In 2022, the Wyoming Board of Architects and Landscape Architects (WBALA) set the goal of amending the Practice Act. Senator Stephan Pappas, AIA Wyoming, American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) WY/CO, National Council of Architectural Regulation Boards (NCARB) and Council of Landscape Architectural Regulation Boards (CLARB) were all valuable partners. Our collaborative efforts were successful in amending the board’s Practice Act, which became effective on July 1, 2023.

Amendments include:

1. Allow for alternative paths to licensure outside the accredited degree (in accordance with national standards)
2. Update administrative notice requirements (December certified mailings take an exorbitant amount of time and money to complete)
3. Legislative authority to provide grant funds (make it more official to support continuing education opportunities for our Licensees and the General Public)

Before the board can begin licensing those with alternatives to the accredited degree, the board must first amend the rules to support the Practice Act changes. A Rules Committee was formed and has been meeting fairly regularly with support from NCARB. Thank you to committee members Clint Taylor, Randy Byers, Dale Buckingham, Lewis Matthew Miller, Mitch Blake, Colleen Nelson, Emily Cronbaugh, Katie Wilson and NCARB Staff (*especially Maurice Brown).

Drafting updated rules for landscape architects has been rather straightforward; CLARB already had language in place for national standards supporting alternative paths toward licensure outside of the accredited degree that was already voted upon by their membership. WBALA is moving forward at this time with updating the rules for Landscape Architects.

Unfortunately, it has not been so smooth regarding the updated draft rules for the architects. The requirements of W.S. 33-4-105(b)(iii) are clear: An applicant must either have 1) a degree in architecture from an accredited school, practical experience, and pass an exam OR 2) an educational alternative that is in accordance with NCARB standards.

While NCARB offers two alternatives to the accredited degree, the Rules Committee would prefer additional options for both initial and reciprocal applicants. Generating national standards supporting alternative paths to licensure outside of the accredited degree is currently a priority of NCARB. They will be working to establish recommendations regarding standards and model law.

There are currently 16 NCARB jurisdictions that allow licensure outside of the accredited degree. If Wyoming pushed out new rules, there could then be 17 jurisdictions that may or may not align with the upcoming NCARB standards. We want to avoid acting too quickly … and avoid putting rules into place where a candidate could earn an initial license in Wyoming, but the credential would be invalid to earn a reciprocal license in another state (because our rules were so far off from national standards).

I know that providing alternative/non-traditional pathways toward earning an initial architectural license in Wyoming will be a great benefit. It will impact many emerging professionals. I strongly believe that it will help make our profession more attractive and accessible to the next generation of professionals. I look forward to keeping more Wyoming students in the state and building their architectural careers at Wyoming firms.

I believe that we should do this process right rather than fast. I ask for your patience as we work through this process.

In October, all Wyoming licensed architects and landscape architects received a reminder to renew if their licenses were up for renewal. Costly and time-consuming “certified letters” will no longer be sent as a final reminder at the end of December. Please renew early!

WBALA is thankful to AIA Wyoming for bringing high-quality continuing education opportunities to our state. We are proud to support these efforts through grant funding — please continue to apply!