AIArchitect | Institute News

04/2003

Candidates Respond to Questions from the Professional Interest Areas Council

The Professional Interest Areas Council posed five questions to the candidates for AIA office. The AIA Executive Committee forwarded these questions to the candidates. Candidates were free to address issues raised by the questionnaires in whatever form they found most appropriate, without necessarily answering each question separately. Each response was limited to no more than 500 words. Following are the questions and the candidates’ responses, as they submitted them via e-mail to the AIA on April 22.

Q1. What is your vision of the role PIA’s can play in the future of the AIA, and what are some strategies you have considered to bring that vision to reality?

Q2. How do you feel the AIA organizational structure and staffing structure support the role of the PIA’s and the Knowledge Communities? What are some opportunities you can offer for further improvements?

Q3. What is your position regarding offering more resources to PIA’s in order to grow and support their activities for member benefits?

Q4. Do you support greater collaboration in planning for the AIA National Convention and PIA initiatives for the purpose of reinforcing the Convention’s relevance to members through a stronger PIA presence and delivery of knowledge?

Q5. Would you support adding a PIA representative to the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors, to be elected by the PIA Council?

Click on a candidate's name to view his response:

Stephan Castellanos, FAIA
Robin M. Ellerthorpe, FAIA
Douglas L Steidl, FAIA
Paul Davis Boney, FAIA
Jerome Filer, FAIA
RK Stewart, FAIA
David H. Watkins, FAIA
James A. Gatsch, FAIA

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT RESPONSES
Stephan Castellanos, FAIA
The rapid changes in technology and society are destabilizing old occupations, while newly emerging ones are still in a state (sometimes beneficent) of chaos.
Good Work—H. Gardner, M. Csikszentmihaly, W. Damon

Is our profession well aligned, that is, do practitioners feel that they are being true to their domain, that their field is functioning well, that the various stakeholders are being satisfied and that their future looks most attractive?

These statements relate well to the role PIAs should be playing. The AIA governance structures (local, regional and national components) require greater alignment and clarity of purpose. We must strive to reduce redundancy, eliminate internal competition and foster partnership. Component activities should focus on communication and advocacy. PIA activities must focus on the development and maintenance of the domains of knowledge that all the various fields of the profession demand. The bifurcation between component and PIA governance must be resolved, and governance restructuring must address the lack of the much-needed connection between advocacy, communication and knowledge. We should no longer deny each group of AIA the benefit of each of their respective missions and connect advocacy with knowledge, communication with fields of practice, etc.

Our PIAs as well as our local components require greater support and more resources. Our members must be better connected to the domains of knowledge they require for success, in their practices, and as advocates in their community. We should strive not only to raise public awareness, but also to influence public policy. PIA’s should be at the core of the development and delivery of knowledge at AIA conventions and meetings. PIA’s are a crucial connection to our industry allies and must be better supported as they create important strategic partnerships.

Now after 150 years of AIA, we must seek greater alignment between components, knowledge communities and stakeholders. It is time to globally address AIA governance if we wish to provide assurance to our members that there will be continuing relevance for our profession in the society we serve. Our Board and Executive Committee must reflect the nature of a profession, the ever-expanding fields of practice and domains of knowledge and assure that the values of our profession are in line with those of the society we serve. TOP

Robin M. Ellerthorpe, FAIA
Q1. What is your vision of the role PIA’s can play in the future of the AIA, and what are some strategies you have considered to bring that vision to reality?

Through practice, relationships and specialized research, PIAs create architectural knowledge and skills that inspire creation of a better built environment.To accomplish this vision, we must:
• Align the PIAs to include of every member at every level of the Institute
• Align processes with seamless development and delivery of guidelines, programs and forums
• Deliver knowledge to the member through the most efficient conduits possible
• Begin with the end in mind – involve components and chapters.

In 1995 we saw staff mostly consisting of architects. Today’s staff includes education PhDs, meeting planners, publishing experts, and professional managers. These skills are empowering and in alignment with the needs of what most PIAs should be doing.
Opportunities for improvement include:
• PIA governance – AIA Board and PIA relationships must be fully defined
• Benchmark peer organizations to understand planning, performance and funding measurements
• Understand that no two PIAs are precisely alike
• Connect to the individual member
• Understand that components may teach National PIAs something.

