| WHEREAS, architectural internship is deemed to be crucial to the public, to the profession, and to individual candidates for licensure; and
WHEREAS, the 1996 Building Community report, commissioned by the five collaterals and co-authored by Dr. Ernest Boyer and Lee Mitgang, identified internship as “the most troubled phase in the continuing education of architects”; and
WHEREAS, numerous subsequent studies, taskforces, and conference recommendations have identified areas within IDP and internship generally that need to be improved; and
WHEREAS, the content, policies and procedures of a structured internship program need to keep pace with the rapidly-changing demands, scope, and nature of architectural services; and
WHEREAS, evidence demonstrates that completion of IDP takes significantly longer than the two years and ten months that it was designed to take; and
WHEREAS, the benefit of requiring a structured internship program should be result in measurably improved performance on the Architect Registration Examination by interns; and
WHEREAS, the mission of NCARB is to assist member boards in enforcing minimum competency standards for architectural licensure and practice; and
WHEREAS, the mission of the AIA is to advance the overall quality and utility of the architecture profession; and
WHEREAS, distinct from the AIA’s vested role in the evolution of architectural education through the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), the AIA currently plays only a narrow role in suggesting IDP content, policies and procedures, and no role in determining IDP content, policies, and procedures.
Therefore, be it
RESOLVED that the AIA develop a strategic plan in collaboration with NCARB that would result in a more meaningful role for all stakeholders in IDP governance; and
FURTHER RESOLVED that the AIA work collaboratively with NCARB to determine what changes to IDP content, policies, and procedures are necessary to keep pace with the changing needs of candidates, architectural practice, and individual state licensing authorities; and
FURTHER RESOLVED that the AIA develop a set of public policies regarding internship, IDP, and registration, on par with the recently approved AIA Education Policies; and
FURTHER RESOLVED that the AIA call for the institution of a triennial conference, modeled after the NAAB Validation Conference, to collaboratively and publicly review the conditions and procedures of IDP and the post-graduation development of young professionals; and
FURTHER RESOLVED that should the AIA’s efforts to develop a collaborative governance structure for IDP not show signs of measurable progress within the next year, the 2006 AIA Board of Directors will report to the 2006 AIA Convention the feasibility of developing a more comprehensive professional development program, which could be offered to state licensing boards as an alternative to IDP.
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