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Hm, thinking of going to Seattle over May long weekend. But I need a passport! Yet again, that poignant feeling grips me: I can ask a physician, police officer, or postmaster to sign my passport application but not an architect.So, the story is, is that there were no nominations for the position of the Intern Representative. The official word is that the new Council in May will appoint a nominee.
I've been trying to do an Intern Representative Report for what seems the longest time - lengthened by close and intimate encounters with the flu bug to packing away that Construction Docs exam (yay!). I'll be speaking at the AIBC AGM on Saturday April 28th, and have to send in my "speech" to the AIBC staff, um, "soon."
You should come to the AGM. If anything, I've never seen so many architects in one room. Sit by one and maybe you can get some good hints or advice. I think officially though, the AGM is an obligation of the Council to report back to the entire membership. You get to listen to reports and find out what the AIBC has been doing. There's an open mike after the break and anyone can speak to Council. It's supposed to be the one open forum for everyone: architects, interns, etc. to hear and to be heard.
I printed out the AIBC Intern Survey ages ago, but never did click on "View" for a lot of them. Now I have:
Question 72: If you could change anything about the IAP, what would you change?
1.
Two comments: 1)INTERNS SHOULD NOT BE PENALIZED FOR HANDING IN THEIR EXPERIENCE BOOKS LATE. Many of us work long hours, are parents of young children, are studying for our ARE exams, and are trying to keep our experience books up to date. When your kids need new school clothes on an intern's income, a $100 late penalty is unfair and unnecessary. This policy should be changed immediately. 2)The ARE exams are too American biased...and sometimes the information actually runs contrary to the Canadian methods of practice.
2.
Get rid of the NCARBS. Do not recognize foreign degrees and give the women from the Canadian architecture schools a chance to have a job and a life. Do not restrict the time to take the NCARBS, if they do remain, to five years. It takes at least five years for a woman intern to get back into the workforce at her prepregnancy level after she has a baby. This would allow for a considerble number of potential registered architects get into the profession they have fought so hard to be in.
3.
Online study materials.
4.
Drop the ARE exams. They really don't reflect what a person is capable of within the profession. All they do is cause anxiety. One's performance in the day to day, real world applications of this profession will determine one's suitability. From what I can see the ARE's repeat what we were already examined on while at University. A mandatory period of work experience following University should really be the only further requirement. This could be followed by an interview, or Oral Exam prior to licensing. The requirement for continuing education is good and important.
5.
The exams are a total waste of time and money. They do not test in a manner that is appropriate for the practise of architecture. Please come up with a new set of Canadian exams!!!!!
6.
Either one of the two only and not both - for international architects: 5600 hours or ARE's.
7.
I would make the hour/log book less onerous and more relvant to current practice....
8.
it should emphasize the quality of practice rather than suimply the process - right now there is no advantage to doing "good" work - as long as you jump through the hoops like a good dog... architecture is of fundamental cultural importance - it should start from within.
9.
Fewer mentor meetings (1 a year), longer periods to compile data before it is considered late. Scheduling has been very difficult for both those reasons. Remove rolling clock. Make liability insurance affordable and reduce professional fees as these are the biggest deterants to becoming registered. Allow architectural work by a professional without a registered firm for small scale projects.
10.
CERB should have a better form to log hours and we should be given a binder, not a bunch of pdfs through e-mail. There should be more seminars per year and the intern committee should be more proactive in organizing study groups. Mentorship does not seem useful at all.
11.
Start the Intern hour process earlier - when i was in Architecture School as a co-op program- I think it is unacceptable to be in my mid 30s and still struggling to get hours here and there.
12.
I feel that the flexibility to take the ARE's anytime means that they are never taken. Women, I think, are especially affected by this phenomenon. Having already put a lot of years into education, the pressure to have children immediately after graduating (if that is part of a person's life-plan), means taking the ARE's is put on the back-burner, possibly forever. The rolling clock has only exacerbated this problem. Nothing I am learning at work is helping me write the ARE's! I think that the ARE's, if they continue to be deemed important, should be written immediately following graduation, or maybe even be a requirement of graduation. Registration should be based on work experience, the oral exam, and possibly one written registration exam administered by the jurisdiction where the applicant wishes to practice. And I think the coursework requirement should be re-organized so that interns simply must take a certain number of learning units each year, as do registered architects. If 3 years of work experience is required, then a given number of units of courses would automatically be taken in that time, more if the intern worked longer. Well, I'm off to study for my second ARE. Now that my son has started kindergarten, I'll be able to use some of my maternity leave time to study. My baby is on the floor beside me trying to learn to crawl, and my time should be focused on her, but I'll probably never have this kind of time again, so I'm here at the AIBC site trying to get up to speed again. Hopefully, in spite of being mom to a 5-year-old and a baby, and working a job that requires overtime, I'll be able to write the remaining 8 exams before my first exam 'expires.' And maybe achieve my professional designation before I turn 40.
13.
