by: Jessica Sheridan Assoc. AIA LEED AP
This week AIANYS issued its first annual Associate Member Survey Report. After conducting the survey over the summer, the purpose was to help AIA components in New York understand the needs and demographics of Associates. From the results, it appears as if a majority joined the AIA to enrich their careers (45%) and are on the path to licensure (87% are Intern Architects and/or ARE Candidates, and 80% plan on achieving licensure), helping prove the point that, despite hard economic times, individuals are not leaving the profession — they are trying to get licensed.
This is encouraging, as the community of design professionals seems to have gained strength during the recession. Perhaps part of the reason is that the Center for Architecture has added a variety of classes geared toward technical training, including LEED courses, Revit classes, and the AIANY Emerging New York Architects (ENYA) committee’s ARE Boot Camp series. The AIANY Professional Practice Committee launched its Architects Fast-Track Leadership Series, aimed at training individuals to become leaders in their firms through discussions on various practice management topics.
The biggest problem, as is often the case with surveys, is that out of the 1,307 NY-based Associates, just 252 responded (19%). However, half of the respondents are AIANY Chapter members, so perhaps it is because of the programs offered at the Center that Associate Members offered up their time to fill out the survey. Hopefully, all of the New York State chapters will review the results and react to the needs of their Associate membership. Click these three links for the full summary and graphs: http://aianys.org/images/2010assocnumber2; http://aianys.org/images/2010assocresrate.pdf; http://aianys.org/images/2010assocsummary.pdf.