The Practice Academy is a new partnership among the AIA, the architectural academy, and architecture firms to provide a framework for a rigorous internship for students and architectural interns. The intent of the Practice Academy is to stimulate life long learning for architectural professionals, beginning with interns, through the partnership of academics and practitioners.

On July 24th, the AIA announced the recipients of a new grant program to develop Practice Academy pilot programs. The grant program totals $90,000 and each of the selected schools of architecture will receive a total of $30,000 over the next three years to support the development of their proposed program. The selected programs are profiled below. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

The Boston Architectural College (BAC)
The BAC was selected to undertake a Practice Academy devoted to understanding and teaching current developments in computer-aided design technologies, also known as Building Information Modeling (BIM). As stated by Len Charney, Director of Practice at the BAC, “Building Information Modeling is much more than simply technology; it lies at the heart of a fundamental cultural shift involving an ability to lead the AEC industry in a highly-integrated design and project environment…The incorporation of BIM as a powerful digital simulation tool not only validates the design program and intent; moreover, it confirms the architect’s role as the single party in the entire building process who most broadly understands the needs and linkage between all constituencies.”

Interim Report - January 2008 [PDF, 93kb]
Interim Report - January 2007 [PDF, 141kb]
Interim Report - July 2007 [PDF, 85kb]


Iowa State University
The proposal from Iowa State University seeks to engage practitioners and students and faculty to contribute to projects in the local community. Jason Alread, assistant professor at Iowa State University and Nadia Anderson, lecturer at Iowa State University stated, “To become successful architectural practitioners, emerging professionals must do more than master a set of skills…The goal of the Iowa State University Practice Academy is therefore not simply to incorporate elements of architectural practice into architecture education, but rather to develop a model that moves in both directions between education and practice to create a network of understanding that will become a foundation for future growth and learning in its graduates.”

Interim Report - January 2008 [PDF,259kb]
Interim Report - January 2007 [PDF, 49kb]
Interim Report - July 2007 [PDF, 90kb]


University of Cincinnati
A practitioner-led workshop series called “Jump-Start” is the selected Practice Academy proposal from the University of Cincinnati. The advisory committee was excited by this proposal from a university with a long-standing history for a strong co-op program. “Tomorrow’s architect must be a reflective practitioner, with the capacity to analyze and effect change to better address the needs of stakeholders, and to adapt to rapidly changing conditions... This foundation is also essential for students, particularly as they make the transition from academic institutions to architectural practice,” stated Barry Stedman, Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Interim Report - January 2008 [PDF, 438kb]
Interim Report - January 2007 [PDF, 125kb]
Interim Report - July 2007 [PDF, 961kb]


To read the full press release, visit the AIA Press Room.