REGISTRATION
and the acronyms used to identfy a registered member
What Acronym is used by Registered members?
Full members or professionally recognised AILA members are called Registered Landscape Architects.
The acronym used after the members name is AILA; or FAILA for fellows.
eg: Joanne Jones AILA
Jeremy Johnson FAILA
or a member may wish to spell out that they are Registered:
Jenny Johnson AILA Registered Landscape Architect
Jeremy Johnson FAILA Registered Landscape Architect
or on your business card you may set it out like this:
Jenny Johnson AILA
Registered Landscape Architect
Jeremy Johnson FAILA
Registered Landscape Architect
This use of acronyms has been approved to be used from June 2007
one last option and additional acronym is the optional of using (PP after the AILA) if the member is a former National Past President.
Changes to the nomenclature for AILA full Members:
From July 2007, those full members who were using the term "Associates" of the AILA (AAILA) were re-classified as Registered Landscape Architects (AILA or FAILA).
Those who were already Registered Landscape Architects remain at their current status.
The term Associate (AAILA) is to be no longer used as the nomenclature for full AILA Membership.
The acronym to be used is: AILA.
This removed the former nomenclature of ‘Associate’ and the acronym AAILA and replaced it with the more universal and easily understood professional status of being a Registered Landscape Architect.
Using the term ‘Registered’ aligns the profession easily with other professions and reduces the chances of confusion by agencies seeking to employ ‘registered’ professionals and consultants.
Reasons for the change:
Agencies are looking to the profession to provide an easily understood status of professional recognition that they can use alongside that being provided by other professional groups.
The term 'Registered' remains the most accepted in Australia. For instance, agencies establishing competitions had struggled to understand the relationship between the Associate and the Registered Landscape Architect. Most now use the term "registered with the relevant association/institute" as their terminology for identifying professionals.
The reality is that clients and those running competitions, despite many marketing attempts, did not understood why the AILA has two layers of membership (ie Associates and Registered Landscape Architects).
However, the former registration scheme had identified that the AILA needs to ensure that there are processes for providing the professional recognition and that agencies need to have confidence in those recognition processes.
By moving to this one nomenclature for all fully recognised members, agencies now has a much easier means of recognising, and therefore employing or choosing for competitions, AILA landscape architects as their preferred consultants.
A new emphasis on CPD
All full members are now to be regarded as registered members and are required to supply basic information on their on-going CPD.
Registered members are encouraged to use the online process to renew their membership, complete CPD requirements and pay annual fees. (hard copy to be also available)
This process was designed to be accessible and not onerous – as Council recognised that its members undertake professional development and the system should be a tool to provide recognition for the members’ on-going commitment to their own professional practice.
The other factor to be recognised is that many professionals are mentors to others and/or continue to have life-long mentor relationships with their colleagues.
Use of the term 'landscape architect' and/or 'Registered Landscape Architect'
The title Registered Landscape Architect can only be used by those Australian professionals who are professionally recognised through the AILA.
Henceforth this avoids the state by state debates about people using the term ‘landscape architect’.
The AILA no longer expends energy dealing with graduates or others who may wish to call themselves landscape architects. Of course to do so without being professionally recognised may lead to occasional legal challenges and possible interesting insurance issues; but this will no longer be the business of the AILA.
We will however continue to alert agencies to improper use of any term that hints at a practictioner directly or indirectly portraying themselves as a fully recognised or registered landscape architect.
Until they successfully apply and are accepted, graduates from accredited programs will not be able to call themselves Registered Landscape Architects - ie professionally recognised landscape architects.
The AILA continues to advocate that agencies should employ those landscape architects that are Registered Landscape Architects and that agencies need to be aware that using the title 'landscape architect' does not alone denote a recognised professional status.
Fellows
Please note that there will be no change to the status of Fellows – being an honour bestowed on full members. Beyond 2007, all Fellows will continue as Registered Landscape Architects and be required to fulfil the same requirements as other Registered Landscape Architects.
How does this effect Graduates, Students and Affiliates?
All these categories of membership are not effected by these changes to full membership.
Except that graduates will now have new processes to plan for when they are considering applying for full membership - to be recognised as an AILA Registered Landscape Architect.