About the College
The College of Environment and Design was formed in 2001 from the School of Environmental Design. It was the first new college at UGA since 1969. Within the College exists degree programs in Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, and Environmental Planning & Design as well as a specialized Certificate Program in Environmental Ethics.
Landscape Architecture has been taught at UGA since 1928, and has offered a graduate program since 1954. The undergraduate program, which is a five year curriculum, has been accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architects since 1952, and the graduate program as well since 1954. The landscape architecture programs often hold national rankings, frequently falling within the top 5 programs in the United States, at each of the undergraduate and graduate levels.
The Historic Preservation graduate program within the College, is also very highly regarded on a national level through the National Trust, and offers only one of two programs in the United States for a joint Juris Doctorate. The curriculum is recognized in Georgia as the first of it’s kind, with courses offered in 1973, and its graduate program officially forming in 1982.
The newest graduate program, Environmental Planning & Design, accepted its first students in the fall of 2009. It is a professional graduate program with an emphasis on a studio-based integrative planning process grounded in environmental and ecological principles.
Most unique to the College is the Certificate of Environmental Ethics, which was the first of its kind to be established in the United States in 1983. There are certificates offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, often in compliment and with value enhancement to other degrees. The faculty for the Certificate are all volunteer in capacity, and include a wealth of disciplines across UGA from such areas as botany, biology, forestry, ecology, soil science and marine science, as well as landscape architecture, business, sociology, law, journalism, the arts and other non-science areas and private industry.
Our overarching mission is to research, teach and communicate new and existing knowledge about the built and natural environment to promote innovative planning, preservation, protection, restoration and responsible development of natural and cultural resources. In keeping to this mission, the College will be constantly exploring the development of new study and degree areas.
