Ever since I completed the AXP requirements, passed the ARE, and became a licensed architect I haven't had to deal with NCARB as much. The last time was about a year after I received my license when they reminded me it was time to renew my NCARB Certificate that they had gifted me for that first post-licensure year. It has been nice not having to deal with them, but I also know that they continue to be the source of a lot of frustration for licensure candidates. I never wanted to simply abandon the stances I took on licensure, internships, and the various architectural organizations (like NCARB) that govern these processes simply because I was past that point in my career. Rather I want to be one of the architects out there that understands these issues as best I can. The initial purpose of this blog was to advocate for that career stage, and I plan on continuing this focus as much as I am able to, albeit from a slightly different perspective.

When NCARB claimed they tackled the intern title debate back in May 2015, I disagreed with that assessment. In fact, I asserted that NCARB punted the intern title debate. My reasoning is laid out in that post and subsequent comments, and if you haven't already, I'd encourage you to read them. I'll actually be referring to a lot of the other posts I've written on the subject which would be good to read as well.

Since the 2015 announcement, there have been a number of subsequent developments in the progress of sunsetting the term "intern." I'll applaud many of those developments but my continuing compliant is that when NCARB removed the word "intern" from the lexicon, they failed to put forth an adequate replacement. I'm convinced this is the product of their own doing. By advocating for so long the regulation of the title of architect and it's derivatives, they now find themselves in a position where they cannot put forth a replacement that doesn't tread over the regulations they've advocated for. Even when the AIA attempted to fill that void and offer replacement terminology, NCARB pointed out that those titles don't really work, primarily because of the regulations they've advocated for.

The result of all of this is that NCARB is quick to pat themselves on the back for removing intern from their documents and renaming programs like the Intern Development Program (IDP). This may appease some of their critics by showing that they've made positive changes to the programs they administer by getting rid of the negative connotations with the word 'intern.' However, I pointed out in 2017 that they really haven't carried through with their initiative to sunset the usage of the term "intern" completely. It looks like they haven't followed through with necessary resolutions to remove the suggested titles of "intern architect" and "architectural intern" from NCARB Model Law (see Section 11, paragraph 13). They could have done this in 2017,(but there were no resolutions advanced at the Annual Business Meeting), again in 2018 (none of the resolutions address it), and again in 2019 (the Annual Business Meeting took place earlier this year in Washington, DC, but I have not seen any press about any resolutions advanced at the meeting).

In that post in 2017, I wasn't optimistic that NCARB would take the appropriate action in the Model Law. I think the changes that would be part of that action would require putting forth a recommendation for a title to give those people post-graduation and pre-licensure, and I don't think NCARB is yet willing to take that step. That isn't to say they don't have a path forward when they do decide to take that step.

On the contrary, NCARB and the four other architectural collateral organizations (AIA, AIAS, ACSA, and NAAB) all have had a pathway forward since the early 2000's when the Collateral Internship Task Force (CITF) presented the Five President's Council with "a model framework for improving the professional development transition between education and practice." This model framework had nine ideals with underlying implementation strategies to ensure success. In my 2017 followup post, I pointed out that despite initial rejection by NCARB, some of these strategies have since been widely adopted, and now NCARB uses them as examples of helping advance licensure in the profession ... this has not changed. However, the final ideal that "architecture graduates should be recognized for their knowledge and abilities" by appropriate titling remains unaddressed. 

The titles the report recommends are "architecture student," "architect," and "registered architect." The title appropriate for students is pretty straightforward, already in use, and wouldn't require any changes. Rather changes would be required from the NCARB member jurisdictions for "architect" to be used to describe accredited degree graduates as they pursue diverse career paths, and for "registered architect" to be used to describe those who have obtained their license. I think those titles are appropriate and dignified, and I think they would be able to be largely understood with some effort put forth by the 5 collateral organizations to educate and lead the industry and the public. I'd even been willing to hear proposals for other titles, but I'm skeptical that there are dignified titles that accurately describe the post-graduation, pre-licensure career stage that wouldn't require the same type of effort to change regulation and educate the public. My point being, the regulation on the title of architect and its derivatives will need to change anyway as part of the sunset of "intern," so we might as well advocate for something simple and effective. 

So here we are, over 4 years past the point at which NCARB declared they had tackled the intern title debate. I will give NCARB credit where it is due and acknowledge that they have removed most of the terminology from their documents and programs, and they have worked to advance the pursuit of licensure among candidates. However, in spite of that, the Model Law still contains intern terminology, and we seem no closer to a dignified title that accurately describes the post-graduation, pre-licensure career stage. NCARB needs to finish sunsetting the term. I enjoy a good sunset as much as anyone else, but a 4-year-long sunset is getting a little too long. I'm beginning to wonder if NCARB has figured out a way to stop the rotation of the earth so they can "enjoy" a sunset of indefinite length.

