Continuing education is a system developed by the AIA to emphasize learning and record participation in professional learning activities. AIA/CES enables architects to keep current, master new knowledge and skills, plan for the future, and responsibly meet the role society entrusts to a professional. The program also allows members to fulfil a requirement for AIA membership and meet any state mandatory continuing education requirement. In this role, the program has the potential to be a primary force in the improvement and revitalization of our profession.
Continuing Education Annual Requirement
All active AIA members must successfully complete 18 learning unit (LU) hours each year, with at least 8 of the 18 LU hours relating to health, safety, and/or welfare (HSW).
A member who fails to meet the annual requirement will be given a nine month grace period. Any credit earned in the following year will apply toward the deficit. During the grace period, members are able to report retroactively any activities that were completed in the previous year.
A member who exceeds the annual requirement may carry up to 18 LU hours (including eight hours of HSW) over to the next year. Carryover credit can be used for one year only; it is not cumulative. Only the number of credits needed to fulfil the annual requirement for the following year may be carried over. Extra credit may not be carried past the one-year limit.
State Licensure - Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE)
Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) is education required by a state to retain licensure. Approximately 30 states and 10 Canadian Provinces have implemented a MCE license requirement, but these requirements vary from state to state, province to province. Alabama, for example, requires 12 hours per year, while Florida requires 20 hours every two years, and New York requires 12 hours every 3 years. Except for Kansas, the states with MCE also require that between 8-12 of the hours be in the area described as health, safety, and welfare (HSW).
Each state has the legal right to establish its own guidelines and requirements. However, most state requirements are similar, whether they require architects to meet them annually or biannually. If you, like the average AIA member, have four or more state licenses, you must meet the continuing education requirements for all the states in which you intend to practice.
To date, most states that require MCE indicate they will accept AIA/CES transcripts as documentation for completion of valid continuing education credit. For AIA members, this means that our single record-keeping system is the documentation needed for reporting your state MCE requirements when requested. We do, however, strongly suggest that you keep backup documentation of your activities as support, especially if the credit is a self-reported activity as it may be requested.
Accessing your Transcript
Individual transcript records are updated daily on http://aia.org/ via the World Wide Web. Anyone with an active AIA membership number can access a transcript online (direct link to login). To access your individual transcript, go to http://aia.org/conted. You may then print out a copy of your CES transcript.
This information was accurate at the time of publication 01.09.2006. For more information, please see http://aia.org/.
