Architectural Education & Internship (comment notepad)

AIA Illinois Education and Internship Policy Thoughts Prepared by Frank Heitzman, AIAAugust 21, 20071. Education and practice should be fully integrated so that students also participate in practice during school. 2. Promote enrollment of greater numbers of minority students in architectural schools through focused marketing efforts and organized mentoring.3. Require every licensed architect to participate in mandatory mentoring of interns as a condition to maintaining their membership in the AIA. Define and encourage acceptance of the “Five Distinctive Phases” in an architect’s career: Education, Internship, Examination, Licensure, Mentorship. Recognize that these phases may overlap.4. Allow interns to take the ARE following their graduation and prior to completion of the IDP.5. Encourage interns to complete the ARE and become licensed to practice. The profession and society will be best served by a growing number of licensed architects.6. Allow graduates of architectural programs to use the title “architect” (rather than “intern architect”) prior to completion of IDP and ARE. Those architects that have completed the IDP and ARE and have become licensed in Illinois may call themselves “licensed architect.” Only licensed architects would be allowed to seal permit and construction documents.7. Allow alternative educational pathways in lieu of a NAAB accredited degree to fulfill educational prerequisites to licensure.8. Create more graduate schools of architecture in the state. Because of the impending date for requirement of a professional degree for Illinois architectural licensure (January 1, 2014), if we want to sustain the same number of licensed architects who are educated in Illinois, we will need to expand opportunities in the graduate programs. About half of current graduates have an M.Arch. or B.Arch. degree in Illinois.9. Empower existing community college programs in architecture (COD, Harper, ICC, Oakton and Triton) to offer four-year pre-professional degrees. This will persuade more students with limited financial resources to enter into the profession and would immediately stimulate diversity. Moreover, it would free up the current schools offering M. Arch. degrees to concentrate in that area of education and would open up more slots for grad students in the existing schools.10. Add courses and programs in “integrated practice.”11. Establish two or four-year para-architect programs in colleges for people who want to participate in architectural practice but may not want to own their own firm or become a licensed architect. They may want to specialize in certain narrow aspects of the profession such as:a. Lighting designb. Acousticsc. Cost estimatingd. IT services to firmse. Accounting servicesf. Marketingg. Administrationh. Integrated practicei. ConstructionThey would be hired by architectural firms to supplement their staff and bring in needed expertise in specialty areas; alternatively, graduates of these programs could set up their own companies to serve many architectural firms.12. Include in the requirements for continuing education for licensure and membership in the AIA one or more academic courses per year offered within schools of architecture rather than just unstructured workshops or some of the “lighter” areas of fulfillment such as reading magazine articles. There is a need to establish a formal curriculum for continuing education.

Prof. Robert I. Selby, FAIA said...
As a candidate for national vice-president I said, “Nothing is more important to AIA than assuring that the future of our profession is in capable hands. For the last two years on the AIA National Board of Directors I’ve helped write AIA policies for architectural education and programs for emerging professionals.”At that time I believed there was (or should not be) a “gap” between practice in education. Rather I believed, and do now, that education and practice is (or should be) a seamless continuum for assuring that the future of our profession is in capable hands.This was my call to action at the national level, and it is my call to action to AIA Illinois to implement the following at the state wide level: • To advocate for a culture of respect and nurturing for students in academic studios and interns in professional offices,• To promote greater diversity in architectural schools so we can achieve greater diversity in AIA, and• To improve IDP and mentoring for emerging professionals.Today I believe that AIA Illinois should seek ways to implement all of the national public policies and position statements I helped write on the national board. They are as follows:Public Policy The practice of architecture should be regulated. The privileges and responsibilities of practice should be extended only to those architects who demonstrate through education, experience, and examination that they are ethically and technically prepared.Position StatementsNAAB Degree The AIA supports a professional degree from a National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited program as the most appropriate minimum threshold for educational training. Alternative educational pathways in lieu of a NAAB accredited degree should be considered to fulfill educational prerequisites to licensure on an individual candidate basis.Internship The AIA supports a comprehensive internship with measurable qualitative training criteria. Further, the AIA supports NCARB’s Intern Development Program (IDP) and its training areas, which provide interns with the diverse training and experience in architectural essential to the preparation for licensure.Examination The AIA maintains that passing of the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) is the only acceptable threshold for fulfillment of the examination requirement for licensure. The ARE should test for public protection competencies gained through a combination of professional degree education and practical experience, of candidates once they meet the licensing requirements of the local jurisdiction. The AIA through its members, should encourage emerging professionals to complete the examination. The profession and society will be best served by a growing number of licensed architects.Timing of ARE The AIA supports architectural registration boards’ allowing interns for licensure candidacy to take the ARE following their graduation from a NAAB-accredited degree program and concurrent with enrollment in the Intern Development Program (IDP). Use of Title The AIA supports protecting the public by reserving the use of the term “architect” and its derivative forms to those individuals licensed as architects. In addition, the AIA supports the use of “architectural intern” or “intern architect” for graduate of NAAB-accredited degree programs.Interdependence The AIA supports the interdependence of practice and education as elements of the profession that, when integrated, enable students, educators, and practitioners to obtain and maintain the knowledge and skills needed to enter and fully participate in the profession, and to achieve design excellence in service to society.Public Policy With an obligation to the future of the architecture profession, architects must encourage, recruit, and inspire those who would become architects.Position StatementsMentorship The AIA supports its members to recognize and fulfill their obligation to nurture emerging professionals as they advance through all stages of their professional experience, beginning with professional education and progressing through internship and licensure and continuing throughout their career.Studio Culture The AIA supports a professional practice environment that encourages the essential values of optimism, respect, collaboration, engagement, and innovation. The architectural design studio culture promotes these ideasl and should serve as the foundation of degree education and professional practice.You may view these public policies at http://www.aia.org/ I look forward to your suggestions on implementation of these education/practice public policies at the state or chapter level.