More resources at the AIBC library for the AREs.
14.
I would make it mandatory for member employers to support interns through the process by providing financial incentives to complete the program -ie. paying for courses and exams, allowing time off to prepare, and offering in office mentoring.
15.
The oral review is outdated, potentially sexist and racist - a great way to defend the old boys club, but good for nothing else. Also, the exams are time consuming, expensive and life-sucking. Tell me honestly please, how can I ferret out work for myself, make social connections and contribute to the community when I am forced to dedicate all my time, plus all my mental and financial resources to the NCARBs for a period of between nine months to two years? It doesn't leave a lot of time for either quality professional or personal development.
16.
as above
17.
Wish you did not have the rolling clock as I need to start thinking about family now and this will put added stress on me (which I do not feel is necessary). I should be able to finish the exams at my own pace (5 years is not long if you have other personal issues to deal with).
18.
ARE exams system to reflect the real experience of an architect and not the study materials.
19.
IAP is mostly a repeat of an accredited University education. Anything that is missed should be under one learning roof. Alot of time and money is wasted in doing things over and over. I think a full real "Architectural Education" is what is required. Trying to get requirements in after graduation is quite difficult to achieve while working in the career. So its either University or IAP but not both. Its been said that university graduates know little about practice. These days knowing little, is an expensive proposition.
20.
Get rid of AREs
21.
make the AIBC realize that it should play a support and resource role within the profession and leave the licensing criteria to another simply legislated body. a clear division of church and state.
22.
Let Intern choose a Mentor from the same firm,
23.
Fewer exams. Graphic exams are too long and the 15 min. break does not make sense in terms of really providing a break - the timing is too short and it does not occur at a mid-point of break up the exam modules effectively.
24.
Provide a different registration procedure for those registered elsewhere. Don't mind the local experience and the Oral and wouldn't mind an exam relavent to the specific issues relating to practicing in BC (builkding envelope, types of contracts etc) but the NCARBs are a waste of time.
25.
Encouraging women to finish either through exceptions to the rolling clock for members wanting to take a break from the profession to start a family.
26.
Would provide for a more flexible registration process for experienced foreign graduates registered in jurisdictions outside of North America.
27.
Get rid of the oral exam.
28.
THE RESOURCES FOR THE EXAMS ARE NOT ACCESSSIBLE ENOUGH - INTERNS WORK LONG HOURS AND THE AIBC ONLY ALLOWS THE RESOURCES FOR TWO WEEKS. TIME OFF TO STUDY IS DIFFICULT AT BEST.
29.
To have all employers provide support to interns in completing the IAP. For example, employers should assist in providing and/or contributing to the fees for Interns to take IAP seminars, paid time-off for study time and taking ARE's. Remove the pressure of the Rolling-Clock. There are already many pressures associated with the IAP, including getting the appropriate hours of experience and getting the opportunties from employers for specific areas.
More:
1.
I'm not certain what benefit a national Intern directory would be?
2.
I am concerned about the opening up of the profession to international architectural graduates in general since it has been very difficult for Canadian Interns to get their qualifications especially for women (5-10% of registered architects in Canada) in particular those few like myself who try to juggle work, family, a child, professional requirements, fitness & health(?) in what has often been a less than vibrant economy (which has merely been the last few years). Some employers have said they would not hire me because I was a woman and I would just go off and have children so why should they bother letting me become an intern. I guess the profession thinks it is better to just hire a man that can barely speak English that got a degree that specializes in building with bamboo in communist country.
3.
I think the lack of interns moving into registration is a direct result of the profession itself not supporting the expansion of practice into "non-traditional" areas - the world is changing but the AIBC is clinging to a backwards philosophy that does relate to the current state of practice... it hurts the profession and alienates anyone with alternate or creative ideas - none of your questions address this issue - also there is no incentive because the renumeration in traditional practice does not make up for the effort and sacrifices required (as the Tarriff is unenforced by the AIBC)
4.
I would like to see more information about compensation throughout the field- easier to access. I want to be able to say to an employer that what they are offering is substandard and have something to back that.
5.
I think there should be more support for people trying to study for the AREs (study groups, more textbooks/ resources, etc). It is hard to know what to study and to what extent you need to know the information. The seminars held in the spring were interesting, but often the presenter was not up to date on the latest exam. It would be really helpful to have people who just wrote the exam present about what to study and how.
6.
See below.
7.
'Radio' buttons do not actually allow any real input - they simply give you the answers you want to process. Try asking some more interesting questions. For example: "Have you had to pass up any potentially fruitful professional or personal oppurtunites due to the internship process?" "Would you say there is a constant and debilitating stress present in your life due to your involvement in the internship process?"
8.
The only thing missing in the IAP is regarding the mentor/employer roles: Since there are two people to consult, the mentor is outside the office, and the employer is so busy with his/her projects with barely enough time to at least sign the CERB, it makes it difficult to have someone truly acting as guide during a project. Most of the time, we're left to fend for ourselves, which is a good thing in some cases, but not in others. If there were some way of ensuring the employer was fulfilling his/her expected role, I'm sure interns would learn quicker and have a better comprehensive picture of the process of architecture.
