College of Art & Design

Departments, Schools, and Curricula 

The College of Art & Design is a community of engaged students and faculty committed to speculative endeavors in all aspects of the visual arts and design disciplines.

The college community’s core is fundamental practices while recognizing the challenge of creative activity are met by mining the core of traditional disciplines and exploring the interstices between disciplines.

The college recognizes that critical investigations in art and design occur in a context of regional, national, and global concerns. These contexts are meaningful only when referenced to a framework of one’s immediate cultural and physical context. The college faculty constructs these frames of reference through general education, discipline specific education, interdisciplinary investigations, creative activities, colloquia, and community outreach.

The college’s student and faculty collaborators value inquiry-based learning, encourage a spirit of risk taking, excite an appetite for thinking and making, nurture a capacity to create, and passionately pursue the means to capitalize on the opportunities thereby presented.

As a key component of the arts and cultural community, the college advances the role of the artist/designer in the broader community through distinctive public education and exhibition programs that serve the citizens of Louisiana with an enriched appreciation of culture.

Degree Programs

The following undergraduate programs are offered by the College of Art & Design:

• Architecture, BAR
• Studio Art, BFA
• Interior Design, BID
• Landscape Architecture, BLA

Accreditation

The college has nationally accredited degree programs in architecture, art, interior design, and landscape architecture. The School of Architecture offers both a bachelor of architecture and a master of architecture accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The School of Art’s seven areas of concentration are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). The School of Art offers a Bachelor of Fine Art, a Master of Fine Art, and a Master of Art in Art History. The Department of Interior Design offers a Bachelor of Interior Design degree that is accredited by the Council of Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). The Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture offers both a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and a Master of Landscape Architecture accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB).

Admission Requirements

Entering freshmen who meet the university’s admissions standards and have a declared major in the College of Art & Design will be directly admitted to the College of Art & Design.

Units within the College of Art & Design have selective admission and retention policies that apply to degree programs in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and studio art. Students planning to apply to one of these programs should carefully review this catalog for special requirements and application deadlines. Entering freshmen admitted to the college but not to a specific program due to selective admissions will be advised on what courses to take to be competitive for future selective admissions. For students not directly admitted as freshmen, general requirements for entering the college are as follows:

From University College, other division of LSU, or by transfer from another college or institution • Students must have earned a minimum of 24 semester hours, with a 2.00 cumulative GPA, and they must be admitted to an Art & Design degree program.

Students transferring from another institution must also meet university transfer admission requirements.

Applicants will be required to submit a portfolio for admission to some degree programs. The extent to which transfer credits acceptable for admission to the university fulfill degree requirements will be determined by the college.

Readmission

Students who were not registered at LSU for the preceding regular semester must file a formal application for readmission.

Degree Requirements of the College

It is the student’s responsibility to qualify for a bachelor’s degree by meeting these requirements:

• Complete 39 hours of general education courses as specified in a separate section of this catalog.
• Complete one of the established curricula offered by this college. Any substitutions submitted for the curricula as published must have written approval of the department chair or school director and the dean’s office.
• Achieve a minimum GPA of 2.00 on all work taken in the LSU System and on all work taken at other institutions.
• Complete a minimum of 30 semester hours in residence in the college. Independent and Distance Learning courses taken in the last 30 hours will not be considered for residence credit.
• Complete the last 30 semester hours while in residence in this college on the LSU campus. Independent and Distance Learning courses taken in the last 30 hours will not be considered residence credit without prior approval of the department head and the dean of the college.
• Initiate the graduation check-out procedure with the dean’s office during the semester prior to the semester in which the degree is to be awarded.

Requirements for a Second Bachelor’s Degree

Second degrees may be awarded at the bachelor’s level in architecture, art, interior design, and landscape architecture. The program of study for the second degree must include a minimum of 30 semester hours of work beyond requirements for the first degree, including any degree requirements not previously met.

