More Acronyms: ARB / CAB / NCARB
I think it is fascinating to learn about how other places "produce" architects. I'm not sure why, but everyone does it differently.In the UK, the Architects Registration Board says it typically takes 7 years. A friend who is a UK Registered Chartered Architect says that it is typical that one gets registered before they are 30. The extract below is from http://www.arb.org.uk/education/handbooks/student/ (Practical Experience Guidelines). "Part 2" is called the "prescription process" - I think it is a kind of speedy professional program that the ARB and RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) have approved, and that Schools of Architecture implement. There's structure, there's support, there's a system in place: a set schedule and place offered for the interns to find out what they are required to know. Not bad.
1. Is there a typical pattern for training to become an architect in the UK?
There are a number of acceptable variations but the most straightforward route to qualification takes a minimum of seven years. A student would typically:
Take a three year first degree in architecture which is prescribed by ARB (often referred to as Part 1).
Followed by at least one year of practical experience
Then a further two years’ full time study (or part time equivalent) towards a prescribed diploma or second degree in architecture (often referred to as Part 2).
Followed by at least one further year’s practical experience
You would then take a prescribed professional practice exam (often referred to as Part 3).
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During Council meetings, a couple of "blue folders" get passed around. They have miscellaneous items in them - newsletters, correspondance, meeting minutes, etc. If a Council member wants a copy for later reading, then they indicate it on the folder. I asked for the item below, because I really don't know all that much about NCARB or its president.
The following is an interview by the California Architects Board (CAB), in their summer 2007 newsletter: http://www.cab.ca.gov/pdf/summer07_nl.pdf. To contact NCARB, click here.
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"NCARB Presidence Answers Questions for CAB"
In June 2007, Douglas K. Engebretson became president of the NCARB Board of Directors. He recently responded to a series of questions presented by the California Architects Board.
What are your top priorities as president and what will they be for the duration of your term?
The 11 strategies in our Strategic Plan remain the focus for the ongoing attention of the NCARB Board of Directors and the work that we are doing. Of those 11, I believe we will make significant progress in at least four areas that I consider my top priorities: 1) Architect Registration Exam (ARE); 2) Intern Development Program (IDP); 3) customer service; and, 4) determining a course of action on the issues around interior architecture.
ARE 4.0 has been in the creation stage for several years, and its roll out will complete this cycle of exam improvements with a reorganized exam structure that includes fewer divisions and therefore fewer potential trips to the testing centers. Additionally, upgraded technologies will drive the exam. With the final testing and evaluation sequences underway, it will become available at the end of this fiscal year.
The IDP is and has been receiving additional attention to align the experience with the needed skill sets identified in the practice analysis. Furthermore, we must find ways to enhance the delivery of the experience through greater awareness by the practitioners of how important a role they play in making the program as good as it can be. IDP needs the focused collaboration of all five of the collaterals to make it the learning experience for the intern that we know is critical.
We are increasing our efforts with regard to customer service issues this year. The renewed push to find better ways to serve our customers began recently with a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Study currently underway. The NCARB Board of Directors is intent on using this re-evaluation to determine how we can improve the personal and automated means of communicating, receiving, and exchanging information with our Council customers, including those involved with IDP, ARE, and our Certificate holders. We have been monitoring our service response times for several months, and while significant progress has been made over the last several years, we have determined that we need to continue to upgrade and improve our ability to respond to our customers. The NCARB Board of Directors believes this BPR Study will guide the Council in making the investment in new programming and systems that are more responsive to our customers’ needs, and that will provide improved tracking opportunities as they progress through the system.
This year, we will be bringing renewed energy to understanding the implications of some proposed legislation coming before our state legislatures. Some of this legislation tries to separate the inside and outside of a building in terms of which party should assume responsibility for the architecture of each portion. Several of our committees and task forces will be exploring the role that NCARB and the collaterals could assume pertaining to those individuals who may wish to focus their professional services on the interior architecture of a building.
What are the most difficult challenges facing NCARB?
From the service side — being patient in seeing improved response times and enhanced customer service initiatives coming to fruition. From the program side — achieving the transparent portability of the Certificate and its unqualified acceptance by all jurisdictions to ease the licensing process of certified architects who seek to practice in other states.
How do you see IDP evolving in the future?
IDP will evolve predicated on a lot of work by all the collaterals (The American Institute of Architects [AIA], Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture [ACSA], National Architectural Accrediting Board [NAAB], American Institute of Architecture Students [AIAS] and NCARB) and an understanding by interns of the importance of the process. We expect IDP to continue to improve and fill a need for experience that is integral to the development of the next generation of architects. This will happen by better understanding how practical learning can occur with the new technologies: focusing on the way architects are now manipulating information and data to achieve the buildings they design, as well as on the knowledge inherent in the original creation of that data and the assembly of building materials to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
What is your view on the status of architectural education in the United States?
Clearly, ACSA is diligent in continuing the evolution of educational opportunities in keeping with the needs of the profession. NAAB is beginning the reassessment process for updating the accreditation requirements for the schools of architecture to ensure that the education meets the needs of the profession. At no other time have changes to the profession been as swift and wide-ranging as we have seen in the past quarter century. The impacts we are feeling today from that dynamic shift are yet to be resolved. The resilience of our educational system will find a way to absorb these pressures and provide the appropriate education needed to prepare our future architects.
NCARB provides a variety of services to Member Boards, Certificate holders, and examination candidates. In what areas of NCARB services would you most like to see improvement?
Besides those customer service issues addressed in the first question, I would also like to see our communications become even more effective and our pertinent messages provided to a wider audience. Much of this becomes a function of scale, and therefore has its limitations. However, with technology and the willingness of the collateral organizations to appropriately share contact data, we should be able to connect with the whole universe of architects practicing in the United States, as well as provide relevant information to inform the public on the important role of architects in protecting their health, safety, and welfare.
How will NCARB adapt IDP to the changing profession?
Responding to the Practice Analysis and the current update in terms of the requirements of IDP is one important example of how NCARB is adapting IDP to the changing profession. You are also seeing NCARB focus on IDP in the work that we are doing with regard to revisiting the issues of responsible control and direct supervision. These impact the outsourcing and off-shoring issues that are prominent in our professional lives today and may have a significant impact on the practical work that interns participate in while employed in our firms.
There have been a lot of changes to the ARE. What is the future of the exam?
Maintaining the currency and security of the ARE will be the primary focus for the future. After that, keeping up with technology in its delivery and seeing that it continues to be the legally defensible and psychometrically justifiable vehicle to assess the achievement of a minimum level of competency to practice architecture independently will always be the future of the ARE.
Is NCARB concerned about the supply of architects, and how is NCARB addressing the issue?
“NCARB is the council of architectural registration boards committed to exemplary service, effective regulation, and protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public.” This mission statement speaks to our primary focus of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
While we seek to do this with appropriate requirements and reasonable processes, it is not our charge to be concerned about the supply of architects. We certainly believe that the public will be best served by availing themselves of the services of architects where the development
of buildings for human use and habitation is concerned.
How will BIM affect NCARB and Member Boards and how is NCARB addressing the issue?
We have a BIM Task Force that is researching the effect of BIM on the ability of architects to maintain responsible control over the work they produce. This Task Force is also charged with developing an understanding of the implications of control over the BIM the architect produces and how it may be altered without the knowledge or responsible control of the architect who needs to maintain responsibility for the building that the model represents.
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I am sure the AIBC, its members and its interns have its questions for NCARB. Like, how is NCARB addressing the issue of 3 provinces having its own registration exam, the ExAC?
posted by Lisa @ 5:36 PM
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