News:
New itunes app of the Kansas City Crossroads
The Crossroad Art District has a new itunes app available. The new app will help you locate galleries, restaurants, businesses and of course your AIA Kansas City Headquarters.
2011 National YAF Advisory Committee Open Positions Call
The Young Architects Forum (YAF) is a program of The American Institute of Architects and the AIA’s College of Fellows (COF), and is organized to address issues of particular importance to recently licensed architects (within 10 years of licensure). The national YAF Advisory Committee (AdCom) is charged with encouraging the development of national and regional programs of interest to young architects and supporting the creation of YAF groups within local chapters.
Each fall, the YAF National AdCom seeks to fill positions for the following year, which begin January 1st. Terms vary from 1-2 years, and members may serve up to four years on the Committee. Major meetings of the AdCom are typically scheduled three times a year (AIA Grassroots, AIA National Convention and a fall YAF conference) along with monthly conference calls.
Eligibility: Nominees must be architects licensed ten years or less, for at least the first year of their term. Appointments are based on submitted materials, and selection will be made by the YAF AdCom selection committee in early October of the preceding year. Although Regional Liaison roster often serves as a pool of nominees for the AdCom positions, RL experience is not required. Other members of the AdCom (in a non-voting capacity) include the immediate AdCom Past-Chair, the Emerging Professionals Director, an AIA Board Representative and a COF Executive Committee Liaison.
Applications Requirements:
• Applicant Letter of Interest: one 8.5”x11” page describing applicant’s interest in a specific position;
• Back-up materials: five 8.5”x11” pages maximum, including applicant’s resume at a minimum;
• Three letters of recommendation (including one from an AIA component leader.)
Please address application materials to AdCom Elections Committee Chair, Adam Palmer. Please submit application as a PDF document titled “YAF_AdCom_Application_LastName_FirstName.pdf” emailed to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Application Deadline: September 24, 2010
Decisions Announced:October 2010
Open Positions:
Vice Chair
Communications
Programs Advisor
Regional Liaison Advisor
Public Relations
Please see position descriptions
NCARB | Five Years of the NCARB ARE Rolling Clock
The NCARB ARE Rolling Clock made its debut on 1 January 2006. This January will mark the fifth year of its existence—and the first time under the policy that division scores for candidates who have not completed the exam within five years will begin to expire.
History of the Rolling Clock
NCARB’s Committee on Procedures and Documents recommended the Rolling Clock in 2004 after extensively studying the issue for a few years. At the time, several states already had different forms of “rolling clock” requirements, but there was no uniform standard. The committee felt the rule addressed several concerns, the most important being that the practice of architecture and the exam’s content, format, and administration change over time. Requiring that all divisions be passed within a reasonable period better assures that the ARE remains a valid measure of the level of competence necessary to independently practice architecture. Also, creating a uniform rule helped facilitate reciprocity among jurisdictions.
After lively debate, the rule was approved at the 2004 Annual Meeting and Conference with an implementation date of 1 January 2006. While no jurisdiction has a timeframe requirement that is longer than NCARB’s Rolling Clock, some continue to have clocks that are shorter or do not “roll.” Contact your registration board for more information on its rules and requirements.
For the complete policy regarding the ARE Five-Year Rolling Clock, please download the latest edition of the Handbook for Interns and Architects.
How Does the Rolling Clock Work?
Under the terms of the Rolling Clock, candidates for the ARE must pass all required divisions within five years. Divisions passed prior to 1 January 2006 were grandfathered into the rule. However, all divisions passed prior to 1 January 2006 will no longer be valid if a candidate has not completed the ARE by 1 July 2014.
Key Points:
•If a division was passed prior to 1 January 2006, the candidate’s five-year period will begin on the date when the first passed division was administered after 1 January 2006.
•A passing grade for any division taken after 1 January 2006 will remain valid for five years beginning on the date the division was taken.
•If a candidate’s Rolling Clock end date is reached, only the passing score for the division establishing the Rolling Clock end date will expire.
•Once a candidate’s Rolling Clock end date is reached, a new Rolling Clock end date will be established from the date of the next oldest passed division.
•Any division passed prior to 1 January 2006 will no longer be valid if a candidate has not passed all divisions of the ARE by 1 July 2014.
Rolling Clock Extensions
Extensions to the ARE Rolling Clock can be requested in circumstances where completion of the ARE is prevented by the birth or adoption of a child, a serious medical condition, active duty in military service, or other like causes. An applicant may request an extension by submitting a timely written application and supporting documentation as prescribed by NCARB. Upon proper application, NCARB will allow parents of newborn infants or newly adopted children a six-month extension to the end of the five-year period if the birth or adoption occurred within the five-year period.
Key Points:
•A request for a Rolling Clock extension must be submitted by the candidate directly to NCARB.
•The request for a Rolling Clock extension must be received by NCARB before a candidate’s current NCARB Rolling Clock end date.
•Each applicant must include a completed Rolling Clock Extension Request Form and all relevant and required supporting documentation. Download Form.
