Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Working With Higher Learning Commission to Maintain Accreditation
Scottsdale, Arizona (PRWEB) August 22, 2016 -- The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture (School) has begun a productive dialogue with the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) around establishing the School as an independent institution and maintaining its accreditation. The School is working closely with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and HLC to resubmit its application in November, following formal notification from the HLC in July that its Board voted not to approve the School’s request for Change of Control.
School Dean Aaron Betsky and Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation President & CEO Stuart Graff met with HLC earlier this month, and are confident that the School is on track to meet requirements so the School can maintain accreditation as an independent institution. Once approved, accreditation will transfer to the School as an independent operating subsidiary of the Foundation. In the interim, the School will continue to operate as an integral, accredited part of the Foundation and as it works closely with the HLC to reapply for Change of Control in November.
“The response from HLC was never a matter of a disagreement with what was previously submitted. In consultation with their staff, we now understand the areas where they would like to see us flesh out our previous submission,” said Graff. HLC also posed questions around the School’s governance, and the group collaboratively discussed solutions to these issues. Graff added, “It was a positive and productive meeting, and we plan to work closely with them as we resubmit this fall. We have every reason to believe this will lead to a positive outcome.”
As Betsky and Graff work together to resubmit in November, advancing the School’s independence, they are making a plan to transition the relationship to a strong partnership that continues to advance shared goals and support each other’s efforts.
HLC’s review process does not affect tours or other programming at Taliesin and Taliesin West, which remain open to the public as part of the Foundation’s work to promote Wright’s legacy.
About the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation:
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, established by Wright in 1940, is dedicated to preserving Taliesin and Taliesin West for future generations, and inspiring society though an understanding and experience of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas, architecture and design. Wright’s legacy, reflected in contemporary work around sustainable and affordable architecture and excellence in design, is of even greater importance today than in his own time. The Foundation is forward-looking, but rooted in the history of the Taliesin communities. Please visit FrankLloydWright.org for more information on tour schedules, cultural and educational experiences and events.
About the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture:
Founded by Frank Lloyd Wright over seventy years ago as an architecture apprenticeship program, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has been accredited since 1985. It is dedicated to teaching architecture at a graduate level so that students may learn how to make the human-made environment more sustainable, open, and beautiful. Embodying the principles of organic architecture and the notion of working with the land rather than building upon it, the School’s curriculum is based on the concepts of learning by doing and collective experimentation. Students learn from Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture by working and living in its two campuses Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Jeff Goodman, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, +1 602-502-3142, [email protected]
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