A note before you get started ... this post is the result of an innocuous comment in Thread Central, a slow work day (ok, a couple of slow days), and some research a la Balkins (meaning my superficial understanding of these terms comes only from Wikipedia). This post is probably full of... View full entry

The 2017 AIA Compensation Report is out. I don't have a copy of the report myself, as I haven't needed to purchase it yet to get a look inside. My office gets it, but the last time I asked HR for it, they wouldn't let me look at it. So, like last time, I'll contact the local AIA to see if I can... View full entry

In the previous round of the Great Intern Title Debate (trademark should probably be pending), the AIA had issued a press release about their newly revised position statements. They had offered the Institute's support for two new titles to be used for those aspiring architects formerly known as... View full entry

In May of 2015 NCARB announced that it had tackled the great 'intern' title debate. I wasn't impressed at the time. In the press release NCARB noted that they were planning a series of initiatives, which would include proposing changes to NCARB Model Law and guidelines.NCARB vowed to "sunset the... View full entry

I've blogged in the past about NCARB's decision to punt the intern title debate and it looks like the AIA, of all organizations, decided to pick up the ball and run with it. A recent post on AIA's website outlined the position of the AIA with regard to the use of the title 'intern.' AIA now... View full entry

I'm a hopeless romantic at heart. I blame the sugar-, and adrenaline-filled rush of distributing valentines out to my entire class, while carefully crafting the perfect one for the girl I admired at the time. Dreaming hopelessly about what might become if only she'd notice the extra attention I'd... View full entry

Earlier this week NCARB posted an update on the ARE 5.0 Community page dedicated to updating candidates on the number of administrations currently taken and scheduled for each ARE 5.0 division. The magic number we are looking for is 600 administrations, which is how many administrations NCARB... View full entry

I'd like to talk to you about unpaid internships. I thought this was pretty much self-evident, but it keeps coming up and I'm realizing now that maybe I had given you too much credit to piece this together on your own; so let me lay it out for you. Don't work for free.Is that clear enough? It... View full entry

ARE 5.0 is going live next week and in anticipation of transitioning to take my last two divisions of the ARE, I've been looking at some of the options out there for information. One of my first stops was ARE Coach's forum, where I went primarily for information regarding ARE 4.0 vignettes... View full entry

Occasionally I peruse the recent job postings here on Archinect just to get an idea of the types jobs out there and what they are looking for. Many times I find these postings confusing and/or contradictory. Now I've posted about some of these job postings before in the forums (you can sift... View full entry

NCARB recently published the 2015 NCARB by the Numbers report. This is the first since announcing the sunsetting of the term intern, and it looks like NCARB is keeping it's promise to not use it. Remarkably, the only occurences of the word "intern" are when it is used in the name of the... View full entry

Preface: The news is out and already old. This post has gone through plenty of iterations. I've tried writing a response to the news that NCARB is sunsetting the term intern various ways and none of them seem to really sit well with me. I've tried to discount their stance. I've tried getting angry... View full entry

I hope this wallpaper doesn't catch on. I'm all in favor of the artwork, but just don't bring it into a building as wallpaper. Leave it as part of the museum's collection.SourceI would much rather see this instead. But I also don't hope this catches on as well.Source View full entry

I've been looking at job opportunities lately. I don't know if anything will come of it, but either way, I've been looking around. I seem to be noticing more and more postings that are advertising for "entry-level" positions, but have a list of requirements that makes me wonder if employers and... View full entry

You keep using that word ...

Jefe, what is a plethora?

For the last few weeks I've had my head buried in work. While it seemed to continue to pile up, I finally created a little room to breathe the last couple of days. I've been able to get a bit ahead, finish up some tasks and I have to say, it feels quite good. It has also allowed me a bit of time... View full entry

It's that time of year when a new crop of recent graduates is out looking for work, realizing that this summer marks the beginning of their new lives. Landing that first job can feel great, but getting there is only part of the story. My post today, in addition to the warm welcome, is an attempt... View full entry

As an intern I tend to spend quite a bit of time in my cubicle plugging away in CAD. In school, I listened to music to help pass the time and monotony of working on a project, but in the office I find my pandora station either starts to repeat the same stuff constantly, or I spend too much time... View full entry

Spring is finally here in the US and that means that students everywhere are working on their portfolios and getting ready to apply for summer internships. Even everyone's favorite blogger-tect and twitter-tect is sensing the longer days of sunshine and dusting off old posts to help the potential... View full entry

Before you skip the rest of my post and start flinging words around in the comments, hear me out. I think Revit is a valuable tool and that soon (if not already) it and other BIM programs will become just part of the game and you'll have to learn it. It's either that or you can become an... View full entry

You'll never hear me claim I know everything. A lot of my intentions for starting this blog include getting the advice and opinions of others out there (see the last paragraph here).  With that in mind I wanted to reach out to the archinect community for some wisdom.  I'm looking at... View full entry

I came across this over on Houzz (hatezz that name by the way). While I hope the series is tongue in cheek, the distribution of the intern struck me as odd: "The Intern is a parasitic species, typically found clustered around Architects or Interior Designers, dutifully cleaning up the designs."... View full entry

As you might have gathered from the description in the sidebar, this blog is about the parts of the profession that we tend to gloss over, omit, or just don’t talk about; what I call an architectural ellipsis. Perhaps a few quick examples may be helpful in understanding what I mean. An... View full entry