What is the role of the second vice president?

I see the role of second vice president to be multi-faceted—focusing on building relationships with collateral officers; continuing to increase one’s knowledge base of the Council’s positions, operations, and initiatives; serving as the liaison to the Member Board Executive (MBE) Committee along with any other appointments; and finally supporting the president in his position as the leadership representative of the Council.

 

This past year was extremely intense beginning with my participation in the AIA/NCARB Leadership retreats. I also attended the FCARM National Assembly and associated Council for the Tri-National Practice of Architecture (CTPA) Meeting in Mexico along with NCARB and Canadian representatives. There, we continued our work together to review the results of the pilot program and finalize the process and procedures leading to the implementation of the Tri-National Mutual Recognition Agreement for International Practice of Architecture between Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

 

Prior to my term, one area in which I had limited experience was working with the MBEs. Serving on the MBE Committee allowed me the opportunity to engage with the executives and discuss important topics related to their role as administrators and the challenges that are a part of their daily activities. We also conducted an annual quality assurance audit of Council Records, which was an excellent opportunity to experience, first-hand, the responsibilities placed on executives to ensure that Records are complete and verify that candidates meet jurisdiction requirements to take the ARE and receive their licenses.

 

Probably one of the most rewarding experiences as second vice president would have to be my appointment to the Licensure Task Force. This diverse group of individuals representing NCARB leadership, the MBE community, AIA, AIAS, NAAB, ACSA, educators, and recently licensed architects began with a concept. A brief period of intense work resulted in the determination that licensure upon graduation was not only possible, but also achievable.

 

Finally, knowing that I would work closely with each as I continued my tenure in a leadership position, President Dunn appointed me to the search groups selecting a new investment advisor, a new public member for the Board, and new legal counsel.

 

As you have expanded your leadership role, what have you learned about the Council over the past year?

One of the things that I have learned about the Council over the past year is that everyone has the continuity and sustainability of the profession at heart. Although we strive for common goals, there are many varied and diverse voices that all must be heard if we are to be successful. No idea is insignificant and no one path will achieve the desired result. Although processes are deliberate and may seem redundant, they are in place is to minimize unintended consequences from our good intentions. The Council realizes that the profession is in a rapid state of change that will continue to affect practitioners and emerging professionals. We must be proactive; we cannot afford to be reactive. In order to ensure the viability of the profession, we must be adaptive and willing to explore new possibilities.

 

How has this influenced how you will approach your year as first vice president and the initiatives you will focus on over the next two years?

I believe that these realizations will influence how I engage the many voices that need to be heard. I will continue to engage the collaterals, recently licensed professionals, and emerging professionals. We must continue to push forward with our initiatives and take risks without the fear of failure. I believe that every idea is a good idea until proven otherwise. We will continue to “blue sky” and look for ways to streamline our processes while monitoring costs.

 

Speaking of costs, I want to emphasize the value of the NCARB Certificate. Many times we hear that there is no need to become a Certificate holder because there is no intention to practice beyond the borders of your own jurisdiction. This is a very narrow view of what the Certificate means. The Certificate represents that you support the profession and believe in its viability. NCARB supplements the majority of the costs for the ARE and IDP through its Certificate fees. By being a Certificate holder, you help to sustain our profession by ensuring the development and success of the next generation of architects.

 

That being said, I think that there are also ways, beyond reciprocity, to add more value to the Certificate and make it more enticing to those who are not yet Certificate holders. Over the next two years, through task forces and focused studies, I hope to establish initiatives that will explore adding value.

 

As a member of the Licensure Task Force in FY14, what were your goals for this year and what’s next for this task force?

