| |
The future formal purpose of the List and its means of production
may be seen as twofold:
| a) |
To continue to provide the means of recommending
recognition of a course to a National Authority in a country
which does not have its own validation procedure. |
| b) |
To provide a list of qualifications which
can be recognised by all the constituent National Authorities,
subject to the agreement of individual National Authorities. |
There are also a number of informal, but none the less important,
purposes of the List and its means of production and maintenance
concerned with exchange and improvement of knowledge and skills
in the education, research and practice of architecture, particularly
in a transcultural and global context, and the exchange of the
experience of standards.
Benefits: For CAA Member Institutes and National
Authorities
| Recognition of qualifications |
The system provides a means of recognising
qualifications of international applicants for membership. |
|
External verification of standards
|
For countries with a small number of schools
the CAA system provides external, international verification
of standards. It is of particular benefit to countries
with no national validation system whose schools can receive
full CAA system visits individually. |
| Systems validation (Red Book Appendix C) |
For countries with a national validation
system the Red Book provides a procedure for recognising
such systems. This is an efficient way of validating a
number of courses at one time to the CAA standard. |
| Member benefits |
For Associations whose members include graduates
of CAA recognised national courses there is a member benefit
allowing mobility for those who wish to practice or teach
(or study) in other CAA member countries through an internationally
recognised qualification |
Benefits: For schools
| Assessment of Standards by a multi-lateral
international body |
The CAA system is a peer review process
that assesses output standards against minimum set criteria
(Red Book Appendix A) for architectural education. CAA
calls this the 'Validation of Competencies and Variety'
holding of equal importance the CAA criteria and 'the
need to preserve and encourage diversity, innovation and
development'. The process is inclusive involving both
local (institute and registration board) and CAA board
members, who are drawn from an internationally representative
Panel (Red Book Section 3.3). |
| International Collegiality |
The by-product of the CAA List is a network
of schools of recognised standard creating opportunities
for exchange between schools, students and teachers. The
common standard is conducive to twinning and summer school
exchanges between schools. Also valuable detailed exchanges
between the board members and the school take place both
during and after visits. |
| Internal Assessment |
The preparation for CAA recognition can
combine with internal self assessment procedures to consider
the progress and development of an architecture programme.
The documentation and gathering of student portfolios
required for a CAA visit is valuable internal quality
assessment tool and the latter generates an exhibition
of student work. |
| Reputation |
CAA recognition enhances reputation and
can be used to improve recruitment at national, regional
and international levels. Courses located within an institution
of higher learning receive improved status within their
parent body. |
Benefits: For students
| Mobility |
Transferable qualifications for graduates
who wish to study or work outside their country of study.
The CAA List provides access to an international network
of schools further study and better employment Prospects.
Such mobility is within the constraints of local immigration
and registration requirements in CAA member countries. |
| Memberships |
Opportunities for student or full membership
of other CAA national associations. |
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