9.
The NCARB exams seem to be completely dictated by the United States of America. Canadians go to universities with accredited architecture programs and yet we need to write American exams, outlining American governing, standards, etc. entities, and pay American dollars to write these exams. Why as Canadians with valid educations (typically 2 degrees) are we forced to write these American exams and why does BC have an oral exam?
10.
The biggest problem with the IAP is the mandatory courses that interns have to take. They are not offered frequently enough, nor are they presented in a professional manner. The courses seem to be designed solely for recent grads, not interns who have 1+ years of experience. As they are right now, they do not present any new material that any intern having worked in an office should not be unfamiliar with and are a waste of time.
11.
As mentioned before, the challenge of maintaining a job, studying for exams, trying to attend seminars is greatly compounded when the intern lives outside of Vancouver. In the past seminars have been canceled the day of, this doesn't sit well when one has aranged to take a day off work traveled to the coast and booked a hotel. Although there arent as many intern members in the interior perhaps the AIBC could still provide a few seminars here, and provide a set of NCARB study resorces for the interior. For most of the interior Kamploops or Kelowna is only a few hours drive.
12.
I completely disagree with the requirement for the oral exam. It should not be up to a local committee to determine the eligibility of licensure, especially after a candidate has jumped through every previous hoop successfully. Architecture already suffers too much from subjective opinions of ego driven architects. It should be based on more objective grounds- just like the exams.
13.
The survey did not solicit comment on either the surface or underlying obstacles to internship and professional registration. These are repeated from question 65 above: 1. The process is byzantine: ARE material is very difficult to access. In an era of electronic information, this in inexcusable. 2. Courses are virtually inaccessible to Vancouver Interns, let alone interns from outside the lower mainland. They are not advertized in a timely manner and the reservation/waitlist process is totally unreliable. 3. The architectural profession does not encourage professional development in a structured manner (like law.) 4. The benefits of professional registration are ill-defined and debatable.
14.
this survey does nothing to ask how the iap needs to be revamped.
15.
Some of the ARE's and topics included in the ARE's are irrelevant to what we practice in really life. I foresee having trouble writing the lateral forces and general structures exams, knowing that in real life we hire an engineer.
16.
I am extremely disappointment both with the intern program and the architectural profession in their lack of support for the development of the next generation of professionals. Architecture truly is a profession that eats its young, and from my point of view the profession is the poorer for it.
17.
This survey was composed more for the benefit of the AIBC instead of the intern. A survey requiring written responses, rather than multiple choice and fill in the bubble questions, would be more effective in allowing interns to express their opinions of the IAP. The IAP is a serious committment, and accordingly, a serious survey should be conducted. The style of this survey trivializes the IAP, and what is ultimately the hopes and dreams of every intern. The survey did not allow me to express my main criticism if the IAP. I will express it here. The IAP is flawed. By separating the role of mentor from employer, the IAP has relinquished the obligation of the employer to provide interns with needed training and experience to meet IAP hours. Moreover, some firms in BC are completely insensitive of this need of interns. They feel they can shop for employees, hiring and firing, until they acquire staff of sufficient experience; rather than training staff to the level of skills that meets their needs. Economies of scale are bigger now. Therefore, projects are bigger, and require more specialized delinations of tasks amongst a project team. As a result, interns are pigeon holed, and cannot broaden their scope of experience within the project they are working on. The IAP curriculum must change accordingly to this reality.
18.
I feel that exams should not be a part of IAP. The experiance and previous education should be the only requirements for the registration. It is obvious that the exams are a waste of time and money, no matter what form they take. They are created to be a mere source of funds for these elite institutions in North America. It would be much more usfull to have a mandatory continuous education program independent of the registration process, something similar to this point system active today.
19.
there are too many issues that are too complex to reveal through a survey
20.
There are primarily factual queries. Whether something like the rolling clock, for instance, is effective or not has nothing to do with whether or not one feels satisfied with thie IAP program. I felt supported by Martha Rans when she called to ask me about myself and what my experience had been, why I hadn't gone for registration sooner after I graduated. I felt there was a personal connection. I feel more satisfied when I am treated as a person with a history, not just another Intern who has to follow the rules and regulations or participates in impersonal surveys. She had offered support, for instance, by asking, because I don't live in Vancouver, whether I would be more likely to participate in the ARE seminars via teleconferencing. It was the idea of making it more accessble which fueled a sense of being supported and therefore a feeling of satisfaction.
21.
A formal mentor, as required for the IAP, may not be one's actual mentor. My experience has been that my employer and previous employers have been my strongest mentors. My formal mentor is really someone who just signs my forms. Although I'm sure if asked my formal IAP mentor would provide feedback.
posted by Lisa @ 7:28 PM
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