“Over the past few years, the Council and its volunteers have been looking closely at how we can continue to streamline our programs to make them more accessible to emerging professionals seeking licensure,” said NCARB CEO Michael Armstrong. “As a result, we are pleased to expand the opportunities to earn experience.”

IDP Rule Modifications:
Experience is Experience

In September 2013, the NCARB Board of Directors approved changes to the IDP related to the employment duration requirement and eligibility requirement. Both changes went into effect December 16, 2013. In addition, the Board approved a modification to the reporting requirement in June 2014, which went into effect July 1, 2014.

 

Employment Duration Requirement

Previously, interns were required to work for 15 hours per week for eight consecutive weeks to earn experience toward the IDP. The elimination of this requirement recognizes that all experience gained through one of the experience settings is valid regardless of the time spent working on a project. The change allows interns to earn work experience for short-term projects and/or experience obtained over a winter or summer school breaks.

 

IDP Eligibility Requirement

There were three points of entry to earn IDP experience: Enrollment in an NAAB/CACB-accredited program, enrollment in a pre-professional architecture degree program, or employment in experience setting A after obtaining a high school diploma. Now, interns simply need to obtain a high school diploma or equivalent. Interns are able to earn experience straight out of high school, and no longer need to submit a form to set their eligibility date.

 

IDP Reporting Requirement

This adjustment allows credit for intern experience that occurred up to five years previous to the current reporting requirements of six months. Credit for experience older than eight months will be valued at 50 percent for up to five years, after which any experience would be ineligible for credit. Experience reported within eight months will continue to earn 100 percent credit.

 

“This adjustment creates a parallel with our Architect Registration Examination rule for honoring examination results for five years, emphasizing a consistent position that activity along the licensure path holds its value for five years," said NCARB President Blakely C. Dunn, AIA, NCARB.

Proposals to Streamline and
Overhaul the IDP

At its 2014 Annual Business Meeting, the Council announced a significant proposal to streamline and overhaul the IDP over the next few years. The streamlined proposal would reduce the number of hours required to complete the IDP, and the overhaul phase would replace the current 17 experience areas with six broad practice-based experience categories.

 

“At NCARB, we embrace change that reflects ‘rigor for a reason,’ rather than rigor for the sake of rigor,” said NCARB President Dunn. “This approach has led to two proposals that ensure continued protection of the public’s health, safety, and welfare: A short-term streamlining of the IDP and a longer-term overhaul plan for the IDP.”

 

Streamlining the IDP: A Focus on Core Requirements

The IDP currently requires interns to document 5,600 hours of experience, with 3,740 of those hours as core requirements in specific experience areas. The remaining 1,860 hours are elective hours. The first reinvention phase proposes to streamline the IDP by removing the elective hour requirement, with interns documenting the 3,740 hours in the 17 core experience areas. The current core requirements were determined by the 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture, reflecting knowledge and skills the profession determined should be exposed to interns.

 

Overhaul: Alignment with Examination

The next reinvention phase would be to align the IDP experience areas with the results of the 2012 Practice Analysis of Architecture. The proposal recommends realigning the current four IDP experience categories and 17 experience areas into six experience categories. These six categories would directly align with the six practice-based areas of architecture, making the program easier to understand for both interns and supervisors. This change would align the IDP with the current realities and challenges of contemporary practice while ensuring that interns still acquire the comprehensive experience essential for competent practice.

 

The proposals are the result of more than a year of research conducted by a special research team convened to review the program, guided by discussion among architect volunteers and NCARB’s Intern Think Tank members. The proposals, which were submitted for a comment period to state boards, are designed to reflect how the marketplace, education, and technology have all impacted the ways in which experience is gained. The Board of Directors will review feedback in fall 2014 before a decision is made about the path forward.

My IDP: Reporting on the Go

The Council kicked off 2014 by releasing its first mobile app - My IDP. Modeled after the online reporting system, interns can create new experience reports, log hours in settings A and O, submit experience to supervisors, and more. Since its launch in January, nearly 4,000 people have used the app - many of whom post screen shots of their progress on social media.

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The app is great for adding hours and reviewing progress on the go. The system was designed with flexibility in mind, allowing for additional features and enhancements to be built over time.

 

My IDP is available for free from the App Store for iPhone iOS 7, and our developers are currently working on a version for Android devices.

 

2013 Intern Think Tank

2013 Intern Think Tank Members:Chair: Susanne Tarovella, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP^BD+C, Knoxville, TN L to R: Harry M. Falconer Jr., AIA, NCARB, NCARB Staff; Martin Smith, AIA, NCARB, LEED GA, NCARB Staff; Amanda Green, Sacramento, CA; Kathryn Wetherbee, EI, Assoc. AIA, LEED GA, Freeport, ME; Daniel Splaingard, LEED AP^BD+C, Chicago, IL; Elizabeth Main, Assoc. AIA, Kansas City, KS; Aaron Trahan, Assoc. AIA, LEED GA, New London, CT; Lauren Miller, Assoc. AIA, Columbus, OH; Shannon French, Assoc. AIA, LEED GA, New Orleans, LA; Madeleine Sara, Assoc. AIA, LEED GA, El Paso, TX; Will Adams, Duluth, MN; Susanne Tarovella, AIA, NCARB, LEED APBD+C, Knoxville, TN; Tom Klaber, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP^BD+C, Brooklyn, NY; Eli Allen, LEED AP^BD+C, Philadelphia, PA; Nick Serfass, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, PMP, NCARB Staff; and Lauren Reichenbach, LEED AP^BD+C, San Francisco, CA

In December 2013, the Council welcomed 12 interns from across the country to Washington, DC, for the

second annual Intern Think Tank (ITT). Over the course of two days, members analyzed the real-world effectiveness of the current licensure process, shared ideas with NCARB leadership about the future of internship and examination, and proposed “blue-sky” models aimed at achieving licensure upon graduation.

 

Led by Think Tank Chair Susanne Tarovella, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP^BD+C, members also were invited to participate and share the think tank’s discussions to inform the work of other volunteer groups.

●  Chair Tarovella and ITT member Aaron Trahan participated in a panel discussion at the 2014 NCARB Annual Business Meeting with members of the Licensure Task Force to discuss the “licensure at graduation” concept.

●  Ten ITT members and Chair Tarovella led a panel discussion during the 2013 IDP Coordinators Conference on controversial industry topics including the intern title debate, the average time to licensure, and the relationship between education and practice.

●  Member Shannon French attended the Council’s Committee Summit in New Orleans to share the think tank’s proposals related to “licensure at graduation” with the Licensure Task Force.