Committee Purpose

The Certification Alternatives Review Team (CART) reviews portfolios prepared by architects to support their application for NCARB certification through alternative education requirements.

Highlights/Year-end summary

The committee convened in Washington, DC, for training on review criteria for the new NCARB Certificate Portfolio option for the education alternative.

Summary of Charges

• Since their training in Washington, DC, the committee has begun reviewing portfolios for the education alternative to certification.

Committee Purpose

The ARE 5.0 Cut Score Task Force was responsible for evaluating the initial release of ARE 5.0 exams in order to establish the pass/fail threshold for the new version. Once an appropriate amount of data was available, a task force was assembled for each division of ARE 5.0 to establish a preliminary cut score range for review and approval by the Examination Committee and the Board of Directors.

Summary of Charges

• Participated in psychometrically led workshops to determine a cut score range for each ARE 5.0 division and forwarded each division’s cut score range to the Examination Committee.

Experience Committee

Chair: Krista Phillips, AIA, NCARB

Members: Joshua Barnett, Assoc. AIA

T. Rexford Cecil, NCARB, KYCID, AIA (EM) Kentucky Member Board Executive

Gianna Pigford, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP BD+C, CDT, NCARB

John P. Rademacher, AIA, NCARB

Terance White, AIA, NCARB
Ohio Member Board Member

Terry L. Allers, AIA, NCARB
NCARB Board Liaison

Harry M. Falconer Jr., FAIA, NCARB
NCARB Staff Liaison

Martin Smith, AIA, NCARB, LEED Green Assoc.
NCARB Staff Liaison

Experience Advisory Committee

Chair: Krista Phillips, AIA, NCARB

Members: Joshua Barnett, Assoc. AIA

Devin A. Bushey, AIA

T. Rexford Cecil, NCARB, KYCID, AIA (EM) Kentucky Member Board Executive

Claire E. Gillis, Assoc. AIA

Ian Merker AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Kurt V. Neiswender, AIA, MAP, LEED AP

Gianna Pigford, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP BD+C, CDT, NCARB

John P. Rademacher, AIA, NCARB

Terance White, AIA, NCARB
Ohio Member Board Member

Sabrina Heard, CDFA
SDA Liaison

Branko Kolarevic
ACSA Liaison

Erin Murphy, AIA, LEED AP
AIA Staff Liaison

Carol L. Pedigo, Hon. AIA
CACE Liaison

Sarah Wahlgren, Assoc. AIA.
AIAS Liaison

Terry L. Allers, AIA, NCARB
NCARB Board Liaison

Martin Smith, AIA, NCARB, LEED Green Assoc.
NCARB Staff Liaison

Committee Purpose

The Experience Committee oversees the development, delivery, and assessment of the Architectural Experience Program™ (AXP™) for use by Member Boards, including suggesting improvements to the AXP’s experience components and recommending revisions to the
AXP Guidelines.

The Experience Advisory Committee includes representatives from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), and the Society for Design Administrators (SDA). Together, they evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of the Council’s experience-related policies in order to advise the development and implementation of the AXP.

highlights/year-end summary

• The Experience Advisory Committee worked with the Education Committee to review the knowledge, skills, and tasks associated with education, experience, and examination. This effort will help the committees understand the current level of knowledge expected to demonstrate competency to practice architecture at the point of licensure.
• The Experience Advisory Committee researched experience and licensure requirements in other countries to better understand competency requirements in a global community.
• The Experience and Experience Advisory committees met together this year and had no additional charges.

Summary of Charges

The joint charge with the Education Committee on the education continuum generated much discussion on the importance of de-coupling the AXP and the Architect Registration Examination® (ARE) to identify when a task is, or should be, acquired or learned. There are differing expectations regarding learning upon graduation, gaining experience, taking the examination, obtaining licensure, and beyond. While these are critical benchmarks of learning, the strongest link that emerged was experience and examination prior to licensure. The committee resolved that there are tasks necessary prior to licensure that cannot be tested on the exam, and experience is lifelong and therefore not limited to pre-licensure.

The Experience Advisory Committee documented experience and licensure requirements in other countries. In many smaller countries, the process is more organic and the profession is more connected to academia. The committee recommended further research on larger countries to better understand how they verify competency and regulate the profession when their population and number of schools increase, requiring more oversight and regulation.

The Experience Advisory Committee developed suggestions for supervisor resources. They recommended NCARB set the standard for firm culture and promote the supervisor role to something that is expected, desired, and valued. Suggestions included: create short online videos to focus on the changes in the role, a supervisor recognition program, and an onboarding program with a welcome packet and lapel pin for new supervisors.

Committee Purpose

The Member Board Executives (MBE) Committee considers issues of concern to the jurisdictions and MBEs, and nominates an MBE director to serve on the Council Board of Directors.

Highlights/Year-End Summary

The FY17 MBE Committee was tasked with completing four committee charges and one strategic charge. The strategic charge, which was shared with all FY17 committees, was to discuss and debate trends and opportunities impacting the architecture profession.

