National Associates Committee

Now that NCARB has passed a resolution indicating their stance on taking the ARE's while enrolled in IDP, what does this mean for you? Granted a handful of states already allow interns to take the exams ahead of IDP and many other states boards' licensing regulations have not changed as of yet, how has this new standpoint at NCARB affected your plans for licensure?

by Suzanna Wight, AIA
AIA Emerging Professionals Director

Now that National Council of Architectural Registration Board’s (NCARB) licensing guidelines have changed allowing interns to take the Architect Registration Exam (ARE) in the midst of their internship, will internship rules change too? It’s likely—especially if the same proponents of the ARE timing changes can rally their troops again.

The AIA National Associates Committee (NAC) has been a proponent of several ways to make the Internship Development Program more relevant and reactive to the needs of young professionals. Perhaps the most room for improvement lies in clearly delineating and documenting the responsibilities of IDP mentors and supervisors. The biggest roadblock here is a basic lack of communication and knowledge. The majority of people who are supervisors now never went through the IDP process, and a basic primer (covering the glossary of terms, the forms to fill out, what are the steps supervisors should take with their interns, etc.) could go a long way towards getting interns and their bosses on the same page. A big part of this communication gap is simple supervisor accountability. To make the IDP more effective, mentors and supervisors need to be made aware of the exact commitment make when they sign  an IDP form.

Another common criticism about the IDP is that it’s all numbers and no judgment. Its singular focus on 700 units of seat-time doesn’t take into account any qualitative analysis of an intern’s comprehension and competency. The goal is to ensure that interns understand the tasks involved in completing an IDP training area and are able to perform them independently following licensure. Measuring the amount of time spent on a particular task doesn’t do that. So far, two different programs are being considered to address competency in architectural internships. The Comprehensive Intern Development Program (CIDP) that California has adopted has interns submit a written narrative and graphic representation of the projects they are working on to their supervisor. The Emerging Professional’s Companion is a Web site tha presents interns with qualitative development tools, like open-ended problem-solving scenarios and case studies.

On the heels of the ARE changes, this push is another sign of the broad democratization of the practice of architecture and a new generation of architects that is committed to grassroots activism. Let’s embrace it. Interns are insisting that their voices be heard. Let’s listen.

What do you think?

An increasing number of associations are creating communities on familiar online social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Second Life. Before the AIA jumps on the bandwagon, we'd like to hear from our members about what they would like to see from the AIA in this area.