Q3. What is your position regarding offering more resources to PIA’s in order to grow and support their activities for member benefits?

Benefits of the PIAs should exceed the dollars invested. Our current investment of approximately $2 million per year has yielded spotty results among PIAs. It turns out this is a highly complex issue where additional funding does not always equate to additional performance. The PIA ExCom has struggled with funding allocations for some time. It can be done better, perhaps if we understood that value could be recognized in different ways than monetary return or simply member attendance.

PIAs have been represented on the Convention program selection committee for some time. Program tracks are integral to the Convention theme and the message the President wishes to portray. PIAs should continue participation in the selection process but the process should remain driven by selection of the highest quality offerings in suggested program areas. However, PIA Participation in development of Convention tracks would be appropriate in order to continue raising the bar of quality and selection.

Q5. Would you support adding a PIA representative to the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors, to be elected by the PIA Council?

Herein lies the conundrum: my experience is that few PIA leaders interface with the AIA at the component level, so where is their representation and potential path toward national leadership? ExCom is not intended to be a representative body of the membership, that is the Board’s responsibility however, with the addition of CACE and then the NAC in 2004, ExCom seems less like a management committee of the Board. I believe the members (over 42,000 of which are PIA members) should be allowed to vote on whether a PIA representative should sit at the Board and/or ExCom level of the Institute. TOP

Douglas L Steidl, FAIA:
Q1. What is your vision of the role PIA’s can play in the future of the AIA, and what are some strategies you have considered to bring that vision to reality?

One of the three key responsibilities of the AIA is to aid members in becoming better practitioners. Knowledge generation, organization and distribution are the key ingredients in that process as peers help peers. The PIAs are the key players in the knowledge arena. Therefore they have a primary role in the future of the Institute.

The parameters defining success of the PIA’s, as established by the Board are two-fold:
1. Improve the knowledge base for all members of the profession
2. Operate within predictable financial parameters

I believe the PIA members already have vast knowledge that if properly organized and distributed would enhance the practices of all members. From a strategic point of view, the PIAs that can organize and achieve distribution of that knowledge for the benefit of all AIA members will flourish in the future.

The structures struggle to fulfill their expectations. I served on the PIA ExCom in 1999 and 2000 the first two years after the current governance system was put into existence. First, the arrangement was envisioned as a team effort, where the PIA members generate the knowledge and the staff was responsible for organizing and distributing it. This has not been effective. Second, the structure of the PIA Council and PIA ExCom were thought to be empowering, but have only been partially successful. Third, all PIAs regardless of their original purpose were grouped under the same operating concepts regarding goals, finances and staff structure. This has not worked.

Q3. What is your position regarding offering more resources to PIA’s in order to grow and support their activities for member benefits?

1. Bruce Blackmer's Communities Analysis Matrix provides a visual graphic of the uniqueness of each Knowledge Community. Developing an operating plan that addresses these unique characteristics will allow PIAs to differ in their operations, product, funding mechanisms and staffing.
2. This operating plan needs to be developed by the Knowledge Communities, in contact with the PIA ExCom, and not dictated by the Board.
3. Staffing adjustments to fulfill revised emphases on knowledge organization and distribution will need to follow.

The Board believes in the PIAs and will support any proposal that realistically promises fulfillment of the knowledge goals.

I favor more resources for the Knowledge Communities if the growth and support of member benefits refers to all AIA members. Currently, the division of responsibilities between AGs, staff and outsourced services causes problems with financial control as well as operational teaming. It is difficult to make decisions when authority is divided and timely financial tracking is nearly impossible due to the split responsibility. The differences between budgets and actual performance has improved over the past three years, from a deficit of approximately $1,200,000 to a deficit of about $460,000 in 2002. These monies had to be cut from other programs to support the PIA structure. To add resources, whether staff, or funds, we must find a system that provides reasonable decision-making.

