In FY20, then-President Terry L. Allers, FAIA, NCARB, Hon. FCARM, prioritized NCARB’s efforts to provide supervisors and mentors with a suite of tools to help guide candidates through the Architectural Experience Program® (AXP®). Since then, the Council has released several supervisor resources, including a collection of accessible training videos on key topics. Now, NCARB has released its very first supervisor continuing education (CE) course—available for free through the Continuum Education Program to anyone with a MyNCARB account.
The new interactive supervisor course is worth 1.5 Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) Learning Units (LUs) and explains NCARB’s requirements for AXP supervision, as well as practical and ethical considerations for supervisors and mentors. Supervisors can expect a series of videos, required activities, and scenario-based questions exploring the learning science related to professional training, providing useful feedback, and utilizing the AXP to provide structured experience. The course also examines unconscious biases and how they may affect candidates’ professional development.
NCARB has also developed a CE course specifically for AXP Portfolio supervisors. The AXP Portfolio is an alternate method of documenting experience, designed exclusively for individuals who have at least two years of AXP qualifying experience that falls outside of the five-year reporting requirement. The course, worth 0.5 HSW LUs, explores the role of AXP Portfolio supervisors and the path’s method of demonstrating competency to practice architecture.
In the coming year, NCARB will release additional CE tools and resources, which will provide continuous professional development opportunities for individuals at every stage of their career.
