About Your AXP Supervisor

To complete the AXP, you’ll need to earn a variety of experience from all areas of architectural practice with support from an AXP supervisor. Your supervisor must have direct knowledge of and control over your day-to-day work. They will review each experience report you submit through your NCARB Record.

Under experience setting A, your AXP supervisor must be an architect licensed in the United States or Canada. At most firms, you will be assigned an AXP supervisor based on who is responsible for your work. You may have multiple AXP supervisors while documenting the AXP.

Under experience setting O, several opportunities also require that your AXP supervisor is an architect licensed in the United States or Canada. Other opportunities in setting O allow for supervision by a mentor or another licensed or unlicensed professional.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Your AXP supervisor has three key responsibilities related to the AXP:

1. Exercising direct supervision over your work
2. Helping you create a strategy to develop competency in each AXP experience area
3. Reviewing your experience reports

Exercising Direct Supervision

Your AXP supervisor must have direct supervision over your work, whether you work in-person or remotely. This means they have responsibility for your work on a daily basis and have the professional knowledge to certify that your work meets an architect’s standard of care.

Creating a Strategy

Your AXP supervisor should help you create a strategy to expand your skills and knowledge across all experience areas. Check in regularly with your supervisor to discuss your next steps and how your firm can help you gain the competencies needed to complete the AXP—our Licensure Progress Worksheet can help guide your conversations with your supervisor.

Reviewing Experience Reports

You’ll record your AXP progress through hourly experience reports. Meet with your supervisor to discuss expectations, such as how frequently to submit experience reports. You can ensure that you and your supervisor have established clear, reasonable expectations with the AXP Candidate and Supervisor Expectations guide.

Before submitting a report, you should meet with your supervisor to review what will be documented in that report. Your supervisor must then review each experience report that you submit and verify that the information it contains is accurate. They’ll have the opportunity to approve the report, return the report for edits, or reject the report entirely. Your supervisor should only reject reports if you did not gain any AXP experience during that time frame at that firm—if your supervisor rejects your report, be sure to discuss it with them to understand why.

There are no experience opportunities where you are able to review and approve your own experience reports.

Many candidates will not be able to gain all the experience necessary to complete the program at a single firm. Before you leave a firm, be sure your supervisor approves any remaining experience reports.

Addressing Problems With Your Supervisor

Most supervisors understand the importance of guiding the next generation of architects through the process of becoming licensed. However, if you run into challenges working with your supervisor to document your experience, consider taking the following steps:

• Meet with your supervisor: Sometimes a one-on-one conversation is the best way to discuss the matter and understand the root cause of any issues.
• Ask NCARB to resend the report: If your supervisor cannot find the experience report you submitted for review, NCARB can assist you by resending the reminder to review your report.
• Reach out to other individuals at the firm: If your supervisor is unwilling or unable to review your reports—or is not reviewing them in a timely manner—reach out to other architects (if available) at the firm. While these other individuals may not have the direct knowledge of your work necessary to approve your experience reports, they may be able to help foster better engagement with your supervisor.
• Reach out to other individuals in the profession: You may need to look outside your firm for assistance. A trusted mentor in the profession or your licensing advisor can help you brainstorm new approaches in addressing a challenging supervisor relationship.
• Report misconduct: NCARB’s Model Rules of Conduct and the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct require architects to behave ethically toward their candidates and review experience reports in a timely manner. You can report failure to fulfill this ethical requirement to either organization. You can also review the rules and regulations of the licensing board where your supervisor is licensed to understand if they have additional requirements regarding AXP supervision. Please note: This step should only be taken after attempting other methods of resolving the issue.

Finding a Supportive Firm and AXP Supervisor

Finding a firm that will support your path to licensure by providing you with the work opportunities you need is essential.

Most architects and architecture firms value licensure and are willing to support candidates. Support can come in a variety of ways, and you may need to ask for guidance, financial support, or mentorship. Here are some topics you can discuss with your firm (or potential firms you are interviewing with):

• Opportunities to work on a variety of projects
• A group or community with other candidates at the firm who are pursuing licensure
• Financial support toward the cost of your NCARB Record and licensure
• Regular time to meet with your supervisor to check in on your licensure progress

NCARB and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) have developed a candidate guide with advice for finding a firm that supports licensure—as well as resources to help you advocate for licensure support at your current firm.