Absolutely! Strength is acquired through utilization of the best resources available. PIA peers sharing with peers should be a given. Incorporation of the PIAs into the Convention Planning process only takes advantage of one of our greatest resources.

Q5. Would you support adding a PIA representative to the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors, to be elected by the PIA Council?

AIM noted “governance” as one of its objectives, but to date this objective has not truly been addressed. I believe a comprehensive rework of the Institute governance should be undertaken, and if elected president will institute such an undertaking. Numerous issues exist, but one of the primary issues is the means by which members are elected to the Board. A recent graphic presented by the PIA ExCom diagramed the Regions approach and the PIA approach to leadership, and how they interact.

In recent years, lobbying by numerous other sub-groups continues regularly for Board or Executive Committee positions. Unless addressed comprehensively, each of these proposals is viewed as a special interest group tinkering with the governance system. Thus the status quo prevails. Governance must be addressed comprehensively.

As a note: The Executive Committee currently includes three former PIA ExCom members, two of whom were Chairs, a former PIA Chair and a current PIA Chair. I acknowledge this may be a short-term phenomenon and does not guarantee PIA representation in the future. TOP

VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RESPONSES
Paul Davis Boney, FAIA:
I want to thank the PIA Council for the opportunity to respond to these questions.

Q1. What is your vision of the role PIA’s can play in the future of the AIA, and what are some strategies you have considered to bring that vision to reality?

I was Chairman of the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education (now PIA) in 1996. I met some very dedicated, involved individuals that remain my close friends today. We discussed issues, presented ideas, organized meetings and exchanged information with collateral organizations. The Design Awards Programs had jury members from AIA and the collateral organizations. We brought forward projects that showed best practices in educational structures and showed the possibilities for our clients. I think that the PIAs are the knowledge base for our organization.

When I was Chairman of the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education (now PIA) in 1996, I worked with the AIA National Staff professionals and know that they tried very hard to satisfy a very demanding membership. With limited resources, they always did their jobs professionally. I think that management and the Board need to continue to look at staffing issues and funding for the PIAs as it relates to the total AIA budget.

Q3. What is your position regarding offering more resources to PIA’s in order to grow and support their activities for member benefits?

I believe that the PIAs and our membership should have access to information that is vital to our knowledge base and resources could be made available through the AIA Library to distribute the information by leveraging technology.

As the 2003 Chairman of the AIA National Convention in San Diego, I was involved with the process that selected the continuing education programs for the convention. There were approximately 570 programs submitted and we had about 144 programs selected. This was a very difficult selection process because there were some outstanding programs offered. The Selection Committee is appointed by the President and it is a lot of work to review the proposals and debate the pros and cons of the programs submitted. I was very impressed with the dedication of this group of volunteers. I believe that the President will continue to consider representatives from a diverse cross section of our membership including associates, PIAs, the large firm roundtable and others when making this committee appointment.

Q5. Would you support adding a PIA representative to the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors, to be elected by the PIA Council?

I feel that the Board should have an informative debate concerning the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors. This is a very important decision and deserves a full debate of the issues. This question should be considered in the larger context of the National AIA Board Governance policy.

Jerome Filer, FAIA:
1. Vision for PIAs: I believe that PIAs are now playing a very important role in educating our members to improve their professional skills, and will continue to be relevant and important into the future. Although PIAs are already very successful and are satisfying a great need, I would like to explore multiple strategies to make all PIA programs even more accessible to all members in all regions. I suggest that a seminar be offered at national conventions to introduce and facilitate electronic access to PIA information already stored for member use and a how to printed text could be handed out for attendees.

My vision is to cause a broad use of PIAs by more members; to spearhead more use by small firm members who perhaps need this information more than large firms.

2. Organizational structure and staff support: I understand that a staff member is assigned multiple PIAs and knowledge communities and that minutes are taken during all meetings and distributed to attendees. I understand, however, that there may not yet be a standard format for organizing the information gleaned from meetings. If not, I would recommend standardizing the information format for all of these committees meeting records. My biggest concern is to continue to help firms be successful in getting convenient organized access to information.

