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Chapter Members, This past month, we’ve recognized the Chapter’s newest licensed Architect, Andre Lopez who is practicing with the K-12 Group at Parkhill. We want to take the occasion of celebrating Andre’s recent achievement to bring the issue of licensure for emerging professionals to the forefront. Our Texas Society of Architects Chapter Director, Edgar Lopez, AIA has recently reported some alarming statistics that were discussed in the last TxA Board Meeting. One third of all registered architects in Texas are now over the age of 65 and at the same time — the rate of new licensures has been quickly declining since changes were made to testing requirements during the pandemic. In the last three years, the entire state of Texas has only seen a sum total of 155 new architects registered under the ARE 5.0 as administered by NCARB. These statewide trends are reflected nationally as well and suggest that recent changes to the exam format are making it generally more difficult to pass the ARE. Additionally, advances in the skillsets that architectural candidates are leaving schools with today have begun opening alternative career paths for these candidates to pursue outside the profession of architecture. As some candidates are beginning to opt for alternate careers in lieu of the arduous process of becoming a professionally licensed architect, the pool of licensed professionals is continuing to shrink. Clearly, these examination barriers to licensure are not within our control at the local level. However, we can leverage our active involvement and membership in TxA and AIA to pressure NCARB and State Licensing Boards to ease some of these barriers to licensure. If this trend is not reversed, we are rapidly approaching a shortage crisis of licensed design professionals in this country. While it seems cliche to state the obvious, our emerging professionals are quite literally the future of the profession. Locally, we as licensed leaders and principals within our respective firms must do everything we can to encourage and assist our associates in the path to licensure. Building up leaders within our firms is a process of continuous mentorship that is manifested in the daily small steps of practice. Providing clear pathways within our firms to advance in the profession from intern to firm principal is yet another way we can encourage our associates to continue towards licensure. I implore you as a leader to explore new ways to encourage and support associates that work with you in the coming month. Provide reimbursements for the cost of exams and study materials. Offer to cover the cost of Associate Membership in the Chapter and encourage they become active with other associates, study for the exams together and be active in Chapter committees. Our Associates Director, Italia Aguilera, AAIA is actively developing new activities for our associates to engage with — so stay tuned as we assist in these efforts. We look forward to stepping into the future of the profession together with you. Best Regards,
William Helm, AIA
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