Good architects are not just good designers. They possess a wide range of skills, knowledge, and sensitivities that are essential to organizing and managing the building-delivery process.

Good architects are good listeners, articulate speakers and writers, incisive thinkers, and excellent organizers. They are good with people, able to lead project teams, and help diverse client groups reach consensus and envision exciting project possibilities. Successful architects are good researchers, creative visionaries, and aware of the many consequences of their design decisions. Good architects continually seek to expand their vocabulary of project analysis tools and their reservoir of design answers to project requirements and challenges. Responsible architects balance technical skill with artful sensitivity. They ask penetrating questions, see the larger picture, and guide projects through complex situations to desired results.

Architects are responsible for the management and stewardship of many types of important resources. Money, time, natural resources, energy, property, manpower, prestige, and reputation are a few. This is why architects are lifelong students, constantly striving to know more, be more, manage more effectively.

Architecture is a demanding and satisfying field -- a wonderful way to spend a creative lifetime that contributes to people's lives in real ways, a way to join and participate in a sacred trust.To become an architect, you must:

• Earn a professional degree from an accredited school of architecture,
• Perform three years of internship under the supervision of a licensed architect, and
• Pass a professional licensing exam to practice architecture.

The Florida A&M University School of Architecture professional architecture degrees are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) and can be your first step toward becoming an architect.