Each year, hundreds of volunteers help NCARB develop, maintain, and evolve our programs and services. Most of our volunteers are practicing architects, but we also work with emerging professionals, licensing board members and staff, members of the public, and more! Together, they collaborate across a variety of committees, task forces, and work groups.

Volunteers collaborate during an in-person meeting.

Programmatic Committees

Our programmatic committees and their related subcommittees ensure that the path to licensure aligns with current practice. This year, NCARB’s Education, Experience, and Examination committees are collaborating to discuss how the licensure process could evolve to enable a wider variety of career paths, as well as recommend program improvements. In addition, hundreds of architects work together to draft new exam items each year, review existing items, and compile new forms for each division.

Policy and Engagement Committees

NCARB also has several committees that ensure all of our members are engaged and aware of any program updates, and have the opportunity to provide essential feedback. These include our Member Board Executives Committee, which is made up of the administrators of our 55 Member Boards, as well as our Regional Leadership Committee, which is made up of the chairs of each of NCARB’s six geographical regions.

In addition, our Policy Advisory Committee reviews proposed changes to our official documents to ensure that NCARB’s policies are aligned and consistent. And our Professional Conduct Committee reviews any cases submitted for disciplinary consideration or action.

Volunteers collaborate during an in-person meeting.

Special Initiatives

NCARB’s leadership also creates a number of special initiatives each year to focus on current issues or opportunities. In 2021-22, NCARB’s special initiatives include:

  • Our Futures Collaborative, which is exploring how architecture may evolve in the future and how NCARB can adapt to those changes
  • The Diversity Collaborative, which recommends ways NCARB can encourage greater diversity, equity, and inclusion through our organizational structure and policies
  • The Responsible Charge Task Force, focused on how to best define and regulate the concept of responsible charge in architecture practice
  • The Incidental Practice Task Force, which is looking into addressing areas of overlap and confusion in the responsibilities of architects and other design professionals
  • Our Licensure Advisory Forum, composed of representatives from a variety of related organizations, to ensure collaboration and open communication throughout the profession
  • And our Think Tank and Re-Think Tank, composed of licensure candidates and recently licensed architects, who provide insight on challenges and opportunities throughout the path to becoming an architect

Volunteers collaborate during an in-person meeting.

Get Involved

Interested in getting involved? Let us know! We appoint new committee members each spring. While many of our volunteers are licensed, we do have some opportunities for unlicensed individuals.