè)課程教授(第二學期)。 2.4 費城大學

費城大學是本文介紹的5個學校中唯一的私立院校，其風景園林本科學位是在2013年轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)樗哪曛?。其變革主要歸因于全球經(jīng)濟下滑和地區(qū)競爭。他們制定這項變革的同時，還提出了“4+1”的雙學位項目：一個是與地理設計；另一個是與施工管理。4+1雙學位項目意味著學生可以在5年內(nèi)取得風景園林本科學位和碩士學位?；谄鋫涫軞g迎的碩士項目，費城大學能夠與賓夕法尼亞大學和坦普爾大學，以及來自巴爾的摩和紐約的其他大學競爭，吸引該地區(qū)的生源(表4)。除了創(chuàng)建了4+1項目的重要轉(zhuǎn)變，他們還將設計課程的數(shù)目從10門課減少為8門課。

2.5 克萊姆森大學

同樣基于經(jīng)濟方面的原因，克萊姆森大學的風景園林學位在2014年從五年制變?yōu)樗哪曛?表5)。除了畢業(yè)時間，其學位變革后的另一個主要差別在于選修學分的減少(自由選修課和規(guī)定選修課)。

2.6 5個學位的比較

表2 佐治亞大學的變革概要Tab. 2 Summary of University of Georgia's change

表3 肯塔基大學的變革概要Tab. 3 Summary of University of Kentucky's change

表4 費城大學的變革概要Tab. 4 Summary of Philadelphia University's change

(美)羅伯特·休伊特/男/副教授/美國克萊姆斯大學規(guī)劃與風景園林系

(USA)Robert R. HEWITT is an associate professor in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at Clemson University.

(美)克里斯多佛·普理查德/男/美國風景園林認證委員會負責人

(USA)Kristopher PRITCHARD is the Accreditation ＆amp; Education Programs Manager of the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board.

譯者簡介：

楊陽/1987年生/女/湖南人/華南理工大學建筑學院、亞熱帶建筑科學國家重點實驗室在讀博士研究生/美國德州農(nóng)工大學建筑學院聯(lián)合培養(yǎng)博士(廣州 510640)

近期從五年制變?yōu)樗哪曛频?個專業(yè)點變革的概況詳見表6。雖然所有這些專業(yè)點都要求在4年內(nèi)完成學位，但是各學位要求的課程總學分主要在120～137學分之間有所差異。這些學位變革之后的主要優(yōu)點和缺點如下文所列。

變革中的優(yōu)點和收益：1)縮短畢業(yè)時間；從而減少學生花費；2)提早與新生接觸；3)增強同其他專業(yè)競爭生源的能力。

變革中的缺點和損失：1)每學期的課程負荷略有增加，但是不是每一所學校都如此；2)減少了選修課學分，但不是每一所學校都如此。

一般性結(jié)論歸納如下：1)5個專業(yè)點中的3個保留了設計課程數(shù)量不變，2個減少了設計課程的數(shù)量；2)5個專業(yè)點中的4個依然設置了暑期或整個學期的實習必修課程，只有費城大學的暑期實習依舊維持選修。3)每個高校設置的大學核心通識課程均占總學分的30%左右。如果這些學位在政策上能夠?qū)⑵湔n程(專業(yè)課程)變成大學核心通識課程，那么四年制風景園林本科課程的設置將更加容易實現(xiàn)。

