Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design will offer three new master’s degrees beginning in Fall 2014. The new degrees include a Master’s of healthcare design, Master’s of landscape architecture and Master in architecture and environmental design.

“We’re looking at how to make the world a better place to live for everybody, and these offerings enhance what we are already doing,”  Douglas Steidl, dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, said in a press release.

The chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents granted final approval for the programs Dec. 22, 2013.

The Master’s of healthcare design will focus on the design and performance of healthcare environments.

Students will be able to use the numerous hospitals in northeast Ohio and surrounding areas to enrich their studies as they interact with professionals in the health care design industry.

The Master’s of healthcare design is a direct response to the needs of the profession, said William Willoughby, associate dean and associate professor in the college, according to a press release.

With a focus on urban landscape design, the Master’s of landscape architecture will be offered at Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, located in downtown Cleveland’s Playhouse Square District.   

“Cleveland and other older industrial cities in the northeast could use landscape architects to improve the environment,” Steidl said in a press release.

Aiming to affect the environmental health of northeast Ohio and beyond, the program will prepare students to also address modern design challenges involving inner-ring suburbs, agriculture, brownfields and industrial reclamation.

The Master in architecture and environmental design will allow students to research in areas relevant to 21st-century design principles.

“This is a research degree that will be open to anybody that has a bachelor’s degree in any accredited design program,” Steidl said in a press release.

Students will be able to research unusual topics such as high-performance and sustainable design; historic preservation and building forensics; digital design and fabrication; construction methods and materials; and design theories.

Contact Justin Sheil at [email protected].