Architecture Foundation Scholarship

This scholarship program was previously named the Dorothy Spence Memorial Scholarship in recognition of the longtime Executive Director of AIA Georgia and eloquent advocate of architecture in Georgia. The program assists students during one of their final two years of professional architecture studies in the state of Georgia.

Congratulations to the 2018 recipients!

  • Tim Huntley, KSU
  • Emily Wirt, Georgia Tech
  • Dyesha Holmes, KSU
  • Areej Ali, Georgia Tech

Professional degree candidates in one of the three Georgia schools of architecture who will be continuing their studies the year following application are eligible to apply. In the academic year of the award, students must be matriculated in a first professional NAAB accredited degree program in Georgia as follows:

  • The fourth or fifth year of a five-year program resulting in a bachelor of architecture or equivalent degree (BArch, Kennesaw State University)
  • The fourth or fifth year of a five-year program resulting in a master of architecture or equivalent degree (MArch, SCAD)
  • The second or third year of a 3.5-year program that results in the Master of Architecture (M.Arch., Georgia Tech)

Award criteria are based on a combination of the following:

    • student excellence in academic performance, design portfolio, and educational goals
    • review of letters of recommendation and demonstrated financial need pertaining to the student
    • student exhibits leadership and community service involvement promoting the architecture profession in a positive manner

Students are required to submit the materials in digital format to the Foundation:

  • a separate letter of recommendation from the administration for each student demonstrating why the individual would be a good candidate;
  • a one-or-two-page curriculum vitae for each nominee stating, among other things, name, contact information, progress in studies, and anticipated degree and date of graduation;
  • a maximum 1,000-word essay written by the nominee describing their goals and aspirations, both educationally and professionally;
  • a limited graphic portfolio of the nominee’s work (which the AFGA board presumes will consist of five to ten 8.5 x 11-inch pages representing the student’s work); and
  • provide a list of past scholarships and awards received by the nominee as well as those the nominee is currently applying for.

PLEASE NOTE: Students are selected first through their university.

The application and review process for all award programs is three stages; internal application and review within each architecture program to select candidates, nomination of candidates by each individual architecture school, and review and selection of scholarship recipients by the Foundation:

  • Architecture program internal review and selection of candidates – We recommend that you receive applications from your students no later than February 22, 2019 in order to review and select no more than three candidates to nominate and submit your school’s nominations to the AFGA by March 1, 2019. You may determine the method of selecting your school’s nominees;
  • Architecture program nomination of candidates – Following your internal review and selection of candidates, you must electronically submit a digital submission for each nominee as a single book-marked PDF to the AFGA at [email protected] or via Dropbox no later than 5:00p.m. March 1, 2019.

Each school may submit no more than three nominees for the Architecture Foundation Scholarship. Kennesaw State University may also submit no more than three nominees for the John D. Mulford Memorial Scholarship.

This year we would like to put more emphasis on financial need.  If your school has a mechanism for determining financial need, we ask that you utilize it in determining your school nominees.

Please note that the school is responsible for submitting their nominations; submissions from students will not be accepted. Also, please note that late submissions and submissions that do not conform to submission requirements will not be accepted.

  • AFGA Board review and selection of award recipients The AFGA Board will review your nominees from which it may award one or two scholarships to be presented to the student(s).

Along with your nominations and submission materials, please include the dates and locations of graduation or ceremonies at your school during which it would be appropriate to make these presentations.

Please note, if no recommendations are forthcoming from one or more schools, the AFGA Board may, but is not required to, allocate some of all the non-responding school’s targeted scholarship money to award students from one of the other institutions.

2019

  • Lily Berrios, AIA
  • Matt Finn, RA
  • Zachary Terry, AIA
  • Flor Velarde
  • George Harkness, AIA