Q&A with Dr. Arsenio Rodrigues, director of the School of the Built Environment

Kokosing Hall to take design-build learning and innovation to the next level

In keeping with the University’s continuous engagement with Ohio’s workforce needs, BGSU established the School of the Built Environment to foster design-build learning and innovation. The school has moved to the next level in this endeavor with the opening of Kokosing Hall, which was formally dedicated at the end of March.

Comprising the Department of Architecture and Environmental Design and the Department of Construction Management, the School of the Built Environment is housed within the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering. Students in the school are immersed in interdisciplinary coursework that blends management, design and technical education. They have the chance to participate in up to three paid co-op experiences before beginning careers in construction management and architecture.

We asked the school’s founding director, Dr. Arsenio Rodrigues, to share his thoughts on how the School of the Built Environment, based in the newly renovated Kokosing Hall, is meeting critical workforce needs and contributing to BGSU as a public university for the public good.

What does the School of the Built Environment offer students that sets it apart from other programs at other schools?

Architects and construction managers are the key stewards of the built environment, and so the school’s focus on breaking down traditional silos while fostering meaningful integration between the two disciplines is what sets our program apart. In the real world, architects and construction managers must collaborate and engage with each other to make sure that projects are successfully built. Our architecture and environmental design and construction management students collaborate and interact at a very early stage in their educational careers. Architecture students take construction management courses, while CM students take architecture and environmental design courses. When they graduate, BGSU School of the Built Environment students already have that understanding of what the other discipline does. That leads to greater appreciation and collaboration in the real world, which leads to time and cost efficiencies and more successful projects. But, more importantly, this modality emphasizes a more holistic education for our students in the school. 

What have been some of the most significant advances over the past few years in architecture and environmental design?

A Master of Architecture program must be accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), and typically, a practicing architect must have a NAAB-accredited degree to be licensed. So the most significant breakthrough for our architecture program has been NAAB accreditation. The program was initially accredited in 2019, and we just finished our visit for continuing NAAB accreditation. Bringing a high-quality architecture program together with the University’s long-standing pre-eminence in construction management has put us on the map and set us apart. It has attracted a lot of attention in terms of recruiting new students and, consequently, graduating more students to meet the professional workforce needs of the region.

What have been some of the most significant advances over the past few years in construction management?

The opening of Kokosing Hall is by far the most significant advance for not only the school but for our construction management program. Our undergraduate construction management degree program is accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE), and it has been a well-established program in the region and the state for many years. When I first arrived at BGSU in 2018, I was struck by the disconnect between construction management’s glowing reputation and the program’s rather restricted spaces within the College of Technology building. Some early conversations with college leadership and our construction management alumni began the process that has culminated in the opening of Kokosing Hall. It's without a doubt a game changer for the school, but it directly relates to the construction management department because we never had an appropriately designed materials lab or an appropriately programmed space for hands-on building, innovation and exploring. Kokosing also has added a state-of-the-art, dedicated space for our digital classrooms, which also has significantly raised the bar.

How is Kokosing Hall contributing to the learning environment for students and faculty?

The School of the Built Environment was established as an idea in 2017 by the board of trustees. But at first it was not fully substantiated in terms of a physical setting. Kokosing Hall has effectively brought the key components of design-build learning together and given a whole new level of place and meaning to the school. In addition to the materials lab and digital classrooms, the Innovation Lab is, I think, the heart of the project. It’s a 6,700-square-foot, 40-foot-high space where students, faculty and industry partners can collaborate and build anything from a tiny home to a two-story structure, including material exploration, installations and other innovative ventures. The faculty and students in architecture and construction management have an integrated curriculum, and we are working to further integrate our classes and courses in this great new space. I'm often asked what I expect to happen in Kokosing Hall and in the Innovation Lab specifically. My response is ‘whatever you want it to be, whatever you can envision, whatever you can dream of – let’s explore, innovate, build, learn and make it happen.’

How does this all contribute to BGSU as a public university for the public good?

Prior to our initial accreditation in 2019, the lack of a NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture program at BGSU and in northwest Ohio meant that our undergraduate students had to attend other schools outside the region to get a license to practice. That resulted in a migration of talent, and local architectural firms lost an important resource. Receiving NAAB accreditation has transformed our program and has changed the dynamics of the region completely. Many of our architecture students are now completing their master’s degrees here and being hired locally. This is also the case with our construction management students. There is a dearth right now of architects and construction managers in the region, and the School of the Built Environment holds a key place in solving this critical shortage. It’s a win-win for our students and employer partners, and an important contribution to BGSU as a public university for the public good.