Lauri Moffet-Fehlberg, who graduated from Montana State School of Architecture in 1983, said the mentorship program builds important personal and professional bonds early on.
“The architectural community is fairly small, and the mentor program builds important connections and is a springboard that will, for many, open doors for internships and jobs,” said Moffet-Fehlberg, who is senior vice president of architecture for the Dahlin Group in Pleasanton, California. She met her husband Kurt Fehlberg ’83, director of architecture for Dahlin, at MSU. Both are active in the Advisory Council and both are mentors who see the importance of the connections between mentors and mentees. “The (program) builds lasting relationships,” she said.
Octavia Fisher ’25, a student from Bozeman who is going into her first year of her master’s program, said that having a mentor from the Advisory Council has been inspiring. Her mentor would share his projects with his mentees and discuss his presentations to clients.
“Being able to see how that communication process works was one of the most helpful things for me,” Fisher said. “He also would critique our studio projects. It is inspiring to have an outside prospect directly from the industry give you feedback.”
But perhaps the largest challenge to the council in many decades now looms. Two years ago, MSU’s master of architecture professional degree program received an eight-year term of continuing accreditation from the National Architectural Accrediting Board, the highest level of accreditation available through NAAB, the National Architectural Accrediting Board. The accreditation was enthusiastic with one exception. It warned that MSU would have to grow its footprint to accommodate the number of students in the school or risk failing accreditation in the future. Everts said because architects cannot be hired without graduating from an accredited school, a future lack of accreditation could doom the program.
Everts said officials from the School of Architecture and the College of Arts and Architecture have already begun the first steps in a long and difficult journey to expand Cheever Hall. The effort would require substantial private donations. The Advisory Council is already deeply involved in finding solutions to meet the challenge to increase the space needed, McBride said.
After all, the 61 members of the group are professionals who work every day to find elegant solutions to solving problems, large and small.
“We care,” McBride said. “This is a special place. We have deep, collective roots that we hope only to grow deeper with future generations of architecture students.”