After an introduction on the morning of June 10 to the newly elected officers of the AIA—2008 President Marshall Purnell, FAIA; Vice Presidents Georg Miller, FAIA, and Mike Rodriguez, AIA; and Secretary David Proffitt, AIA—the delegates to the AIA National Convention in Los Angeles voted affirmatively on two Bylaws Amendments and a Resolution that will study the use of AIA electronic documents by small firm practitioners.

Bylaws Amendment 06-A “Board Membership for Associate and CACE Representatives to the Executive Committee” was adopted by the two-thirds majority vote required. The Associate and Council of Architectural Component Executives (or CACE) representatives to the Executive Committee attend all Board meetings, where they share their expertise. This amendment asked whether—for equitable reasons and to help ensure a full voice on the Board for their respective constituencies—they should be able to vote on the Board until their service on the Executive Committee has concluded. The amendment, which was sponsored by the Board of Directors, revises the Bylaws to make both the Associate and CACE Representatives to the Executive Committee full voting members on the AIA Board of Directors.

Associate reps can now vote on member dues: Delegates also voted to adopt Bylaws Amendment 06-B, “Voting Rights of Associate Director and Associate Representative to the Executive Committee Regarding Architect Member Dues.” Before being amended, the Institute’s bylaws provided that “Associates and International Associates may not vote on dues for Architect members.” The evident purpose of this provision was to ensure that only Architect members will have the right to vote on dues changes affecting their category of membership. It had an apparently unanticipated consequence—it prevented the Institute’s Associate Director from voting (as a Board member) on Board actions and (as a delegate-at-large) on convention actions that have to do with Architect dues. It similarly restricted the Associate representative to the Executive Committee from voting on Architect member dues in actions before that body. Because neither of these positions existed at the time the relevant Bylaws language was adopted, there seemed no reason to think that its adoption was meant to cause this result.

Resolution on electronic docs for small firms passes: Sponsor AIA East Bay also put forth Resolution 06-1, “Full Function Electronic Documents for All Firms, Small and Large,” designed to ask for a study on the use of AIA electronic documents by small practitioners. The AIA Board took no position on this resolution. The passed resolution is intended to help the 78 percent of AIA firms that are small.

Work has been underway since early 2005 at the national component to determine options to best serve members—small firms, small project practitioners, and sole practitioners. One option currently under consideration is a set of AIA electronic documents for use on Apple computers.

Recognition and appreciation
As is traditional, delegates also voted to recognize newly licensed members; retiring members of the Council of Architectural Component Executives Ken Englund of AIA Indiana and the Ohio Valley Region, Barbara Rodriguez of AIA New York State, and Alice Sinkovich of AIA Chicago; and retiring Executive Committee and Board members. They also voted by affirmation to extend appreciation to the host chapter; convention committees; exhibitors; and AIA President Kate Schwennsen, FAIA, and her husband, Barry Jones, AIA.

A note of special appreciation
AIA Vice President Michael Broshar, AIA, brought a special Certificate of Recognition for AIA President Kate Schwennsen, FAIA, from Iowa Governor Thomas J. Bilsack. It said:

“Kate Schwennsen has made signal contributions to the life of her community and the State of Iowa. She has taken the values nurtured by the State to both a national and international stage.

“At home, she has added to her community’s design legacy with her work; educated and mentored generations of students who will enrich the State and the nation with their gifts; been a role model for Iowa’s women; and has led her fellow Iowa architects to a creative engagement with the 21st century.

“Abroad, she has taken her love for the land on which she grew up and translated it into a passion for sustainability. She has been a champion of diversity and inclusiveness so that the architecture profession might mirror the society it serves. She has demonstrated that although Iowa may be America’s heartland, it has a global vision.  She has applied well what she has learned in the classroom and her work—an inspirational quality of compassion and caring that reflect well on the values of her birthplace and identify her not only as a national leader of the 77,000-member American Institute of Architects, but as a global ambassador for everything positive about the State.

“On behalf of the Citizens of Iowa, I congratulate you for your personal commitment and thank you for your unwavering support.”

Delegates honored Schwenssen with a standing ovation.

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