3. Offering more resources to PIAs: I would recommend that leadership offer more support for PIA’S to grow and support their activities for member benefits if it is determined that a broad majority of the member’s use of PIA information. I hope that all information gathered by the PIA’S and knowledge communities is organized for simple easy access information from each PIA should be structured in the same way for internet access. I would like to know if a majority of the members are involved in accessing this information.

4. Collaboration of AIA national convention planning and PIA initiatives: I do support this type of collaboration if it does reinforce the relevance of PIAs to the convention attendees. However, I still want to be convinced that PIA knowledge delivery is being utilized by a large majority of members.

5. PIA representation on the Board: I do not believe in PIA representation on the Board. We already have very adequate elected representation on the Board. TOP

RK Stewart, FAIA:
PIAs’ role: The PIA Council’s first two questions are interrelated. Knowledge is our profession’s currency. Expanding the breadth of what we know about architecture and its impacts on the human condition is one axis of knowledge. A second axis is transfer of knowledge to those who want it. The PIA’s play a critical role in each axes. There currently exists no over arching, integrated agenda for knowledge within AIA. Neither the Board nor the PIA Council have articulated the areas of knowledge where need or opportunity exist. We have not been critical about the quality of our knowledge offerings. The Board has just begun to discuss a “research agenda” and the PIAs should contribute to that discussion. We must consider topics for investigation and prioritize our efforts to produce and disseminate meaningful information that support members. Determining how PIA activities support AIM’s objectives in addition to the pursuit of knowledge will aid us in setting those priorities.

Organizational structure: Once we have defined our knowledge priorities we can consider the organizational structure to support them. Today a great deal of overlap exists within the Institute and PIAs. The Center for Livable Communities relationship to the Regional & Urban Design Committee is an example. We need to evolve an organizational structure that fully integrates knowledge throughout AIA rather than an independent PIA structure.

Resource allocation: It is amazing that joining one PIA is included in a member’s dues yet huge numbers of members do not join. As the member of 4 PIAs I can see why. Two PIAs have not communicated with me in anyway for over two years. The others have not provided meaningful information nor opportunities to participate in creating their agendas. It is true that a few PIAs, the Academy of Architecture for Health being the prime example, are real contributors to their members’ knowledge and practices. It maybe time to examine the offerings of each PIA to focus our limited resources on those that make meaningful contributions. As the research agenda for AIA is evolved we can create PIA organizations that support those knowledge areas, are readily accessible to members and our AIM objectives.

The convention: The Convention is AIA’s our primary means of knowledge transfer. As our primary repository of knowledge the PIAs should have a role in soliciting, evaluating and conducting the educational offerings at Convention. That participation should occur within the context of the knowledge agenda, AIM objectives and Board policies for the Institute.

PIA representation: The need for greater integration of the PIAs within the AIA is clear. The Board currently has active PIA Council liaison members who participated in the Knowledge Leadership Boot Camp at Grassroots this year. It is possible for PIA leaders to become Board members, unlike other designated members of ExCom. With these current opportunities for PIA Council input at the Board, a compelling case has not been made for designated ExCom membership. I am interested to hear a case made before forming a definitive opinion.

I look forward to further consideration of the PIAs when we gather in San Diego. TOP

David H. Watkins, FAIA:
Q1. What is your vision of the role PIA’s can play in the future of the AIA, and what are some strategies you have considered to bring that vision to reality?

The future relevance of the American Institute of Architects, in my opinion, will be dependent on our ability to define and structure a truly robust Knowledge Agenda. The growing complexity of projects and practice demands that we generate and make available to our members a broader and more definitive array of information resources. Our PIA’s must be integral to that Agenda.

I have previously proposed the creation of an AIA Center for Professional Excellence to provide the structure for 1) pursuing research initiatives, 2) publishing information derived from research and other sources, 3) creating new educational programs for practice specialties and 4) responding to the increasing demand for specialty credentialing. Our PIA’s would provide the foundation for the creation of this new knowledge entity and have a significant role in its governance.

