Members have the option to seek recognition or equivalency for learning activities completed during the Continuing Educational Cycle.

Guidelines for filing a member request for equivalency

Before filing a request, please ensure that the activity is not listed on the CORE Opportunities web page and is not offered by the Pre-approved Providers. Programs/Distance Education modules which are promoted by the OAA as CORE learning or offered by the Pre-approved Providers should be reported by an individual architect as CORE activity. No additional assessment is required.

1. An activity cannot be designated as CORE learning if: 

• It does not focus on one of the CORE topics set by OAA Council for the current Continuing Education Cycle 
• It has not been or will not be completed during the current ConEd Cycle 
• It has been part of the architectural services      

Programs/Distance Education modules which meet criteria outlined above should be reported as Self-Directed learning. No approval is required. 

2. Depending on the nature of the activity, the following documents must be provided: 

When filing for an assessment a course/program/workshop/distance education module, a proof of attendance and the program description (or web link to the program outline) should be provided; 

When filing for an assessment a conference, the conference registration confirmation, a list of presentations/sessions attended, and a link to the conference web page should be provided; When more than one OAA member from the same firm have attended the conference, a list of all OAA members who have participated in the event should be provided. 

When filing for an assessment for teaching experience, a list of programs which have been taught and links to the programs’ descriptions should be provided; 

When filing for an assessment for professional writing/practical research/scholarly research, an abstract should be provided. Please outline the objectives of the study; how the study was done; what results were obtained. Please note that a maximum of 15 learning hours per Cycle will be assigned for this type of activity.     

Documentation provided for an assessment should contain all information necessary for the ConEd Committee to determine the appropriateness of an activity and its applicability as CORE learning. To encourage “Going Green” approach, all documentation should be provided electronically.

3. Assessment time from the date of receipt of the request and all required documentation is approximately 3-5 weeks.       

4. Requests received after December 1 of the second year of the Continuing Education Cycle (30 days before the end of the Cycle) will not be processed in that calendar year. All requests for equivalency must be received no later than 30 days prior to the end of the Cycle (December 31).