In 2015, National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB) launched the Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL), allowing NAAB accredited architecture schools to integrate licensure requirements into their own curricula. UNC Charlotte’s David R. Ravin School of Architecture was one of the first programs to adopt IPAL, which provides students an opportunity to complete the experience and examination requirements for licensure concurrently with the education requirement.
By integrating the education, experience, and examination requirements of licensure, IPAL helps students prepare for life after college by:
- Connecting education to current architectural practice
- Jumpstarting their careers with work experience and networking
- Making students eligible for licensure after graduation by completing licensure requirements
- Opening up career opportunities through licensure
- Helping students manage the financial burden of earning a degree, both by interweaving paid employment opportunities around academic requirements and by qualifying them for higher paying positions.
Seventeen students have participated in the David R. Ravin School of Architecture's IPAL program: Alaa Bou Ghanem, Bekim Sejdiu, Santiago Mesa, Constanza Gonzalez, Stephen Nuttall, Kendall Yount, Eliot Ball, Christina Slotkowski, Garrett De Mars, Lucas Gillie, Sydney Mangan, Ti'Ara Toney, Coral Rembert, Nicole Surace, Sydney Garceau, Alexis Andrikanich, and Tyler DeJong.
For more about the IPAL program, please visit the NCARB website. For information about the IPAL program at UNC Charlotte, please contact Professor David Thaddeus, FAIA.
The David R. Ravin School of Architecture is grateful to the members of our IPAL Consortium: Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, LS3P, Morris Berg, Boomerang, HDR, Northwood Ravin, Housing Studio, Clark Nexsen, Perkins Eastman, Progressive AE, C Design, Wright McGraw Beyer Architects, RBA Group, ADW Architects, WHN Architects, McCulloch England Associates Architects, AIA Charlotte, AIA North Carolina.