Programs currently offered by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) such as the National Mentor Matching Program have aided in offering future architects the resources to becoming superior professionals within the architectural field. Architectural internship is the keystone to the culminating years of architectural education that an emerging professional receives; broad issues, design fundamentals, working ethics and knowledge within the field are finally brought together in the working environment. It is paramount that emerging professionals are offered the best opportunities for professional growth within the firms best geared to educate them.

A great fear which is commonplace with emerging professionals is locating a firm that not only provides the compensation and benefits they are looking for, but also the professional environment best suited for their intern development. The common mental image of the “giant” architectural firm where emerging professionals are ‘cubby-holed’ and relegated to repetitive tasks is in fact a reality for some interns. Clearly, a conflict could exist between a firm’s priorities for operation and an intern’s plan for future licensure, but this proposed plan could benefit both.

This plan would be to annually review the level of quality environment provided for emerging professionals and interns. In it, existing programs can continue to be utilized by firms, local AIA chapters and interns themselves to help foster continued professional and knowledge growth. As well, increased intern involvement in the design development process, greater interaction with allied professions (engineering, landscape architecture, interior design, etc.) and more cross-functional communication can be utilized by emerging professionals as well. Much of these ideas are already in use by superior firms, such as a Boston architectural firm featured in a January 2003 AIA Best Practices article on mentoring success. Questionnaire feedback from mentors, firm principals and the interns themselves would provide an image of the level of quality professional-building interaction created by a firm, while data regarding intern training unit growth as well as ARE success data can paint an accurate picture as to how positive a growth environment exists in that firm.

This information is then presented, not as a mandate for change, by the AIA in an annual report that anyone could access. Firms who score poorly will not be penalized by the AIA, but such firms will have to face the realization that emerging professionals will be looking for the right mentoring environment, which may not be that firm. As a result, the intern or prospective employee may see a more honest evaluation of a firm’s environment for professional growth than that found in an interview tour of an office. It would function much like how U.S. News & World Report’s “Annual Best Colleges and Universities” issue shows a relatively clear comparison at the quality of higher education institutions.

In a day in age when professional development and knowledge growth in the architectural workplace is so critical, this program could provide emerging architectural professionals with the much-needed tools to finding the firms best geared for developing their professional future.