表5 克萊姆森大學的變革概要Tab. 5 Summary of Clemson University's change

表6 5個教改項目的概要Tab. 6 Summary of transition by the five programs

3 討論

2008—2009 年的全球經(jīng)濟危機觸發(fā)了美國風景園林本科教育項目的畢業(yè)時間從5年縮減為4年。經(jīng)濟危機之后帶來了全國范圍內(nèi)嚴峻的本科低招生率，從而引發(fā)了這場本科教育的變革運動。該運動的另一個目的則是為了滿足州內(nèi)的要求，使風景園林教育變得更負擔得起，反過來亦可幫助風景園林提升自身對其他專業(yè)的競爭力。在實施這場變革的同時，2016年由美國風景園林認證委員會認證的44個高校的專業(yè)點中仍有19個保持五年制。這場教改背后也伴隨著一些問題。對大部分管理者而言，最直接的問題是“縮短畢業(yè)時間是否會影響學位認證”。風景園林學科認證委員會的回答是否定的。根據(jù)風景園林學科認證委員會發(fā)布的最新認證標準[4]，風景園林專業(yè)本科學位必須是不少于4年的學士學位。只要學時不少于4年，如此都可以申請獲得認證。此外，影響學位認證的另一個因素是，學生是否能夠在該大學學習其他學科的課程。其他學科可以包括人文、藝術、技術、數(shù)學、自然科學、社會科學等。因此，盡管學位的完成時間從5年縮短為4年，學生還是應該接觸其他通識性教育，不能局限于專業(yè)課程。

作為教育者，我們需要關注的重要問題是，風景園林的學生應該學些什么？在大學里我們應該傳授些什么？以及多少年才足以獲得該學位？由于前兩個問題話題過大，已經(jīng)超出本文討論的范疇，筆者們在此就最后一個問題分享共同觀點：完成風景園林學位需要多少年。筆者們以德州農(nóng)工大學為例作說明。如前文所述，德州農(nóng)工大學風景園林本科學位曾經(jīng)是該校148個本科中唯一的五年制學位。德州農(nóng)工大學屬于美國大型高校，擁有10個以上的學院數(shù)量，超過60 000的學生規(guī)模。該校148個本科學位基本上包含任何能想到的學科或?qū)I(yè)。如果培養(yǎng)一名風景園林畢業(yè)生比其他專業(yè)需要多出1/5的時間，那么風景園林學如何在殘酷的社會競爭中生存？為此，我們應該明智地作出決定。

Translator:

Yang YANG, Ph.D. Candidate, South China University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science China, Visiting Scholar in Texas A＆amp;M University, USA (Guangzhou 510640).

[1] Williams, K. Five fourths, four fifths： the pressure is on for five-year bachelor of landscape architecture programs to become four-year programs.[J]Landscape Architecture Magazine,2015,(9)：108-110.

[2] Li, M-H., Davis B., Crankshaw N., et al. Four years or fives? Discussions on the recent movement of several undergraduate landscape architecture programs from five to four years in the United States.[C]//Dilemma： Debate. CELA 2016, the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture annual meeting in Salt Lake City, UT, 2016：101.

[3] ASLA, 2016. Your Path to Landscape Architecture. American Society of Landscape Architects, Washington DC. https：//www.asla.org/yourpath. Accessed on December 28, 2016.

[4] LAAB, 2016. Accreditation Standards for First-Professional Programs in Landscape Architecture. Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board, Washington DC, 18.

(編輯/劉昱霏)

1 Background

Several landscape architecture undergraduate programs in the United States shortened the time to completing a bachelor’s degree from five to four years in recent years[1]. Most programs made this transition mainly because of the pressure from their higher administration in most universities[2]. Such pressure came from a mandate in most programs’ respective state, where a college degree shall be completed in four years at 120 credit hours. The trigger of such movement can be attributed to the 2008-2009 global economic downturn that resulted in the demand for greater accountability and efficiency on higher education. Additional tuition cost for a college degree that needs five years to complete further deters parents to send their children to pursue landscape architecture. As a result, decreased enrollment has occurred since the economic downturn and several programs have not fully recovered yet. To address this issue, allied landscape architecture organizations, including American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) and Landscape Architecture Foundation, have been collaborating to increase the awareness of the general public on the profession and help recruit students. For example, ASLA launched a new web page named “Your Path to Landscape Architecture” specifically for student recruitment in 2014[3].

According to the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB), there were 44 accredited undergraduate programs in the US in 2016. Among the 44 programs, 25 were four years while 19 were five years. Within the past three years from 2013 to 2015, five programs transitioned from five to four years, in which one happened in 2013, two in 2014 and another two in 2015, respectively. No program moved from four to five years. This trend may continue based on the discussion from the panel entitled “Four Years Or Five Years? Discussions on the Recent Movement of Several Undergraduate Landscape Architecture Programs from Five to Four Years in the United States” at the 2016 CELA Annual Conference2.

