The AIA Continuing Education System (CES), working with state licensing board officials and Architectural Record management, has set a new policy on earning and recording learning units from technical articles run in the magazine of the AIA specifically for earning AIA/CES LUs.

A subscription to Architectural Record, independently published by The McGraw-Hill Companies, has been a benefit of AIA membership since January 1997, as part of a strategic alliance between McGraw-Hill and the AIA. In that time, the magazine created a widely popular feature of running technical articles along with a comprehension quiz. On studying the article, completing the test, and submitting a form to the AIA/CES record keepers, members would earn one LU.

Some states that require continuing education for licensure questioned the rigor and interactivity of this series, however, and were disallowing the resulting learning credits. The states with concerns included New York (with 16,000 architects), Minnesota (9,000), Texas (12,000), Oregon (1,500), and Tennessee (2,000). The new policy addresses these concerns, and, with changes that are modeled after the NCARB monograph series, the state boards should uniformly accept the Architectural Record program. There is a limit, however, of eight LUs that may be submitted each year earned through magazine-article-based continuing education.

License-board representatives were also concerned about dated material, so a reasonable time limit was established. And, to cover the expense Architectural Record is incurring by independently scoring the tests and submitting results to the AIA/CES record keepers, the magazine has set a modest ($10) fee for processing each LU submission.

Full text of the new policy

Architects can earn AIA Continuing Education learning units (LUs) by reading designated articles in Architectural Record and on ArchitecturalRecord.com, answering test questions located on the Continuing Education Reporting Form, and then submitting the form for processing. Each month Architectural Record continuing education articles are listed on the table of contents in the magazine and on the Web site. Simply look for the AIA/CES logo.

In compliance with the AIA continuing education guidelines, beginning with the January 2002 issue:

1. Beginning with the January 2002 issue, reporting forms need to be mailed directly to the address of the Architectural Record Continuing Education Processing Center that is listed on the reporting form. All successfully completed Architectural Record continuing education registrations will be forwarded to the AIA/CES Records Office in Oklahoma for inclusion on the AIA Continuing Education transcript. (The date the AIA/CES Records Office ascribes to the LUs will be the last day of the month in which they receive notification from the provider that the LU credit has been earned.)

2. A separate Continuing Education Reporting Form must be completed for each continuing education article. The form's location is stated in each article. The correct answers to the multiple-choice test questions must be circled on the reporting form along with name, AIA number, and other contact information. A $10 processing fee payable by check or credit card to cover processing, handling, printing, and postage must accompany each Continuing Education Reporting Form.

3. Certificates of Completion: To comply with state licensing mandatory continuing education (MCE) issues, Architectural Record has established a system to provide certificates of completion to participants who request this documentation. A passing score of 70 percent on the test answers is required for successful completion. You may request a certificate on each reporting form.

4. Architectural Record articles dated prior to December 2001 but less than two years old from the date of reporting, can continue to be sent directly to the AIA/CES Records Office in Oklahoma for inclusion on the AIA Continuing Education transcript.

5. Beginning January 1, 2002, to ensure material is current, AIA/CES-approved magazine articles that are more than two years old can only be self-reported as part of a self-designed research project and will no longer qualify for HSW credit.

6. Beginning January 1, 2002, the total number of AIA/CES-approved magazine articles that a member may submit for credit each year is eight, regardless of the source.

If you have questions regarding the Architectural Record Continuing Education Program email AReditorial@mcgraw-hill.com.

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.