More Letters - Interns and the AIBC on Overtime
Reprinted e-mails with permission from the authors:
From an Intern, 19 January 2007:"I did get your email regarding proposals to establish an award to recognize ‘intern friendly’ firms. While I appreciate the intent I do think it is equally important to penalize firms who disobey the law. As you know, the AIBC aggressively prosecutes firms that sway outside the fee schedule. I think that the same should apply to firms that flaunt employment standard regulations."
From another Intern, 19 January 2007: "I think if I were to suggest anything else it might be some kind of education requirement for employers. Like a one day seminar or something for Learning Units? There seems to be a lot of ignorance among the employers themselves about their obligations.....Increasing awareness about this issue among interns is a good idea too.
Or perhaps in the employer forms that the Interns have to submit to the aibc the employer can sign something that states they have read and understand the rules about compensation, spelling out the overtime rules? That way it's out there in the open."
From Michael Ernest, AIBC Director of Professional Practice, 19 January 2007A letter from 3 November 2006 to Roisin O'Neill, AIBC Intern Coordinator:
"Our Practice Note 11 is the AIBC standard and is completely consistent with the prevailing BC law. In fact, as I believe you know, the contentof that Practice Note and its predecessor Directors Chair 10 was reviewed and accepted by the BC Employment Standard Branch ... from whom we also have written confirmation that Intern Architects DO have employment rights.
Only registered architects are excluded from the protection/rights of BC's employment law, at least insofar as it relates to the items under discussion.
(not incidentally, the foregoing is exactly what is taught, by lawyers specializing in employment law, in our "The Law and the Architect" course, mandatory for IAs and available to architects during several recent annual conferences since 1999/2000.)
Architects and their firms (as well as IAs) are expected to obey the law of the province and to adhere to AIBC standards. Anything else exposes them to not only legal/financial risk but also to disciplinary action.
The AIBC stands behind that and does not stand behind illegal and/or abusive treatment of staff. "
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I asked Michael Ernest to comment about "disciplinary action." Here's his reply from 22 January 2007:
"my recollection is that there is precedent within the AIBC’s disciplinary system for the AIBC to have and to exercise discretion as to anonymity in publication of a case result; I know that has happened in at least one case involving an IA who was the complainant"
"I understand the issue. However, if no one comes forward, then there is no case to be made and any alleged illegal activity or abuse will continue. Disciplinary findings and their publication have several purposes, two of which are (i) stopping further infractions by the offending architect or firm; and (ii) sending a message to all other architect and firms."
"If even one intern sees an extra 5 bucks..."
Wow! Things are a movin' and a shakin' at the AIBC! They are
all looking into the intern overtime compensation deal!
I'm not entirely sure what happened, but because of the discussion here in this blog, in the Intern Architect Committee and its newsletters and survey work, and in my own written proposal for employment practice policy, guidelines, and an award, it seems to be all snowballing! Yay!!
Possible possibilities include more professional awareness through more words in the right places, and maybe even the award!
As one intern mentioned this morning to me:
"If even one intern sees an extra 5 bucks, it was worth it."
Dear NCARB
Hi,
I am the Intern Architect Representative, Architectural Institute of British Columbia, Canada.
I have two general questions pertaining to finding out ARE exam results.
If all exams are graded by computer,
1) why cannot a test taker find out preliminary exam results immediately after taking an exam, such as in the GRE Graduate Record Exam?
2) why cannot a test taker find out what the correct answers were to the exam, immediately after taking an exam, such as in the GRE?
Please let me know!
Best regards
Lisa Kwan
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18 January 2007 13:39:31
Thank you for your e-mail Ms. Kwan, however, the test is graded by
computer but it takes time for that process for example: the Mulitple
Choice takes 2 to 4 weeks to be scored and the Graphics takes 4 to 6
weeks. It is not as easy as a computer scoring the exam right way. Then
mailed to you directly from your state board (NY).
Second, the exam is a licensure test unlike for instance, a test you
would have taken in college which is a teaching tool hence you find out
exactly what you did wrong. The ARE is not a method of teaching, it is
a high stakes test of competence and when passed will lead you toward
licensure to practice architecture.
ncarb exam services dept.
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19 January 2007
Thanks for your prompt response!
I am sure you must be asked these particular questions frequently.
I have a few further questions:
1a Why does the computer scoring/grading process take the amount of time you mention?
1b Are the tests graded by computer manually by a person, or automatically by a computer program?
1c Is there only one right answer to each of the questions on a multiple choice test?
