To conclude the COLUMNS Professor Interview series, student writer Quinn Arzt met with the new Architecture faculty member Professor Stacey Bowers. Fairmont State University educators are provided with the unique opportunity to shape the futures of the next generation of professionals and pass on their knowledge. While this series has focused on professional research, working experience is extremely important in all fields of study. Educators do not typically have the opportunity to discuss experiences in the field thanks to the topics of their classes, and many students do not get to learn about what their future career will actually look like. Over the second half of the Fall 2024 semester, the Professor Interviews series COLUMNS provided professors with the opportunity to share their stories, advice, and experiences with the students of Fairmont State.
Stacey Bowers started her role as an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Fairmont State University in the Fall 2024 semester. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Architecture right here at Fairmont State in 2007. However, the Art, Architecture, and Design department of Fairmont State University did not receive the architecture accreditation until recently. She has always loved the architecture of Chicago, so she got her Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois in Chicago in 2009. Professor Bowers wanted to go into urban design when she started her master’s journey, and while she did not stick with urban design, the lessons and skills taken from the planning of these spaces still influence Professor Bowers’ work today. The practice of looking at an urban scale, identifying the issues that could be solved through architecture, then focusing in on a small site and its details brings a different method of architectural analysis and research to the undergraduate studio, serving as an interesting juxtaposition of perspectives with the traditional ideas presented by other professors.
Architectural research and analysis are different than academic methods of research presented by the professors with doctoral degrees previously in this series. Practicing architects rarely earn their doctorates, only those looking to become professors typically pursue a degree higher than the master. Instead, from as early as junior year as an intern, students will work on their degrees in tandem with gaining experience in a firm. Professor Bowers worked full time in a firm following her master’s degree, beginning with state-funded projects like schools before reaching her current role of designing commercial structures and historical preservation works. The majority of what she focuses on includes the plethora of small towns in the region with post-industrial buildings that need a little assistance to return to their former glory. The master’s degree at University of Illinois Chicago was not set up to have a thesis, however Professor Bowers conducted a research project while abroad where she researched the use of public spaces in Barcelona. As an architect, her research consisted of observation rather than literary study. Through site observation, behavior mapping, photography, and careful notes, Professor Bowers documented how people use spaces in order to improve the quality of future designs and provide quantitative feedback and the effectiveness of existing structures. Another example of research in a professional setting would be the creation of Pendleton County’s Franklin Elementary School. As the first Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) school building in the United States of America, as well as one of the first design-build schools in West Virginia, this was a new method with a new material that required a lot of research. Through collaboration with German engineers, as the construction method was popular in Germany despite its newness in West Virginia, this school remains on of Professor Bowers’ favorite projects that she has worked on in her career.
As an alumnus of Fairmont State, it is amazing to have Professor Bowers back in the studio she studied in herself. Before returning to Fairmont, she taught Interior Design classes as West Virginia University, and before becoming an educator she enjoyed mentoring interns in architecture firms, and giving constructive critique came naturally after serving on presentational juries. While teaching was not a path she had originally considered, she asked herself “What makes a good educator?” while serving as a professor and realized she enjoyed the role. She keeps teaching because she enjoys helping students and watching the growth over time – a journey easy to track in the studio as architectural education is comprised of building blocks and seeing your students grow through their presentations over the years is both fun and rewarding. Professor Bowers would say that her most important role as a college professor is mentoring aspiring architects and students who are interested in learning about the field by bringing professional expertise and experience into the classroom, answering questions for recent graduates and college seniors regarding graduate school and the workforce.
A special thank you to Professor Stacey Bowers for her time and participation, and this wraps up the Fall 2024 Professor Interview series. I hope that these stories and pieces of advice from our Fairmont State University educators can assist you on your journey through undergraduate and graduate careers, as well as in your future jobs and pursuits.
