Delegates to the AIA national convention voted at the Institute's annual business meeting, May 11, to approve four amendments to the Institute's bylaws. They are:

Bylaws Amendment 02-A; Term of the Student Director on the Institute's Board of Directors.
The Institute's officers and regional directors take office in December each year. The president of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) is also a member of the Institute's Board of Directors, but his or her term as AIAS president begins each year on July 1 and continues until June 30 of the following year. This amendment revises Section 6.03 of the Bylaws to confirm current practice, specifying that the individual who is AIAS president at the adjournment of the annual AIA Board meeting in December shall serve on the Institute's Board from that point until the Board's next annual meeting the following December.

Bylaws Amendment 02-B; Apportionment of Regional Directors.
The Institute's Bylaws require that delegate representation at the Institute's annual meeting be based on the total number of assigned Architect and Associate members. By contrast, the count used to determine the apportionment of regional directors is currently based on the number of Architect members (including Emeritus members) only and does not include Associate members. This amendment revises Section 6.012 of the Bylaws to provide that the count used to determine regional director apportionment would include both assigned Architect members and assigned Associate members in good standing.

Bylaws Amendment 02-C; Inclusion of Associate Representative on the Institute's Executive Committee.
Associate members are currently represented on the Institute's Board of Directors by an associate director, but do not have a representative on the Executive Committee. This amendment would provide that, upon the completion of his or her one-year term on the Board, the associate director would become a voting member of the Executive Committee. This position would be added in December 2004.

Bylaws Amendment 02-D; Creation of an International Associate Membership Category.
Individuals who have an architecture license or the equivalent from a non-U.S. licensing authority and demonstrate honorable standing in the profession in the locale in which they are licensed are eligible for Associate membership within the Institute. Under current practice, these individuals are commonly referred to as "International Associates." This amendment revises Section 2.2 of the Bylaws to create an "International Associate" membership category for which such individuals would be eligible.

Also approved at the business meeting was Resolution 02-1, submitted by AIA Philadelphia, "Broadening Membership and Strengthening the Institute," which the Institute's Board of Directors voted to support. The resolution allows a limited number of components to run pilot programs designed to increase their membership. Results of the pilot program will be measured and reported to the components annually. The Board anticipates four individual pilot programs for a total cost of approximately $20,000.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.