2a. The GRE Graduate Record Exam, General Test, is also not a teaching tool but a test of, as they report, skills gradually acquired in verbal and quantative reasoning, and analytical writing. It too is a high-stakes exam, as a good score leads toward entry into graduate school. Despite that it is not a teaching tool, and it is a high-stakes exam, test takers can find out immediately after taking the exam their results. I cannot understand the reasoning behind your response as yet. Could you please further clarify the connection between the ARE being a high stakes test of competance, and not being able to find out a preliminary exam result immediately after the exam?
b. If not already answered in a), would it be possible for test taker find out what went wrong on a test immediately after being taken, without compromising it being a test of competancy leading to licensure? Wouldn't it be useful to know what went right and wrong, given that it would perhaps improve the our competency, and given that we are being prepared for life-long learning in this profession?
Please let me know!
Thanks,
Lisa Kwan
Letter from Intern
An e-mail from 10 January 2007:
Hi Lisa,
Thank goodness somebody finally brought it up. Yes, this issue needs to be seriously talked about. I was at the recent Law and the Architect seminar that the AIBC had in-house. Seemed like everybody woke up once the discussion on employment law got around to the topic of overtime.
It could be just a situation of employers not aware that interns are covered under the employment standards act while employed registered architects are not covered. My suspicion however, is that the people running firms know that a wide majority of other firms dont pay overtime and / or time and a half. Shouldn't it be time and a half? Seems like this problem is widespread.
The problem is that even though the rule is in the books the only way to enforce the thing is by bringing a claim against your present or former employer - within six months for it. Even if you decide to do that it may jeopardise your search for a new position.
This is a totally untennible situation. I guess I haven't offered much in the way of solutions but at least its nice to be able to talk about it.
Surviving Internship: The Book
Here's a new book I found: Grace Kim's
The Survival Guide to Architectural Internship and Career Development, published January 2006 by John Wiley and Sons. Let's see if we can get in into a library here, hey? Until then, I can't do a proper book review, so here's one from the AIA, by Murrye Bernard, Assoc. AIA:
(The following text was taken from
http://www.aia.org/nacq_a_060727_in_bernard)
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I wish Grace Kim’s new book, The Survival Guide, had been around when I was a new college graduate. In those days, we had to navigate the job market and internship process on our own—the proverbial equivalent to the uphill, both ways, in the snow scenario. Now, no one has to endure that ordeal.
The book answers every conceivable question about internship, licensure, and beyond. It is a must read for soon-to-be graduates, interns in their first few years of practice, and those who haven’t taken the ARE and find themselves in a perpetual state of internship, as well as those pursuing nontraditional careers. A first of its kind and a definitive reference, this book is not necessarily one to be read cover to cover. Rather, it is meant to serve as a guide throughout the beginning of one’s career.
Topics include: finding a job in a fim that is right for you, IDP, ARE, professional practice and development, mentorship, nontraditional career paths, working abroad, and starting your own firm. Kim supplements her text with essays by interns from around the world, who provide first-hand accounts of their experiences. In addition, Kim includes helpful checklists and worksheets to aid in exploring one’s personal career path. Tips are dispersed throughout the text—while often common sense, they are nonetheless helpful reminders. At the end of the book, Kim provides references and a comprehensive bibliography for further reading.
As a young practitioner—principal and cofounder of Schemata Workshop, an architectural collaborative in Seattle—Grace Kim is a former IDP coordinator and has mentored many interns. Her writing is colored by her experience and she takes an informal, candid approach. While no substitute for a real-life mentor, this book serves to fill in the gaps.
I attended a seminar at the 2006 AIA National Convention in Los Angeles presented by Grace Kim and Lee Waldrep, the author of Becoming an Architect: A Guide to Careers in Design. The seminar was conducted in a workshop format, allowing for interaction within smaller groups. Kim believes in the power of peer mentoring, as explained through her ladder metaphor:
“I’d like to share with you my ladder metaphor related to mentoring. If you can imagine a large ladder with all of us standing on rungs representing different stages in our architectural career, there is someone just ahead of you and others immediately behind you. But the gaps between the rungs may at times appear too distant and it may not be clear how you can advance to the next one. For each person these large gaps may appear at different points in their career. So no matter where you are in your career, you have the ability to be a mentor by sharing the knowledge you possess with those on the rung behind you. Reaching back to provide them a helpful hand to pull up to the next rung can make a big difference for them and a huge difference for the future of our profession. You may know this from a personal experience yourself. I would encourage you to keep this metaphor in mind as you progress through your career—I think you will find that mentorship will bring you many personal and professional rewards in ways that you’d never imagine by simply reaching back to help someone advance to the next rung.”
The Survival Guide to Architectural Internship and Career Development is published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. It can be purchased at the Wiley Web site.
Becoming an Architect: A Guide to Careers in Design by Lee Waldrep, is also published by Wiley.