•Extension requests should be submitted to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Call for Entries | AIA Kansas City 2010 Design Awards
Celebrating excellence in the built environment, AIA Kansas City calls for entries for the 2010 Awards Program. Call for Entries are due September 27. Award recipients will be announced during the Award Celebration on November 19, 2010 at The Vox Theatre. Our awards jury will be on hand to provide commentary on the award-winning projects.
AIA Kansas City Elections | Candidate Statements
The Board of Directors and staff of AIA Kansas City invite you to our 2010 Annual Meeting / Chapter Elections. Come and enjoy Food, Beverages and Special Entertainment at the new AIA Kansas City office on Tuesday, September 14 beginning at 5:30 p.m. See you there.
Candidate Statements are attached above, so be sure to read up on all the candidates. All AIA and Associate AIA members are eligible to vote. If you are not able to join us on September 14th, please feel free to fill out an absentee ballot at the AIA Kansas City office during office hours (8:00am – 5:00pm) from September 7 – September 14.
Dow Jones Newswires | UPDATE: Small-Business Payroll Tax Increase Dropped From Senate Bill
(Updates with response from Finance Committee spokeswoman and Senate vote)
By Martin Vaughan Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus ( D., Mont.) has removed a controversial proposal that would force lawyers, accountants and other professionals to pay more in payroll taxes from a broader proposal to extend expired tax cuts.
The payroll tax provision, which would have raised $9 billion to help pay for tax cut extensions, had drawn strong criticism from business advocacy groups and Republicans including Sen. Olympia Snowe (R., Maine).
An email from Senate Finance Committee staff, obtained by Dow Jones Newswires, outlined several changes to an amendment Baucus planned to offer to small- business legislation pending on the Senate floor.
Among those changes was the elimination of the small business payroll tax provision. A Senate Finance Committee spokeswoman said plans for the amendment were still under discussion. She said she couldn’t comment at this time on whether the proposal has been shelved indefinitely.
An attempt by Senate Democrats to limit debate on the small-business bill failed in a Thursday morning Senate vote, making it unlikely that the Baucus amendment would come up for a vote anytime soon.
The proposal had aimed to crack down on a tax-sheltering technique known as the “John Edwards loophole,” named after the former North Carolina senator and Democratic presidential candidate.
Proposal supporters say some S-corporation owners pay themselves a nominal salary, while collecting the rest of the firm’s profits through a dividend that isn’t subject to payroll taxes.
But small business groups said the Senate proposal would have applied Medicare and Social Security taxes to income that represented a return on business owners’ investment, which they said is distinct from salary.
Besides dropping the S-corporation payroll tax provision, Baucus also modified provisions that would restrict the use of foreign tax credits by U.S. multinational firms.
He moved until later the effective dates of those provisions, so that the new rules will apply only after Dec. 31, 2010. That shaved $2.9 billion off the revenue those provisions are expected to raise.
Those effective date changes are also reflected in legislation the House is expected to vote on Thursday to encourage investment in the U.S., which also includes the foreign tax credit changes.
NCARB | IDP 2.0: Phase Three — Now Fall 2011
The third and final phase of IDP 2.0, which was originally scheduled for January 2011, will now be implemented in fall 2011. Interns will be notified of the implementation date at least six months in advance of the launch date.
The electronic Experience Verification Reporting (e-EVR) system was launched in 2008 to create a more efficient and user-friendly process for reporting IDP experience. As we look to the long-term improvement of the program, we also needed to look at the long-term expandability of our computer systems.
“In order to build a foundation for the next several years, we needed to adjust the implementation of the final phase of IDP 2.0 to accommodate the time it takes to create systems that can handle the current improvements to the program as well as future improvements,” said Mary S. de Sousa, Vice President, Operations at NCARB.
For more information about the changes related to the final phase of IDP 2.0, download our guide IDP 2.0: Experience Areas and Categories, which includes definitions, explanations of the experiences areas that are combined or split, training hour rollover examples, and frequently asked questions.
Also, the fall 2010 Direct Connection will feature yet to be released details about the new experience settings and new opportunities to earn IDP credit for qualifying work study co-op programs. Details on the qualifying criteria and application process for work study co-op programs will be released by the end of this year.
Emerging Professionals | A Diverse Group Defined by Common Needs
by: Kevin Fitzgerald, AIA
The definition of architecture’s emerging professionals (EPs) is wide and diverse, given to many classifications and perhaps a few misunderstandings. But possibly the most unasked question about this group is simply: what, exactly, are they emerging from? College? Internships? Are they emerging from established practices to hang their shingle? Are they emerging from the economic morass of the Great Recession? Or are they simply coming into their own as designers?
Click here to read the entire artical from the AIA National website.
WiD - KC | August Newsletter
Please find the attached August newsletter. Upcoming events for August include a Women’s Principal Group meeting and the 5 Year Gala Planning Committee meeting. Also check out the great events coming up next month.
MOAPA Awards 2010
The Missouri Chapter of the American Planning Association Annual Awards submittal deadline is here. All award nominations are due by Friday, August 13th at 5 p.m. The annual conference is to be held October 6-8 in Columbia, Missouri at which time the awards will be presented. If you have questions please don’t hesitate to contact Jim Holley at 816-228-0124 or by e-mail at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).