As a member of the Licensure Task Force my immediate goal was to convince myself that an additional path that integrated the components of licensure in the academy was necessary and obtainable. Once immersed in the creative process and surrounded by so many brilliant minds, I was convinced that this additional path would benefit those students that have a clear objective of obtaining licensure as quickly as possible. We began the process by cross-mapping all NAAB Student Performance Criteria (SPC) with IDP experience areas and ARE divisions. We learned that it was possible for a student choosing a different path to meet all of the same requirements as a student following the traditional path. We then met with students and faculty from programs that already somewhat deviated from the traditional path. These students excelled, gaining experience while in school and quickly completing the exam process. The task force came to the conclusion that, while not for everyone, there are a number of students entering programs who would prefer a structured path tailored to their specific needs and schedule.

 

At this point we began issuing press releases of our work and communicating with our collaterals to keep all parties informed of our progress. Our next step was to identify programs that would like to participate in this opportunity. We developed an outline for a Request for Interest and Information (RFI&I) and ended our first year of work.

 

Next, the task force will finalize and issue the RFI&I in fall 2014; receive responses from interested programs by October 31; and finalize and issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) in January 2015 with the deadline for submissions by June 1, 2015. My hope is that, by as early as fall 2016, there will be a few programs offering an integrated path to licensure with future licensure upon graduation. This is a tremendously aggressive schedule, but we feel that it is possible.

 

There are still many questions and hurdles to be addressed. In order to succeed we need the continued support of our collaterals, the professional community, the academy, and most importantly, our Member Boards. I equate the work of this task force to the work of an architect: We have created a concept and developed the design. We are now in the process of structuring it and will continue to detail the process in order to create a feasible, practical, sustainable additional path to licensure.

 

Why is fostering collaboration with our architectural collateral organizations important to the Council?

I believe that collaboration is critical to the success and sustainability of both the Council and the profession. For too long each organization has addressed only the immediate needs of their specific membership without taking into account that a great number of our initiatives are interwoven and that many of our members currently belong or will belong to multiple organizations. In meeting with our collateral organizations, I stress that members and constituents are not “yours” and “mine”; they are “ours.” We serve many of the same people with common goals and objectives. For example, many current AIAS members attending NAAB-accredited programs will become future AIA members and NCARB Certificate holders. Many ACSA members are currently (or will be) involved in the AIA and NCARB. The success of our programs such as the IDP, ARE, and BEA are dependent on the support of these collaterals just as they depend on us to support their programs in developing education requirements, assisting emerging professionals, reciprocity, and international agreements.

 

How have these relationships improved over time?

When I first became involved there was little communication and a great deal of mistrust, but I have seen improved relationships with our collaterals during my tenure with the Council. This is not to say that we have eliminated all problems, but we are well on our way. The collateral leadership meets regularly to present ideas and discuss concerns, which allows all of us to develop relationships and get to know each other outside of traditional settings. I believe that these interactions are extremely important and hope that they continue.

 

In addition, we communicate openly to our collaterals, issuing press releases of our work, and Mike Armstrong has actively cultivated relationships with the CEOs of other organizations. We strive to include representatives from these organizations on committees and task forces where their voices will provide invaluable historical knowledge and input. And, we are currently encouraging these organizations to include NCARB representatives on their committees to continue to increase this collegial dialogue.

 

You’ve had the opportunity to participate in several meetings with the architectural collateral organizations, what type of initiatives are we working on together?

Currently, we are participating in or working together on several initiatives. We have completed a review of the NAAB accreditation conditions; now we are working with the NAAB to refine the Student Performance Criteria (SPC). We continue to work with the NAAB and AIA on EESA. In addition, we are working closely with AIA to assist the emerging professional community as they seek licensure. The upcoming changes to the IDP are a direct result of this collaboration. We are working with AIAS to identify IDP student coordinators in NAAB-accredited programs, and we continue to support educator coordinators and AIA component IDP coordinators.

 

We support the AIAS and NAAB both financially and through our outreach programs. We work with AIA components and Member Boards to navigate legislative challenges and recently launched the ARE in three international testing centers with the assistance of the AIA and their international components. And most importantly, we will be working closely with all of the collaterals as we continue to explore the possibility of an additional path to licensure that may result in licensure upon graduation.