Education has always been a core component of what the AIA provides for its members, and, in fact, the State of Michigan requires that each of us maintain our professional license by continuing that education through attendance and participation in educational events. Each year, our chapter strives to provide you with high quality learning units; both through our direct networks like our monthly interactive series, AIAD:COMMONS, and our committees and knowledge communities such as the Building Codes + Regulation Committee, the Building Enclosure Council, and the Technology in Architectural Practice group.  In addition to our internally-organized programs, AIA Detroit partners with affiliated organizations, such as NAWIC (National Organization for Women in Construction), SEMBOIA, and CE Academy, to ensure that our members have a variety of programming to choose from as well as multiple opportunities to earn the necessary amount of learning units.   

In short, AIA Detroit has long been considered a “super star” in terms of supporting educational opportunities for our members. This is important for each of us on several fronts:

• > As architects we MUST attend conferences and educational events to maintain our professional licenses.
• > These sessions are an excellent way to keep up-to-date on current trends, codes, technology,and other topics that influence your practice.
• > Our programs offer yet another way to network with your peers.
• > For emerging professionals, these events are a great way to leverage the collective knowledge of more experienced individuals in our community.

This month alone, we are offering over 20 continuing education units for you, as members of AIA Detroit, many of which are offered at a reasonably low cost to you. In order to keep providing these, however, we need you to attend, participate, and provide us with feedback in order for our organization to work toward continuous improvement. We also strive to make certain that over 75% of our educational programming is qualified for Health, Safety & Welfare (HSW) designationl. For example, last month’s screening of  “ABSTRACT: The Art of Design”, held at the Emagine Theater Royal Oak, qualified for 2.0 HSW CEU credits!

Our staff, Charlie Klecha and Lauren Myrand, work tirelessly to make certain that these events not only meet the criteria established by AIA National, but to provide food, beverage, entertainment, quick credit reporting and certificate distribution for your records. Their efforts should be applauded; there is an unbelievable amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to help support us in our professional endeavors toward learning. Thank you, Lauren and Charlie!

If you haven’t had the chance to attend one of our Monthly  AIAD: COMMONS Interactive Knowledge events, a BEC-GD or TAP program; one of the BCRC code seminars, or any other number of our educational opportunities, I highly encourage you to seek out the calendar on our website for more information. Please reach out to Lauren Myrand at Lauren@AIADetroit.com if you need help finding appropriate sessions for your continuing education experience.

We are calling April the month of education; as Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.”

Let’s do that, together.