This paper provides an overview of five US landscape architecture programs’ transition results in terms of curriculum arrangement for the major (required and elective), university core curriculum requirement, internship requirement, study abroad option, etc. The five universities were Clemson University, Philadelphia University, Texas A＆amp;M University, University of Georgia and University of Kentucky. Differences and similarities of all programs were presented. The authors also share their view on how long should it be for completing an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture.

2 Overview of Recent Programs Transitioning to Four Years

2.1 Texas A＆amp;M University

Texas A＆amp;M University’s BLA program changed from five to four years in 2015. The move was primarily because of (1) Texas state legislature that requires college degrees to be completed in four years and at 120 credit hours, and (2) university administration’s demand. Prior to the change, the BLA program at Texas A＆amp;M University was the only five year degree program out of the university’s 148 undergraduate programs. The university’s higher administrationfinally pushed the BLA program administrators to reduce time to complete the degree.The before and after comparison is presented in Table 1. Note that all original eight design studio courses remain before and after the change. The change also enables freshman students to start the studio course in the first semester.The obvious difference is the reduction of credit hours from 148 to 128. Another major difference is the reduced credit hours for electives (open and directed ones).

2.2 University of Georgia

University of Georgia's BLA program also changed from five to four years in 2015 for the similar reason as Texas A＆amp;M University: financing and legislature pressure. In addition, the state of Georgia has a scholarship program that only funds up to 127 credit hours which are expected to be completed in four years under normal circumstances. The change allows their freshman students to start the studio course in the first semester as well. To make the change, they spread university core courses throughout the entire four years rather than primarily only the first year as before. Another effective strategy was that they applied 9 credit hours of landscape architecture courses to become part of their university core curriculum. Like Texas A＆amp;M University, Georgia kept all eight design studio courses but reduced their credit hours to fit the new curriculum. The before and after comparison is presented in Table 2. Although preliminary, University of Georgia has seen positive outcomes after the transition, including increasing enrollment, higher number of internal transfers, greater demand for summer courses, new electives, higher retention and lower attrition rate.

Tab. 1 Summary of Texas A＆amp;M University's change

Tab. 2 Summary of University of Georgia's change

Tab. 3 Summary of University of Kentucky's change

2.3 University of Kentucky

The BSLA program at the University of Kentucky was self-motivated to make the change in 2014. There was no pressure coming from the state or the university. The program administration made this change to reduce time commitment for the students, lower the tuition and enhance recruiting advantage. One factor that made this change easier was because the university lowered its university core curriculum from 45 credit hours to 30 in 2011. The before and after comparison is presented in Table 3. Two main changes are that its design studio courses were reduced from 8 to 7; and internship and study abroad became required. Despite the reduction of design studio course number, freshman students began to be in contact with the landscape architecture faculty in the first year (on the second semester).

2.4 Philadelphia University

Tab. 4 Summary of Philadelphia University's change

Tab.5 Summary of Clemson University's change

Tab. 6 Summary of transition by the five programs

PPhiladelphia University is the only private institution among the five programs included in this paper and its BLA program shifted to a fouryear one in 2013. The program made the transition primarily because of the global economic downturn and competition in the region. When they made the transition, they also created “4+1” dual-degree programs: one with geodesign; the other with construction management. The 4+1 dual-degree programs mean that students can earn both the BLA and the master’s degree in a total of five years. Because of the popular master’s programs, Philadelphia University has been able to attract students from the region that have competitors such as University of Pennsylvania and Temple University, plus others in Baltimore and New York. The before and after comparison is presented inTable 4. In addition to the major change by creating 4+1 programs, they reduced design studio courses from 10 to 8.

2.5 Clemson University

Clemson University's BLA program changed from five to four years in 2014 also for the reason of economy. The before and after comparison is presented in Table 5. In addition to the time to graduation, another major difference is the reduced credit hours for electives (open and directed ones).

