by the National Associates Committee

Summary: Change to the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards’ (NCARB’s) Intern Development Program is on the horizon. This change frequently is referred to as “Contemporaneous Reporting,” although many interns will know it as “The Six-Month Rule.” Before NCARB votes to revise their model law, and before NCARB’s member boards adopt it individually, we must ask, “What does this mean for the future of the profession?”

First, the six-month rule means that supervisors and firms undoubtedly will assume more responsibility and will need to partner with their interns to achieve success. Is the profession ready to create a culture of learning and mentorship? If this change is effected, it will be up to the profession to make it work—if IDP is to be successful.

If this change is effected, it will be up to the profession to make it work—if IDP is to be successful

Under the current proposal, NCARB Resolution 2008-G, interns establishing a new NCARB Record on or after July 1, 2009, will be limited to submitting training units for periods no longer than a six-month duration in each report. At the end of this six-month time period, interns will have two months to report the training units from that period to NCARB. On July 1, 2010, this change will apply to all interns currently enrolled in the IDP program.

NCARB is also proposing a number of circumstances that could qualify an intern for a time extension. NCARB has also stated the change will not be implemented until online reporting for IDP Training Units is fully tested and operational and supervisor guidelines have been produced and distributed or made available online. Presently, however, the timelines for these systems and resources are still unclear.

Will this proposed rule change to IDP inspire a culture of mentorship within firms? Does this culture already exist between interns and their supervisors and mentors to support this change?

There are four key stakeholders
When the six-month rule first was formally proposed in early 2007, the National Associates Committee (NAC) disseminated a white paper recognizing existing opportunities to improve IDP. The paper addresses the role of four key stakeholders in IDP: supervisors, mentors, the administrator (NCARB), and interns, and provided recommendations for how these individuals and organizations could promote a positive culture of internship that supports regular reporting of training.

Under the six-month rule, interns must document experience regularly or risk losing credit

Under the six-month rule, interns must document experience regularly or risk losing credit. Schools of architecture, particularly IDP educator coordinators, will need to take an active role in educating graduates about these new requirements. As of February 2008, seven accredited schools do not have IDP Educator Coordinators appointed.

Within firms, supervisors will need to take an active role in the oversight of their interns’ training. Specifically, supervisors, many of whom did not experience IDP during their internship, must have a general understanding of the IDP objectives and training requirements to provide broad training opportunities and verify the accuracy of the experience documented. As comprehensive training of IDP supervisors currently is lacking, it is key that supervisor guidelines be proposed by NCARB to initiate more accurate supervision. IDP mentors face similar challenges. They likely will be asked to advise interns, supervisors, and firms about the full program, along with these changes.

Online reporting—not there, yet
Critical to ensuring the success of the six-month rule for the administrator, NCARB, is in the process of building a functional online program to accept training units electronically from interns. This includes obtaining an electronic signature from the intern, supervisor, and mentor. This process must be in place prior to the implementation date of the six- month rule. NCARB will need to provide support in the form of technical assistance and technical review for the anticipated increase in training unit reports (resulting from the online program). With the proposed online reporting for training units, supervisors not only need to be trained on the new online software yet to be created, but will need to learn it quickly as paper-based forms will go away and validating reports will occur more frequently. Mentors also will need to learn the new online software to fulfill their own responsibilities.

Although it is the interns who will be immediately penalized for not submitting their training units in a timely manner, many stakeholders in the IDP process will be affected by this change

Although it is the interns who will be immediately penalized for not submitting their training units in a timely manner, many stakeholders in the IDP process will be affected by this change. As architects and interns, we all need to be informed regarding the six-month rule so that we can prepare to become more active participants in preparing our firms to embrace a culture of mentoring. As a profession, we have a responsibility today to engage these proposed changes in the process of licensing tomorrow’s architects. If the proposed rule is implemented, our shared responsibilities will be even greater.

Are you ready?