i dont know what new orleans is like at all, or if you went to school there, or what, but i asked one of my old professors, who spent more practicing than teaching. i dont really know what most people do, but i've always thought that it would seem more valuable to select a mentor outside of your workplace, it just seems like they would offer a btter perspective.

First off: your boss or architect-supervisor is the only one who can sign off on your hours. You need a mentor to sign also (if you started your record after 2002) but this is in a different place on the form. It's your boss who signs off on the actual hours and experience units.

I'm not sure what you mean about what should be done on your own time. You just need to fill out the form (this is your responsibility) and submit it to your boss for a signature. It's not particularly time consuming, and most (if not all) of your work hours should count toward IDP units.

As for the mentor: if you don't know an architect that you'd like to ask (and remember that they don't need to be local as long as you can converse with them a few times per year, though if you need them to intercede on your behalf with your boss then it may help if they're close by) try contacting your AIA chapter - they'll usually line up someone for you locally. Another option is to contact your school or check the alumni directory for likely local suspects. Most architects are happy to help fellow alums.

Go visit the school at Tulane and chat with people. They may be able to hook you up with a professor willing to help out. Most are registered, with small practices in the city. I hesitate to volunteer' anyone, especially since I haven't been back in NO for a while.

You also might connect with the AIA and attend one or two of their programs/meetings. You really just need to make friends with someone who is registered. They don't have to be a principal in a firm. Keep in mind that there is some time commitment on their part, so you're asking a big favor of a busy person. Most people should be willing, however, because anyone under 40 probably had to have a sponsor, too.

Your boss, despite his unwillingness to be a sponsor, will still have to confirm your time. He SHOULD see this as a professional commitment, not a pain the a*.

Hey, we're all on the same page.

and remind them that they can get CE credit for being a mentor
(i think?)

I went to Tulane so i figured i could ask a couple of professors who were great influences on me. This city makes an intern feel very left out of the circle plus the AIA here seems to be concerned with what their mardi gras parties will be etc.

Resources like this and ARCHVOICES are so helpful as are my alumni friends wo have spent a few years before me with this whole IDP program and what to do.

My boss says all IDP related things should be done out of the office when he is not paying the bill.

Then tells me to hurry up and get licensed. I have no clue what he means by that.

Well back to cost analysis. Need to take out about $50,000 before the end of the day grrrr

thanks so much ya'll

If your intentions are to leave your current employer soon why not just find a mentor in a new firm you'd be interested in. Find some local architect off a website, yellow pages, what have you, and email/phone. I'm guessing most people would be receptive to a mentor request like that. Then you got an easy "in" at a different firm and could drop hints like - I'd like to work on different building types... My mentor is an architect I interviewed with but couldn't offer me a job at the time. I'm sure it would be easier to move careers to his firm than to a different firm as a complete stranger.

Do the people at NCARB even know who your mentor is? I don't recall filling out any paperwork on the subject. My boss just double signed as supervisor and mentor, and the hours were approved. I imagine if I got a new boss, I could just get him or her to double sign without going through any official "change of mentor" request. Am I wrong about this?

kakacabeza: You're right that you can have your boss act as your mentor. What you can't do is the reverse - i.e. you can't have your mentor sign off on your IDP hours. And no, there's no other paperwork you have to fill out as to who your mentor is. You can change mentors whenever you like. The only requirement is that it be someone registered.

You don't need a mentor at all for work completed prior to when the mentor thing became mandatory, which I think was in 2002.

The benefit of a mentor is just having someone with whom to strategize about how to get all the units and such. In this sense it can help if it's not your boss, as your boss is unlikely to suggest that a job switch is a good option, for example. Also, a mentor can contact your boss to discuss your IDP progress if you so desire...

To the original poster: it's a good idea to be adding up units and filling out forms on your own time. This can be quite time consuming - especially if you do it like I did by adding 5 years of hours from old time sheets all at once at the last minute.
I'd suggest downloading the NCARB spreadsheets made for this purpose from the IDP website www.ncarb.org and regularly submitting the forms instead of waiting. Make things as simple as possible for your boss by completely filling out the forms and supplying him with timesheets for verification. If he knows all he needs to do is fill in his name and license number it will probably calm him down!

It's your boss's professional responsibility to sign off on your hours, and if he refuses to accomodate you, I bet NCARB would like to know about it.

I strongly recommend you contact NCARB abuot your boss's unwillingness to participate.

http://www.ncarb.org/forms/contactncarb.html

If your boss has an active NCARB certificate the NCARB "code of ethics" has a vague paragraph requiring him to support interns' education processes, etc. Some states' regulations for registration also specifically require this. Others don't.
It doesn't necessarily sound like he's not planning to sign off on you though - just that he's uwilling to spend any more time than absolutely necessary.
Is he allowing you to get varied experience to earn the IDP unitsJ?

bmyrum,

i agree, you should change jobs. your boss sounds like a dick who doesn't want to invest anything in your future. Not a good place to be starting out. If you want any of your experience to count, he will have to sign off on the IDP.

As far as having an official mentor goes, I don't see much reason for it besides the networking aspect mentioned by 'A' If you really need someone to tell you when you should or shouldn't change jobs, you could ask friends or archinecters rather than waiting for your thrice a year interview with your mentor.