2.6 Comparison of Five Programs

Summary of the five programs that changed from five to four years recently is presented in Table 6. Although all programs can be completed in four years, their required total credit hours vary from 120 to 137. Major advantages and disadvantages are listed below.

Advantages or gains from the transition: 1) Reduced time to graduation; therefore reduced cost to students; 2)Early engagement with the freshman students 3)Enhanced competitiveness against other majors in recruiting.

Disadvantages or losses from the transition:1) Slightly increased course load per semester but not a consistent outcome; 2)Reduced credit hours for electives but not a consistent outcome.

There are also general observations summarized below. 1)Three out of five programs are able to keep their design studio courses. 2)Four out of five programs still have required internship either during summer or long semester.3)Each university requires approximately 30%± of the total credit hours for university core curriculum. If a program can strategically make some of its program courses the university core, delivering a four-year BLA curriculum will become much easier.

3 Discussion

The 2008-2009 global economic crisis triggered some undergraduate landscape architecture programs in the US to reduce time to graduation from five to four years. Such movement resulted from severe nationwide low enrollment in undergraduate programs after the crisis. The intent was also to make landscape architecture education more affordable as many states mandate, which in turns makes landscape architecture more competitive against other majors. Despite the recent movement, 19 out of 44 LAAB accredited programs were still five years’ as of 2016. Several questions arise from this phenomenon. The immediate one for most administrators is “Will accreditation be affected if time to graduation is reduced?” The answer according to LAAB is No. In LAAB's (2016) latest accreditation standards4, an undergraduate first-professional landscape architecture program must be a baccalaureate program of at least four academic years' duration. As long as a program is at least four years in duration, it can achieve accreditation. Another factor that could affect accreditation is whether students are able to pursue coursework in other disciplines in accordance with institutional and program requirements. Other disciplines include humanities, arts, technologies, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, and so on. Therefore, even if a degree program’s duration is shortened from five to four years, students should continue to be exposed to other general education and cannot be confined within professional subjects.

An important question we as educators shall ask ourselves is what students should learn about landscape architecture? What should we deliver in college and how many years would be enough to earn the degree? As the first and second questions are too big to address and are beyond the scope of this paper, the authors chose to share their common view on the last question: how many years to complete a landscape architecture degree will be sufficient. The authors used Texas A＆amp;M University as an example. As aforementioned, the BLA program at Texas A＆amp;M University was the only five year degree program out of 148 undergraduate majors in the university. Note that Texas A＆amp;M University is one of the largest universities in the US, with a student population of more than 60,000 and more than ten colleges. One can probably find any possible majors or disciplines from those 148 choices at Texas A＆amp;M University. If producing a landscape architecture college graduate takes 20% more time than any other majors, how can landscape architecture exist in a society, especially one that is becoming piercingly competitive? We ought to make our decisions wisely.

Recent Transition of Several Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Programs from Five to Four Years in the United States

Authors： (USA)Ming-Han Li, (USA)Ned Crankshaw, (USA)Brad Davis, (USA)Kim Douglas, (USA)Robert Hewitt, (USA)Kristopher Pritchard Translator： YANG Yang

This paper provides an overview of five US landscape architecture programs’ transition from five to four years to graduation in terms of curriculum arrangement for the major, university core curriculum requirement, internship requirement, etc. This curriculum change was mainly due to the demand from the higher administration in most universities. Such demand came from a mandate in most programs’ respective state, that is, a college degree is supposed to be completed in four years at 120 credit hours. This movement can be attributed to the 2008-2009 global economic downturn that triggered the demand for greater accountability and efficiency on higher education. Although exemption can be sought to continue a five-year undergraduate curriculum, current five-year programs are facing greater challenges specifically on student recruitment. The paper also includes Accreditation Board’s perspectives regarding the transition. Lastly, the authors share their view on how long should it be for completing an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture.

landscape architecture; landscape architecture education; curriculum; accreditation; bachelor of landscape architecture

TU986

A

1673-1530(2017)03-0115-08

10.14085/j.fjyl.2017.03.0115.08

2016-12-16

修回日期：2017-01-23