Architectural Education | selophane.blog

Continuing Education Options

This spring I will be coming up on my first license renewal. One of the daunting things that I’ve come across this past year and a half has been learning about the continuing education system and the varying requirements per state. I’ve put together the following list of links as a resource for anyone looking to find out more about whats required of them and where to get some last minute Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

If you are looking up your required amounts of CEUs there are two options for information

AIA has a chart showing their requirements and the individual state/province requirements
NCARB has a prettier chart, but it doesn’t include the AIA requirements.

That all seems innocent enough, but it can actually be quite confusing, especially if you have multiple licenses. I’ll use my situation as an example. I am licensed in Virginia and Washington, DC. So, AIA requires a minimum of 18 credits annually, 8 of which must be in Health, Safety and Welfare (HSW) certified courses. Virginia requires a minimum of 16 credits over 2 years and no specific HSW requirement. And DC requires a minimum of 24 credits over 2 years, of which all of those minimum hours have to be in HSW certified courses. The requirements to maintain a licenses in good standing over multiple jurisdictions is to satisfy the largest minimum requirement for the smallest amount of time. So my total annual amount of credits would need to be 16 (AIA is 16 per year, Virginia is 16 per 2 years or 8 per year, and DC is 24 per 2 years or 12 per year). For my HSW credits I would need 8 per year, but a total of 24 over two years (AIA is 8 per year, Virginia has no requirement and DC is 24 per 2 years or 12 per year), so to make things easier I am for 12 per year. Now this gets even more difficult if you are licensed in a state, like New York, which will not accept CEUs from certain courses. Plus, there are movements afoot to add Environmental Design credits to the mix of required CEUs.

Something that you should also be aware of is that to my knowledge, no state has an active CEU checking program. The whole CEU process is based on the honor system as far as meeting requirements are concerned. Most states reserve the right to audit your record at any time, so be aware that while you may not have to submit anything proving your CEU record, you should be keeping a log. The easiest way to do this is with the AIA’s transcript system. If you want to check to see if you’ve met your requirements, you need to log into the AIA’s CES Discovery system. From here you can look at your transcript or find classes.

For other sources of CEUS I’ve put together the following list:

AIA Lectures – Check your localchapters
NCARB’s Free Mini Monographs – They are free, but non record holders are charged a $35 fee for the exam
NCARB’s Monographs – These are being discontinued, but are still available for purchase and grading
Architectural Record’s CEU Center – Until recently this was an extensive resource for free CEUs. It remains to be seen how the switch to Architect Magazine as the official magazine of the AIA will affect this resource.
Architect Magazine’s CEU Center – Expect this to develop and be much more robust now that this magazine is being mailed to every AIA member.

If anyone knows of other good resources for CEU’s please comment and I will add them to this list.

Terminal Studio

So last night I had a really interesting dream. In it, there was a national requirement that once you received your architecture license you had to return to Architecture school for an additional “Comprehensive” studio, but this time include all of the practical knowledge that your license conveys.

While I have to say, the concept of being in the high stress world of studio again would be off putting, the opportunity to have an all out academic architectural discourse and project would be welcomed. I think this need to find a creative solution to a problem is the reason I got into architecture, and I have found more and more often lately that it is not part of the actual practice. Creative solutions are good, but they seem only useful during academic planning exercises. Instead, most people want proven quantifiable solutions. If only there were more Design Charettes that were open to public participation instead of by invitation, I think we would see a lot more inventive architecture.

The Incredible Lightness of Being Licensed

After 6 years of schooling, 4 years of internship, 7 exams, and 12 weeks of waiting since my last exam I finally found out unofficially last night and officially today that I am now a licensed Architect registered with the Commonwealth of Virginia. While this does not affect my unemployment, it opens worlds of possibility for me as far as freelancing and my own firm is concerned. Once I get my paperwork in the mail I will be qualified to stamp and sign drawings which makes me able to undertake a whole lot more work.

There is something to be said about the feeling you get when you achieve a long term goal. When I transferred into the architecture program at Tulane I not only promised myself that I would make it through and graduate within the standard time period, but I also made myself a promise, that I would be licensed at least before I was 30 and at best before my High School Reunion. I achieved both goals. I am currently 28 and my reunion (which I won’t be attending, another long story) is at the end of November. This accomplishment makes my unemployment seem like a blessing, because without it I would not have had the time to study and take my exams, nor would I have had the motivation to get my own firm started.

Now to start on my next professional goal. I have 7 years to accomplish it, so that should be doable. I want my work to be exhibited in a 35 under 35 magazine article or gallery show. All that I need is some clients looking to act less like their own designer and more like an art patron. Any takers?

Critics are the Worst kinds of Sadists – Architecture School episode 2

After watching the latest episode of Architecture School I was struck with just how accurate of a portrayal the reviews seemed. I remember reviewers baiting students just like that, and verbally backing them into corners such that they were forced to say their design was bad. What was missing from this was the critics literally tearing apart models to express their disgust with the scheme.

I stand by my previous opinions about the student’s work, none of them responded to the scale of the neighborhood adequately. At least some of them were looking at filtering elements of New Orleans housing iconography through a modernist lens, specifically the front porch and the screening elements. Furthermore, most of the house strategies did not create any site strategies for creating a public/private separation outside of the house itself.

Architecture School

So I just got done watching the first episode of Sundance Channel’s Architecture School.

I have to say, for the first reality TV depiction of the world of architecture education, and especially the Tulane variety, it is starting out as a decent representation. They managed to capture the ever condescending tone that most professors use towards their students as well as the tensions between rich and poor, black and white, and Tulane and the city; issues that have always inhabited New Orleans even before Katrina. I have to say, one of the things that is severely missing is the sense of height and lack of air conditioning in the architecture building – Richardson Memorial Hall, and the oppressive humidity that I am sure is plaguing these students in the field. With it being the first 2 weeks of the semester, it has to either be August or January and it doesn’t really look like they are dressed for January in New Orleans. C’mon Sundance Channel, where are my sweaty dehydrated daiquiri sipping architecture students?

Let me also add, that it is totally surreal to watch not only people that you know but buildings that used to be central to your life on TV. It has sparked in me a real desire to move back to New Orleans, maybe one of these days my life will take me back there.