We need a comprehensive review of how best to support our Knowledge Agenda and our Knowledge Communities. The structure and staffing to support this initiative will be the most critical step in establishing the viability of this effort. Responding to the growing perception that our organizational structure may no longer adequately serve our needs, the Long Range Planning Advisory Group, on which I serve, has chosen to focus on Governance as the single issue that demands our attention prior to the end of this year. We will be looking to our PIA’s and others to assist us in responding to this challenge.

Q3. What is your position regarding offering more resources to PIA’s in order to grow and support their activities for member benefits?

Clearly, if we are to succeed in creating greater knowledge resources for our members, we will have to nurture and deploy our staffing and financial capabilities where they can be the most effective. The challenge will be to develop consensus regarding our overall institutional goals and priorities while empowering our PIA’s. As with most things architectural, we are likely to encounter conflicts between our programmatic aspirations and the resources we have at our disposal to support them.

I am an advocate for leveraging our impact through collaborations and partnerships. Partnering with our universities, government entities (like the General Services Administration) and outside organizations (like the Urban Land Institute) could prove effective in maximizing the value we derive from our knowledge programs while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

Yes, but for such collaboration to be successful, we will need appropriate structure, staffing and broadly understood Institute goals and priorities. However we ultimately define our Knowledge Agenda and the mechanisms to support it, it is difficult to imagine a plan that would not include our annual Convention as a key ingredient.

Q5. Would you support adding a PIA representative to the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors, to be elected by the PIA Council?

I would support greater PIA representation on the Board and on the Executive Committee, if it is the result of an overall redefinition of our governance model and directed toward providing greater service and responsiveness to our members. TOP

TREASURER CANDIDATE’S RESPONSE
James A. Gatsch, FAIA
PIAs currently play a central and vital role in the AIA’s drive to fulfill its Knowledge Agenda by identifying and providing “market-driven, timely, relevant, concise, and accessible information and knowledge.” “Professional Interest Areas are the AIA’s principal sources of information … in particular practice fields. PIAs provide forums and opportunities for the collection of information to benefit all members of the PIAs, the AIA membership at-large and, where appropriate, the construction industry and the public.” The national component allocated almost 20% of its 2003 annual budget in support of this mission and must continue to appropriately support the PIAs into the future.

One of the questions to which we were asked to respond, asks about my vision for the PIAs and increasing the allocation of resources to the PIAs to support member benefits, however, as a candidate for Treasurer, I believe I should be asking you what additional resources you need to achieve your vision. I co-chair the Livable Communities Committee, which is not unlike a PIA, and last year we developed a strategic plan that defines the events we propose, the resources we plan to develop for our members and others, the training programs we will create, the national partnerships we’ll nurture, a best-practices sharing strategy, and an advocacy agenda. The plan looked 5-years ahead, was costed, and formed the basis for this years (and hopefully the next several year’s) budget requests and allocations.

As Treasurer, I hope to see multi-year budgets developed, which incorporate the programs and initiatives developed by all of AIA’s parts, including the PIAs, so that future funding needs can be identified well in advance and prior funding commitments can be honored. Multi-year budgets will facilitate the evaluation of our programs and initiatives and their continued relevance considered.

I support the idea of greater collaboration between the PIAs and the organizers of the national convention as another way for the Institute to support the mission of the PIAs. And happily this could be done for little or no additional cost. The PIAs have a dual purpose to create knowledge and to disseminate that knowledge. Organizing the convention programs around the practice and career tracks represented by the individual PIAs would be an ideal way to satisfy the dissemination requirement. For those of us who find it difficult to attend the meetings of the PIAs we are members of, having the opportunity to conveniently participate in seminars and workshops organized around the PIA structure would be very appealing.

The Regional Directors are elected by the members of their regions to represent their interests at the national level. The members of the Executive Committee are either elected by the delegates to the national convention or, in the case of the Associate member and the CACE members, serve in an ex officio manner on the Executive Committee by virtue of having previously represented the members of their organizations on the Board. And, at least one member of the Executive Committee and the EVP/CEO sit on the PIA Executive Committee. Therefore, I believe that the PIAs are already adequately represented on the Board and on the Executive Committee. TOP