Supervisors and mentors play an important role in helping candidates complete the path to licensure, so it’s vital that you have a basic understanding of the experience program, its goals, and the responsibilities involved. As a supervisor or mentor, your role is to encourage and support candidates’ professional development by providing work assignments that will guide them through developing the skills identified by the Architectural Experience Program® (AXP®).
Your first step as a new supervisor should be reading the AXP Guidelines, which provides a comprehensive review of the program’s rules and requirements.
The AXP requires candidates to gain experience in six practice areas that span the phases of a typical architecture project. Each experience area aligns with an ARE® 5.0 division, so candidates can use the AXP to guide their professional growth and exam strategy.
Understanding Your AXP Supervisor Role
You will manage the candidate on a daily basis and are ultimately responsible for their work. Your main duty is to assign projects that create the opportunity for the candidate to develop competency in the tasks identified in the AXP. You'll also review your candidate’s experience reports and provide feedback to help guide their professional development. Need help navigating the AXP? Check out our supervisor tools and resources to help you supervise a candidate.
Become a Mentor
Certain experience opportunities allow you to help a candidate gain AXP experience outside of the traditional supervisor/employee relationship, including site visits and design competitions.
In addition to supervising these experience opportunities, mentors also offer instruction, encouragement, and advice to candidates as they navigate the path to licensure. Candidates are not required to have a mentor. However, having another experienced architect to turn to can be extremely beneficial.
AXP Portfolio Supervisors
The AXP Portfolio enables seasoned professionals to complete their experience requirement outside of the hourly reporting method. Because the method is different, the review process is different, too. Learn more about the expectations for AXP Portfolio supervisors.
