An architectural internship can be improved by creating structured opportunities for interns to experience non traditional career paths. The NCARB Intern Development Program requires interns to complete 80 hours of volunteer community service and provides suggestions of how to do so. However, while volunteering does provide benefits for the intern and the program in which he/she participates, it is very limited in giving an intern valuable insight into a particular activity, i.e. local zoning committee, museum programs, community development corporations. Volunteering often takes the form of spending a few hours on an irregular schedule for a specific endeavor and, almost always, after business hours.

Individuals with an architectural education and work experience have provided many valuable contributions in diverse areas outside of traditional practice. To cite a few examples, licensed architects have served or currently serve as marketing and construction professionals, an U.S. ambassador, the president of Peru, the first African American mayor of Charlotte, NC, executive positions and elected offices in city and state government, directors of many non profit organizations, various faculty positions (from high school teachers to university administrators), and many other examples exist.

The general public is not aware of many of these great contributions. The perception of the public is that architects are solely the designers of buildings. The public views architects as individuals that draw floor plans and beautifully rendered elevation drawings. The challenge to the profession, and it should begin during one's internship, is how to change that perception.

The core knowledge taught in architecture schools and competencies required to complete an internship are important and have served individuals/leaders that have pursued non traditional paths well. A critical key is how to expose intern architects to fields in which they can use their architectural expertise and thereby bring a unique perspective and address the given issues.

How many IDP Interns are currently out there that haven't tapped their ultimate potential? More importantly, how can the NCARB Intern Development Program help these individuals do so?

By implementing a structured mechanism to investigate non traditional careers during one's internship, interns would be given an opportunity to formally observe those paths and possibly find their "true calling."

This structured mechanism could take the form of formalizing the current requirement of 80 hours of Category D, into two work weeks. One or both weeks can be spent "shadowing" a non traditional professional and observing that career. As it stands, obtaining 80 hours in volunteer service is very small when compared to the 5600 hours required to complete IDP. The volunteer aspect is also something that could be reviewed.

Richard N Swett, F.A.I.A. and former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, once stated that currently there is no prominent leader who has an architecture background; that our profession's voice is not out there.

During the 2005 Internship Conference many discussions will take place about designing tomorrow's architect. One of those might lead to designing very diverse architects that become leaders outside the traditional profession and raise its status and provide a much broader benefit society.