Continuing Education
Click here for Current opportunities
Did you attend the 2009 AIA Minnesota Convention and need to submit for CE's? Fill out the form and send it in by email, fax or mail.
CE Verification Form(PDF)
Continuing education is mandatory both for maintaining your AIA membership as well as maintaining your license to practice architecture in Minnesota. The requirements vary slightly and are as follows:
AIA’s Requirement
AIA’s requirement is 18 hours of continuing education, 8 of which must address Health, Safety, Welfare (HSW) issues. Beginning in January 2009, 4.0 hours must be Sustainable Design Credits. Examples of HSW seminars are those that address building codes, fire codes, accessibility issues, environmental issues, structural issues, etc. This is an annual requirement. If you exceed the requirement in any given year, up to 18 hours can be carried over to the following year (but no more than one year’s requirement can be carried over). If you do not meet the requirement, you have a grace period of nine months (through September 30) to make up the preceeding year’s requirement but you must meet the current year’s requirement, as well.
Education: www.aia.org/education/index.htm
FAQ: info.aia.org/aia/cesfaq_default.cfm
New! Sustainable Design Credits Required Beginning in 2009
The AIA’s mandatory continuing education requirement is making a slight but important change beginning in 2009. At that time, 4 of the 18 Learning Units required annually will need to focus on sustainable design and meet AIA’s established guidelines for sustainable design mandatory continuing education.
Sustainable Design Requirements: www.aia.org/education/ces/AIAS076973
Sustainability has been a focus of architectural practice for over thirty years. Most recently, the issue of climate change and the impact of buildings on carbon emissions has created a new expectation among clients and the public to look to the expertise of architects for solutions that can help them leave a greener footprint. The AIA is responding to this growing demand for our members to assume greater leadership in addressing the challenges facing our planet. Architects must take responsibility for their role in creating the built environment. Social, political and economic factors are all driving the market toward mainstreaming sustainability, and AIA architects who educate themselves in sustainable design will have an advantage, and again, have the privilege of providing ever greater service to clients and community.
AIA’s annual continuing education requirement for registered Architect members is a total of 18 hours called learning units (LUs), eight hours of which must be in health, safety, and welfare (HSW) education topics, and beginning in January 2009, and continuing through December 2012, 4 of the total annual 18 hours must be in sustainable design subject areas. AIA Minnesota’s Continuing Education Committee will be reviewing these new guidelines and making sure that ample opportunities will be made available to our members to meet this new requirement.
State of Minnesota’s Requirement
Continuing education is required to maintain your license in Minnesota. The requirement is 24 hours of Health Safety Welfare credits every two years. The current biennium is July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2010. Up to 12 hours of credit can be carried over from one biennium to the next. www.aelslagid.state.mn.us
Reporting and Record Keeping
CE Credits from AIA Minnesota State Convention
Don't be concerned if credits from the AIA Minnesota State Convention don't show up on your transcript until after January 2009. It typically takes AIA Recordkeeping a month or more to process the Attendance Verification Forms from the Convention. If you need verification of your attendance sooner than that, contact Deanna Christiansen. If you have not yet turned in your Attendance Verification Form (pdf) from the Convention, there's still time. You can send it to the AIA Minnesota office by mail, fax or email to Deanna Christiansen.
Transcript and Self-Reports
If you attend an AIA seminar (or other seminar that is sponsored by an AIA Registered Provider), the credit for your attendance will be reported for you to AIA and recorded on your AIA transcript. If you'd like to check yoru transcript or if you participate in continuing education activity for which you’d like to receive credit, use the Self-Report Form at "Find Your Trascript" on the national site at www.aia.org/education/index.htm. This transcript should be acceptable to verify HSW continuing education credit for the State of Minnesota, as well. However, the State and AIA advise you to keep a file of your continuing education activities including dates, subjects, duration, sponsor, hours, receipts, program brochures, handouts, etc.
For more information, check out the web sites shown above or you can contact Deanna Christiansen, AIA Minnesota Continuing Education Director.