Advocacy Roundtable: Protecting the Profession Amid Political Unpredictability

The first AIA Austin Advocacy Roundtable of the year will collaboratively explore recent regulatory decisions and government actions that impair the ability of Architects to fully serve their clients and communities and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of building occupants. The suddenness, lack of consultation, ambiguity, aggression, and failure to address external consequences of these actions both results from and contributes to a volatile and precarious political and cultural landscape. In light of the ongoing uncertainty, this Roundtable brings together professionals directly impacted by local, state, and federal actions who will share the background of one issue and the professional and personal impact it has had. Participants will together discuss strategies individual professionals, practices, and AIA can take to proactively protect the profession in light of the new modus operandi in government.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the pending proposal from the Department of Education to remove of the “professional” designation from professional architecture degrees, its potential impact on the education and training of future architects, and strategies to challenge the change.
• Assess the potential impacts of the State Comptroller revoking certification of all Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) not based on veteran status and explore potential substitutions of other programs and opportunities.
• Describe the inadvertent redefinition of “Gross Floor Area” in the Land Development Code by the Austin Board of Adjustments and discuss the opportunity to fix ambiguous code and inconsistently applied interpretations.
• Strategize ways to proactively protect and support Architects and related design professionals as they need to adapt to changing regulatory and technical requirements while preparing for further unforeseeable changes.

Speakers:
Federal, State and Local: TBD
Moderator: Jason John Paul Haskins, AIA + LEED AP BD+C

Format:
Moderated roundtable with three featured professionals and open discussion. Bring your lunch.

1.5 LU Pending. Spaces are limited and registration is required.