The remaining charges consisted of planning and facilitating the MBE Workshop, conducting the annual Quality Assurance Audit (QAA) of NCARB Records, providing feedback to NCARB relative to system tools and data, and reviewing the purpose of the QAA and providing recommendations to improve the audit process.

Summary of Charges

• The MBE Committee facilitated the 2017 MBE Workshop in Jersey City, NJ, in early March. Executives from roughly 40 licensing boards participated in the workshop, which was designed to be collaborative and engage all attendees. Workshop sessions included the presentation of best practices, small group breakout discussions, and the identification of key characteristics for developing a sample job description for Member Board Members. The MBE Committee also nominated Oregon Member Board Executive Maria Brown as the candidate for FY18 MBE director.
• The MBE Committee, with assistance from Ohio Member Board Executive Amy Kobe, completed the QAA of Council Records prior to the MBC/MBE Summit in Columbus, OH, in October. A total of 100 randomly selected transmittals (including both architect and licensure candidate transmittals) were audited. The audit was conducted using electronic Records, rather than paper, which substantially improved audit efficiency. Two major errors were identified, both of which were corrected after contact from the jurisdictions, and seven minor errors were found that did not affect licensure or certification.
• The committee provided feedback to NCARB staff to almost all directorates. Feedback included comments on the evolution of Form 155, the potential of enhancing the funded delegates guidelines, remarks on the survey delivered to candidates after completing an ARE division, and proposed language changes for the Member Board Requirements Survey.
• The QAA process was discussed by the committee in September. The committee concluded that the audit continues to serve a useful purpose, but changes are needed. For this year’s audit, the committee decided to audit actual transmittals (rather than Records completed in the previous fiscal year) that were randomly selected by the committee. In the future, this will be supplemented by feedback data supplied by Member Boards when Records are transmitted, which will enable the committee to audit a much higher percentage of transmittals and thus obtain a more accurate picture of the quality of Council Records. This is a work in progress that will continue to be refined and reevaluated over time.

Committee Purpose

The Procedures and Documents (P&D) Committee reviews proposed resolutions, procedures, and documents for their impact on and consistency with Council policies and programs and makes recommendations on such matters to the Board of Directors. The committee assesses the usefulness of special Council publications and modifies them as appropriate.

Highlights/Year-End Summary

The committee met with the Model Law Task Force to discuss some of the key issues being addressed in the Legislative Guidelines. The committee also developed a resolution to manage the non-payment of member dues and reviewed a number of special white papers to determine their continued relevance. Details on these efforts are noted below.

Summary of Charges

• The committee postponed its charge of working with the Model Law Task Force to review the layout of the Legislative Guidelines as the guidelines are still being revised. This charge will carry forward to the FY18 committee.

• The committee developed a resolution to update the section of the NCARB Bylaws addressing the non-payment of member dues. The draft resolution was presented to the membership at the Regional Summit in March. Based on the feedback at the summit, the Board of Directors voted to not move this resolution forward. Additionally, the Board has asked that the P&D Committee develop a Board policy regarding this issue for further review and consideration.
• No other resolutions were moved forward for review by the P&D Committee this year.
• The committee reviewed five white papers for relevancy in today’s practice. They determined that while the publications remain relevant, the references are outdated. The committee has recommended that NCARB update the references and surveys noted in these publications if they are to remain in circulation.

Committee Purpose

The Professional Conduct Committee oversees the development, application, assessment, and adjudication of Council policies and practices related to the professional conduct of Record  holders and others using Council services.

Highlights/Year-End Summary

• The committee facilitated a joint session with the Ethics Task Force in Washington, DC, to brainstorm ways to increase benefits for NCARB Certificate holders. The findings were summarized and presented to senior staff for consideration.
• Presented on ethics and the Council’s disciplinary database, as well as the threshold for reporting discipline by Member Boards.
• Reviewed the Professional Conduct Committee’s (PCC) Rules of Procedure.

• Minor changes were made to the PCC Rules of Procedure. These changes align the Guidelines for Testing Irregularity with the Rules of Procedure.

• Completed a comprehensive review of the disciplinary database.
• Discussed the threshold for reporting disciplinary items.

• The Council Relations Directorate discussed a policy regarding the guiding principles for reporting discipline.

• Reviewed 33 staff actions.

• Staff actions are disciplinary cases submitted by our Member Boards and reviewed by NCARB staff. Each case is evaluated per the parameters set forth in the PCC’s Rules of Procedure. NCARB staff summarize the findings and include a formal document in the customer’s Record.

• Discussed common trends related to discipline, as well as best practices from the committee and staff. The Ethics Task Force will provide the PCC with some feedback and recommendations regarding disciplinary actions and ethics.
• The committee reviewed and discussed the last five years of reported disciplinary actions. From these discussions, the committee identified trends in the type of discipline reported. The committee is continuing to work on identifying potential topics for case study mini-monographs related to professional conduct cases, which will be recommended for additional monographs.