[Tim Daugherty]

To be blunt I’ve never hired anyone without a BSLA degree. It’s not that those 4 years of college teach someone a craft that we couldn’t on the job, but it’s the initial litmus test about how serious someone is towards this career. It also strengthens the profession to have more people integrated into the academics of being an LA, eventual licensure, etc. We’re already facing an uphill battle on the need for registration. Saying you don’t need an LA degree to practice doesn’t help that cause.

[Tim Daugherty]

We use AutoCAD, Adobe products, Sketchup, and Hand Drawn illustrations. Often times all within the same exhibit.

Personally I’ve always hated add-on or third party software as it relates to CAD. Just give me a generic version of AutoCAD that can produce basic geometry.

[Tim Daugherty]

Bob – do you know what the biggest predictors of voting preference are? 1. Level of Education, 2. Where you Live (City vs Country), and 3. Religious participation (not to be confused with affiliation).

It’s safe to assume a significant majority of all LA’s have a college eduction. And most live in the City (or suburbia).

Add to this the likelihood most LA’s probably have a strong relationship with natural systems, the environment, ecology, etc.

And if all that isn’t enough, which party/ideology has been on the attack against licensure?

C’mon, it’s not THAT hard to connect the dots.

[Tim Daugherty]

Hi Edward. I’m increasingly convinced that University Degrees, including Landscape Architecture, don’t need to become trade schools. Yes, there is some aspects of professional craftsmanship and design knowledge involved in our education, but how deep into the technical weeds do we really need to get? Can’t a lot of these things be taught in internships and entry level positions?

[Tim Daugherty]

There was/is a program called LandFX that may do this. I don’t remember if it was a 3d package though as I never personally used it (I prefer a combo of SketchUp & Photoshop for digital graphics). Good luck!

[Tim Daugherty]

Bob – did you actually read what I wrote? I’m pointing out the professional exam doesn’t have a graphic component and hasn’t for decades. Yes, we used to have to manually draw the G&D plan, and site plan sections of the exam, but it wasn’t scored on graphic! There was no artistry involved. This isn’t an opinion, it’s a fact – so disagree all you want.

Who cares why some may want to study landscape architecture in college and then do something else? What difference is it to you? What a bizarre thing to fixate on. You can’t point to a public university anywhere that has “job training” as its mission statement.

I never defined the profession. You did. I’m not that arrogant.

[Tim Daugherty]

Bob, I would argue the purpose of a college degree is not confined to job training – regardless of major. Otherwise the university is just a trade school – and it isn’t. One should be able to graduate with a college degree, majoring in landscape architecture, and not necessarily be good at it in practice.

Second, you seem to define talent in terms of drawing, auto cad, etc. I’ve worked with LA’s that focus on restoration and science aspects of the profession (with the US Forest Service, Corp of Engineers, etc.). Many are immensely talented and can’t draw for $%&^.

Third, the professional exam has no drawing, auto cad, graphics or sketching component to it.

[Tim Daugherty]

Robert – regarding some of your data. The 1,600 jobs over 10 years are just NEW jobs, right? On top of the baseline number of jobs currently out there and held. Presumably in that same 10 year span there will also be people retiring, changing careers, dying (!), promotions, etc.

In other words, I don’t think 30,000 graduates are fighting for 1,600 jobs. The attrition rate alone has got to be several thousand positions a year, no?

[Tim Daugherty]

I’ve worked for studios in the past that hired Architects in an LA studio. I’d look at mid-sized boutique firms that specialize in Public Works and going after Awards and such.

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