Submit your Name to the LAAC’s Roster of Visiting Evaluators
The Roster of Visiting Evaluators (ROVE) is the pool of candidates from which visiting team members are selected to review landscape architecture programs whose accreditation is due for renewal. Each visiting team generally consists of:
- one landscape architecture educator,
- one landscape architecture practitioner, and
- one non-landscape architect academic administrator.
To be eligible to participate, you must complete the ROVE application form to the LAAC for review. The LAAC then makes appointments to ROVE in order to develop a pool of potential visiting team members. Appointments are for 5 years and are renewable.
Click here to download the ROVE application form
Qualifications
Landscape Architecture Educators – must hold a first-professional degree in landscape architecture or be a licensed landscape architect, teach in a currently LAAC accredited landscape architecture program and hold the minimum rank of tenured associate professor.
Academic Administrators – must be current or former administrators at the rank of assistant or associate dean, dean, or school director who are non-landscape architects and hold terminal degrees in their respective fields. Academic administrators must be affiliated with an institution that has at least one program currently accredited by LAAC.
Practitioners – must hold a first professional degree in landscape architecture or are licensed landscape architects and have at least five full years of practice experience. Practitioners may be from either public or private sectors.
ROVE Member Responsibilities
ROVE members shall read and understand the LAAC Accreditation Standards, the Visiting Team Guidelines, Visiting Team Report Format and the program’s self-evaluation report (for each visit). ROVE members must be objective and willing to follow accreditation standards and procedures even if they may not completely agree with them. Good communication skills including listening, interviewing and writing are required. The ability to be diplomatic, flexible and work under pressure is a must.
Click here to learn read the documents which guide accreditation
Job Descriptions
Team Chair - Any member of the visiting team can serve as the team chair, but it is most common for the educator member. The team chair, as the visiting team’s leader, is the principal point for contact between the team and program prior to and during the visit.
The team chair, in conjunction with the program chair, sets the tone of the visit, delineates acceptable communication channels with the program and the university, and is the key member of the team responsible for resolving differences of opinion among team members.
The team chair reviews the visit schedule and assigns accreditation standards and report writing responsibilities to each team member. The team chair is responsible for submitting the visiting team report to the LAAC within 10 days of the visit’s conclusion.
Educator – The educator provides the perspective of a landscape architecture faculty member. Experience as a faculty member in an LAAC accredited landscape architecture program and knowledge of promotion and tenure policies, familiar with governance issues, student advising, landscape architecture curriculum etc. are required.
Academic Administrator – The academic administrator brings to the team the perspective of a non-landscape architect with administrative experience beyond that of a landscape architecture department or program. As a non-landscape architect the academic administrator can help to keep the visit focused on the Accreditation Standards and Procedures and provide understanding of how the program under review operatives administratively.
Practitioner – The practitioner brings to the team the perspective of someone working in profession. He or she is particularly important in evaluating the quality of student work, talking to students about their expectations, contacting alumni and local practitioners about their impressions of the program.
Time Commitment
About 45 days before the visit team members will receive the program’s self-evaluation report (SER). It is important to read this right away, as the team chair will contact team members to discuss the report and make assignments (different members of team will be asked to take the lead on certain parts of the report and visit).
Visits normally start on Sunday and end at noon on Wednesday. Team members are encouraged to arrive on Saturday or early on Sunday to become familiar with campus and meet the other team members. During the visit, team members should not attempt to visit with any friends or acquaintances. Visiting team members need to stay focused on the task at hand.
It is expected that each team member bring a notebook computer with them or be able to use computers provided by the visited program. Each evening team members are generally expected to work on their portions of the visiting team report so that a draft report is finished by the completion of the visit. After the visit, the team will submit a report to the LAAC. The team chair is responsible for refining the team report as appropriate and submitting it to the LAAC accreditation chair within 10 days of the visit. The entire team needs to review the draft report to make sure that it reflects the consensus view of the team.
Principal Reader
The principal reader (normally LAAC Chair) is a member of LAAC who is responsible for working with the visiting team to help identify critical review issues derived from the SER, discuss visit expectations, answer questions about the Accreditation Standards, Visiting Team Guidelines and other LAAC materials. The intent of the principal reader position is to assist in assuring uniform quality in the visiting team reports as well as to facilitate report review and decision-making at related LAAC meetings.
The principal reader is supposed to contact the team chair shortly after the arrival of the program’s self-evaluation report (the LAAC principal reader will have the self-evaluation report too.) Team members may receive a call from the LAAC principal reader as well for the program under review however they generally will only contact the visiting team chair. Additionally, after the visit, the principal reader will review the draft report for clarity and will discuss concerns with the team chair.