The final products of most classes are often extensive research papers or grueling exams. The students in ARC 4990: habitat prototype house, however, will have a slightly different outcome: a fully designed and detailed Habitat for Humanity house to be built as the Maroon Edition Habitat for Humanity House of fall 2013.
 
Taught by assistant professor of architecture, Alexis Gregory, the course came to be offered through the efforts of Gregory and April Heiselt, director of the Center for the Advancement of Service Learning Excellence.
 
April Heiselt said the course attempts to create opportunities for students to gain “hands-on” experience in their chosen fields, as well as provide a service or benefit for the local community.
 
Gregory said after doing service learning work with Habitat for Humanity at the Savannah College of Art and Design, she wanted to bring that to Mississippi State University through this class, which is an opportunity for architecture and building construction science students to work in a real world scenario and come to understand the impact their profession can have.
 
“Architects typically work with clients who have more money than the homeowner of a Habitat for Humanity house, so being able to provide design services to people who would not normally work with an architect lets the students see how important it is that everyone, rich and poor, have access to good design and great architecture,” she said. “Hopefully this will encourage students to work on pro bono projects once they become professional architects and constructors.”
 
Jake Johnson, junior architecture major and one of five students in the class, said the appeal of the class lays in both the experience it affords as well as the impact it can make.
 
“It wasn’t just a design-build project serving the interest of students, but it helps someone in need, and we will hopefully help improve the design of their (Habitat for Humanity) buildings for the future,” he said.
 
During the first week of class, students met with the family for whom the house is being designed and the Starkville Habitat for Humanity Board. Senior building construction science major and class member Adam Trautman said the reaction from the family was pronounced and reassuring.
 
“Any doubts I personally was having about the project and class were completely gone after we met with the family, getting to ask them what they wanted in the house and watching them light up,” he said.
 
Johnson said the class offers students a chance not to just produce a Habitat for Humanity home for the family, but also one that is molded to the family’s needs and wishes.
 
“When we asked if there was anything else, her (the mother in the family) eyes lit up and she literally pulled a paper from her purse that had different requests and wishes for her dream house, essentially,” he said.
 
A defining characteristic of the class is the way in which students must negotiate between the desires to design the family’s dream home, while also respecting the limited budget of a Habitat for Humanity house.
 
Troutman said this is the part BCS students learn, being the financial conscience of projects, and that he will practice this throughout the class.
 
“I understand that my role on the design team is helping control cost. That’s our role in any construction project, to take what has been drawn and make it come in under budget,” he said.
 
Johnson said the class is organized more like an architectural office than a traditional class, in that the professor and the students act as co-workers on a project.
 
“It’s not really a teacher-student relationship but more of an office relationship where we’re all peers,” he said. “It gives us an inside view of how our career will be.”
 
Gregory said throughout the semester the students will present their work periodically to the Starkville Habitat Board, refining their design and eventually creating final construction drawings to get the house built.
 
Information on donating to Habitat for Humanity for the Maroon Edition house and volunteering to work on the Habitat house being constructed this spring can be found at starkvillehabitat.com or by calling 324-7008.