Application Questions
All questions that arise before February 25, 2008 regarding the competition must be sent in writing to udcompetition@uli.org. Answers will be posted on this Web page.
No phone calls, please.
ULI reserves the right to edit submitted questions before posting them to the Web site. ULI also reserves the right not to answer all questions and not post redundant questions or remarks deemed to be inappropriate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Five of us in a graduate program in real estate studies want to form a team. Our undergraduate degrees are in three different real estate oriented disciplines: planning, landscape architecture, and architecture. Does that qualify as a multidisciplinary team?
Answer: It depends. If you are all enrolled in a traditional degree program, such as an M.B.A. or M.Arch, your undergraduate degrees would not be relevant and could not be considered in the formula for team formation. However, if your entire team is enrolled in a recognized multidisciplinary graduate degree program—and can provide evidence of its status as a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary program—you may use your undergraduate degrees in the formula for team formation. For more details, see the section "Forming the Teams."
Q2: Our team is composed of one M.B.A. candidate, three M.Arch. candidates, and one pursuing a joint degree M.Arch. and M.U.P. Does that qualify as a multidisciplinary team?
Answer: Yes. Students enrolled in joint- and dual-degree programs must choose which of the programs they are representing on the team. That decision is entirely up to the students and team members.
Q3: What are design disciplines?
Answer: For the purpose of this competition, design disciplines are architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and historic preservation.
Q4: Our university's graduate architecture and real estate programs are accredited by NAAB and AACSB, but our university's graduate landscape architecture program is not accredited by LAAB. Does that disqualify our team?
Answer: No. Only the university or college needs to be accredited by a nationally-recognized U.S. or Canadian accrediting body.
Q5: Will ULI require certification that student members of a team are enrolled graduate students in relevant programs?
Answer: The only certification required is the signature of the head of the sponsoring program on the application form. When teams reach the finalist stage, ULI will independently certify the validity of the teams.
Q6: When the competition site is announced, may we visit the site?
Answer: Yes, but you may not contact the site owners or public agencies involved.
Q7: Under what circumstances will a team be allowed to continue after a team member or faculty or professional adviser resigns or is replaced?
Answer: ULI will respond with a favorable ruling if the faculty adviser requests a waiver in writing and if the circumstances are exceptional and unavoidable.
Q8: Can a team replace a faculty adviser?
Answer: The program head who signed the team's application must request a waiver in writing and explain the circumstances, and name a new faculty adviser.
Q9: To what extent can other students, faculty and professional advisers, participate in the team's efforts?
Answer: Only in an advisory capacity. They may not draw or write anything that appears in the team's presentation at any stage of the competition.
Q10: Can a foreign national participate on a team?
Answer: Graduate students who are citizens of any nation may participate on a team representing any accredited U.S. or Canadian university.
Q11: I am a fifth-year student in a 5-year terminal-degree professional program (B.Arch.). Am I eligible to form or join a team?
Answer: It depends. You are eligible if your university considers you a graduate student by any one of the following guidelines: a) You received a bachelor's degree after your fourth year; b) You pay graduate tuition; or c) You qualify for graduate financial aid, such as a teaching assistantship. If, however, your status at the university remains that of an undergraduate, you are not eligible.
Q12: Can a faculty or professional adviser advise more than one student team?
Answer: Yes, as long as the teams are aware of the situation.
Q13: Can a graduate student be on more than one team?
Answer: No.
Q14: May the secondary adviser be another faculty member rather than a developer or practicing professional?
Answer: Yes. However, to maintain the multidisciplinary spirit of the competition, the two faculty advisers must be from different disciplines.
Q15: Are members of previous winning teams eligible to participate in the current competition?
Answer: All participants from the four finalist teams from all previous years' competitions are ineligible. Members of the jury, the competition advisers, all employees and officials of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and the employees, associate interns, and immediate families of any of the aforementioned parties are ineligible to compete.
Q16: Can faculty advisers for the winning team of previous competitions act as faculty adviser this year?
Answer: There is no restriction on the eligibility of faculty advisers from year to year.
Q17: I am graduating in June 2007 but my coursework should be completed by February 2007. May I participate in the 2007 competition?
Answer: Only if you are fully enrolled in the semester during which the competition is conducted, i.e., the spring semester. Fully enrolled means that you are registered in a degree-granting graduate program and that you are a full-time student. If your program is structured as a work-study program leading to a graduate degree, you may participate. All other part-time students taking graduate courses do not qualify as participants in this competition.