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Institutions seeking initial accreditation for a degree program must first be granted candidacy status by the NAAB. Institutions intending to establish a professional degree program should seek guidance from the NAAB for assistance in selecting the appropriate degree program type or types before proceeding with the development of a candidacy application. Programs should also seek guidance from educational and professional consultants and the ACSA, which will assist in the development, documentation, and review required by a candidacy application.
To achieve candidacy status, a candidacy application must be submitted to the NAAB that includes the following:
- A written announcement from the institution’s chief academic officer of the intention to seek accreditation for a professional degree program in architecture.
- An APR documenting the extent of the program’s current compliance with each of the NAAB conditions for accreditation.
- The most recent report to, and response from, the recognized regional accrediting agency for the institution (See Section 3.11, Administrative Structure, in the NAAB Conditions.)
When the application is complete, the NAAB will authorize a site visit by a three-person candidacy visit team.
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After the visit, the team, which consists of an educator, a practitioner, and the NAAB Executive Director or Associate Executive Director, will prepare a Candidacy VTR.
- The NAAB will review the APR, the Candidacy VTR, the viability of the program’s plans for complying with the NAAB conditions for accreditation, and any additional relevant information.
- If the NAAB considers the program able to implement its development plans and achieve accreditation within no more than 6 years, candidacy status is granted.
- Once candidacy status is granted, the program must maintain it through biennial site visits that are initiated by submitting an APR. The program pays for all direct expenses for these visits and all the usual fees associated with the accreditation process (See Appendix I.)
- Should a program fail to achieve initial accreditation within a maximum of 6 years, it must submit a new candidacy application.
The main differences between a candidacy visit and a regular NAAB visit are:
- For candidacy visits there are three team members, one from ACSA, one from AIA or NCARB and either the executive director or associate executive director of NAAB.
- The duration of a candidacy visit is two and one half days, starting on Sunday evening and ending after the exit interviews on Wednesday.
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Candidacy