Enrollment in Two Degree Programs

With the dean’s approval, a student may be enrolled in two degree programs concurrently. A student can enroll as a dual registrant using one of the following procedures.

• Dual Enrollment Within the College of Art & Design–By completing residence and academic requirements, and earning 30 hours more than the degree requiring the fewer number of hours, a student will earn two separate bachelor’s degrees.
• Dual Enrollment in the College of Art & Design and in a Second Academic College–By completing residence and academic requirements for two degree programs and earning 30 hours over the degree requiring the fewer number of hours, a student can earn two bachelor’s degrees.

The student must be accepted for admission to both colleges and must adhere to the regulations of both colleges. In addition, the student must declare a home college where registration will be initiated and permanent files will be maintained. It is the student’s responsibility, however, to maintain contact with the second college to ensure that satisfactory progress is being made toward that degree.

College Probation

In addition to university requirements, the College of Art & Design has these additional academic requirements:

• Students who fail to earn a minimum 2.00 grade point average for any semester will be placed on college academic probation.
• Students on academic probation for two consecutive semesters will not be permitted to continue their academic program and will be administratively dropped from the College of Art & Design. Students who have been dropped from the college may apply for readmission to the college and their academic program on a probationary basis once a 2.00 semester GPA and a cumulative 2.00 GPA is achieved. (Students should check individual programs for probation, separation, and readmission criteria.)

Special Provisions of the College

The pass-fail grading option is limited to courses that are electives in the degree programs.

Independent and Distance Learning Credit

Special restrictions apply to Independent and Distance Learning (IDL) credit used toward degree credit. Students who wish to have IDL credits accepted by this college must have approval from the dean’s office prior to scheduling the courses.

Students registered in the college may enroll in a maximum of 19 semester hours of combined resident and IDL credit during a regular semester. They may enroll in a maximum of 12 semester hours of combined resident and IDL credit during the summer term.

No more than 15 semester hours of IDL credit may be applied toward the degree requirements of the college. No more than six semester hours of IDL credit may be applied to a student’s general education requirement.

Students may not be enrolled in IDL credit during the semester they plan to graduate.

Graduate Programs

The Master of Architecture, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Art History, and Master of Landscape Architecture are offered through the Graduate School. Consult “The Graduate School ” section.

Minor Field Requirements (Optional)

Students in the College of Art & Design may pursue a minor field under the following guidelines:

• Earn a minimum of 15-18 semester hours in the minor field, of which at least six semester hours must be in courses taken on this campus at the 3000- and/or 4000-level. See the individual curricula for specific courses.
• Earn a minimum GPA of 2.00 in the minor field.
• Courses used to satisfy minor requirements may not be taken on a pass-fail basis.

A minor field may be selected from any major field currently offered by the college in which appropriate requirements for a minor have been established.

Minors outside the college can be established, provided that the minor conforms to the guidelines noted above for minors in the college and the minor meets the guidelines established by the department, school, or college concerned.

Students who major in one of the studio art concentrations or students from other colleges may pursue an undergraduate minor in art history, ceramics, digital media AVATAR arts, fine art, printmaking, or sculpture. Minors in photography and painting are only open to art majors. Students from other colleges are not restricted from minors offered by the other disciplines within the College of Art & Design. Please check prerequisites for all courses.

Tau Sigma Delta

Tau Sigma Delta (ΤΣΔ) was founded in 1913 to recognize excellence in art and design education. It is a scholastic honor society open to students enrolled in accredited degree programs in architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, or art who have a minimum GPA of 3.00 and who rank in the upper 20 percent of the cohort in their discipline. The Alpha Zeta chapter at LSU performs service for the university and for the community at large through the creative work of its members. New members are initiated and honored in the spring semester, and wear identifying ΤΣΔ stoles on their academic gowns at commencement exercises.

Undergraduate Career Plan

Students are encouraged to enrich their studies and prepare for their careers by using the Career Plan for Undergraduates in addition to their academic course of study.