Architecture at Monash University: A Curious Case
The Good Oil
Monash University, in Victoria, Australia, has recently created a school of architecture, the first in Australia for decades. The school implies it has achieved accreditation. Our sources say it is not. What is going on?
How halal is Monash?
We often receive queries from foreign students asking which Aussie architecture school to attend. Some of them ask us about Monash University's shiny-new school. Frankly, we know little of the school, and from our correspondence with Australian authorities, neither do they. Monash university says:
Upon completion of both the Bachelor of Architectural Design and the Master of Architecture, students will have achieved the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA) National Competency Standards applicable to university courses, and will comply with the Royal Australian Institute of Architecture (RAIA) Education Policy Performance Criteria.
To Dr Garry's eye, this implies that Monash has accreditation from some very impressive authorities indeed, the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA), and the Royal Australian Institute of Architecture (RAIA). No doubt foreign and domestic students would assume that graduation from Monash would entitle them to the same standing as granted to graduates of Victoria's other architecture schools.
The AACA and RAIA are completely confused
Our emails and faxes to the AACA and the RAIA concerning Monash have met with the most confused of responses. The inferences we draw from these correspondences is that Monash does not have the status that a reading of its website would lead one to believe. If anyone would care to disabuse us, we are all ears.
Monash isn't talking
We have sent several email and fax enquiries to the Monash school of architecture seeking clarification of the matter. We have received no response after some months. Says something, don't you think? On this basis alone, we would suggest prospective students consider other possibilities.