Last week’s session kicked off an energetic conversation about creating the first accredited degree in Offsite Design & Delivery—and with it, a new path to professional licensure.

From licensing pathways and curriculum design to gaps in site knowledge and manufacturing fluency, we asked symposium attendees:

• What should the next generation of offsite leaders know?
• How do we build accreditation that mirrors real-world complexity?
• Can we close the disconnect between architects, fabricators, and GCs?

Key takeaways:

• Education must balance book smarts and street smarts.
• Internships and site exposure are non-negotiable.
• This isn't just for architects—it’s interdisciplinary by necessity.
• A leadership vacuum in offsite education is ready to be filled.
• We need consistent, U.S.-relevant curriculum rooted in lessons learned.

The CfOC is not designing a silver bullet. We're designing an ecosystem of next-generation thinkers. We ask our guests “Let’s build the MS-ODD together,” and we’re excited to see some of the responses – some quoted below.

#OffsiteConstruction #DesignThinking #Accreditation #Modular #Architecture #Engineering #ConstructionEducation

“It is important that the senior research fellows are in the process of carefully mapping each (Masters of Design & Development) course to the entire real estate development value chain. It is necessary to ensure the accredited courses reflect the entire process, given the gravity of the scope. Everything from how a developer thinks and determines when to engage offsite players, to standardization, to updated ways we need to manage construction sites, to how entitlement/city planning operation for modular, to financing-to-sale… are important pieces of the equation. It's great to see that most of this is on the CfOC’s research Roadmap, but it is hard to break silos across disciplines in a piecemeal fashion. The right organizational step is to map courses to the entire value chain to avoid any oversight.”  - Apoorva Pasricha (Cloud Apartments)

- Apoorva Pasricha (COO, Cloud Apartments)

This is great! But how can we overcome the half-decade wait for Masters of Design & Delivery graduates?! What could be offered in the meantime for the industry?” 

- Geoff Lynch, (Studio Director, Government & Defense Northeast Lead, Gensler)

“A lot of these themes are what we discuss on the Future of the Practice committee (AIA). If this degree program had been available years ago, I would have pursued it enthusiastically! This vision for a future professional is a new standard for what an Architect should be going forward because this new system-level thinking will plug the profession into a higher-level managerial role. It offers a 21st C. pathway to the historic master builder.” 

- John Mikesh (Digital Innovator and Material Designer)

“This is super exciting. I think one of the areas that gets too little focus when we are discussing modular is the business model of both the modular manufacturer and our customers (real estate developers). I love the degree updates making a required Real Estate Finance / Construction Loan class. It’s even exciting to think beyond that, to other financial and business model focused electives supplement this core knowledge. The industry needs to make sure that everyone going into modular (even non-business roles) understands the unique nuances of draws/requisitions/construction loans – because that impacts the technical side of product design, supplier selection, material selection, and overall incentive system of our customers. 

-Andrew Stanisforth (CEO, Assembly OSM).”