From the National President

Richard Kirk

National President, Richard Kirk. Photo by Toby Scott
 
 
August 2017 

Strategic Plan Survey

Last month we asked members to participate in our Strategic Plan consultation process. Following extensive workshopping in the first half of the year, National Council along with the Board and Committee chairs had identified nine key priorities for the Institute to undertake over the next three years. Members then had the opportunity to rank these initiatives in the order that was most important to them.

Thank you to all those members who took the time to engage with this process, we had an overwhelming response and this feedback will form a valuable part of the Strategic Plan 2018 – 2020.

Here’s what you said was most important:
 

 

National Council, the Board and Executive team have reviewed the results and have grouped these priorities into three achievable phases for implementation. We look forward to updating you further once our new Strategic Plan has been finalised.

 

Accreditation

The Institute is committed to the highest quality of architectural education and has actively pursued this agenda through dedicated involvement in the accreditation of Australian and New Zealand architecture programs for over 20 years.

The Institute is committed to ensuring an accreditation system that supports educators, regulators and the profession and retains international validation, as well as an accreditation system that recognises that a comprehensive architectural education is inclusive of, but also greater than, the competencies defined by the National Standard of Competency for Architects – a system that strives for excellence not just minimum standards.

Accreditation ensures that university programs provide a suitable pathway to registration as an architect and provides programs with expert peer review.  Professional accreditation is also required to maintain government funding for Masters level students.

Architecture is regulated by the various state and territory architect Act and the individual architect registration boards are the bodies that accredit architecture programs in their respective jurisdictions. In order to maintain a nationally consistent procedure, this professional accreditation of Australian Schools of Architecture is undertaken as an independent process in accordance with the Australian and New Zealand Architecture Program Accreditation Procedure (ANZ APAP), which is jointly owned by the Institute and the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA).  

Throughout a recent review of the ANZ APAP, the Institute raised significant concerns and recommendations which unfortunately have not been addressed. In April this year, the Institute withdrew from the review process as we had lost confidence that key stakeholder concerns were being appropriately considered but remained joint owners of the ANZ APAP and actively pursued mediation opportunities with the AACA.

The AACA have, without the Institute’s agreement as joint-owner of the intellectual property of the procedure, assumed secretariat of the ANZ APAP and pursued implementation of the review’s Final Report which they published in June without being sighted by the Institute.

We do not believe that the recommendations of the Final Report support our criteria and standards which are in the best interest of members and the profession. We are continuing to seek mediation with the AACA and maintain our rights as the profession’s joint ownership of the procedure and associated intellectual property.

If you want to be a part of our campaign to improve the future of the profession through strong educational standards then please enter your details here.

Richard Kirk
National President

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