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About FAICP

About the AICP College of Fellows

Induction to the AICP College of Fellows is the highest honor the American Institute of Certified Planners bestows upon a member.

Fellows of AICP are nominated and selected by their peers to recognize and honor their outstanding contributions as a professional planner. The outcomes of their individual efforts left demonstrably significant and transformational improvements to the field of planning and the communities they served. All Fellows are long-time members of AICP and have achieved excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, and community service and leadership.

The College actively encourages Fellows and others to participate in programs and initiatives in the service of communities and the planning profession, including: mentoring the next generation of planners; volunteering expertise to underserved communities; leading initiatives within APA chapters and divisions; and sharing knowledge with the planning community, allied professionals, and the wider public.

2024 Updates

To increase transparency of the nomination process and to support the APA’s “Prioritize Equity” strategic initiative, the 2024 guidelines have been updated and additional improvements have been made for the 2024 nomination cycle. The changes recommended by the 2022 FAICP Selection Committee, the FAICP Pipeline and Nomination Guidelines Task Force and the College of Fellows Committee are highlighted below. Recognizing not all chapters/divisions/AICP members have the same resources, please contact fellows@planning.org to connect with experienced nominators.

  • The Nomination Guidelines are available on the APA website at https://www.planning.org/faicp/nomination/
  • The AICP Commission has approved changing the number of years of AICP membership required from 15 to 10.
    • The number of years required is an administrative prerequisite to be eligible to become a Fellow. The FAICP Guidelines and especially the primary criteria are the qualitative tools used by the Selection Committee in their deliberations.
    • It is important to emphasize that while the number of years is being lowered, the standards and criteria are not changing.
    • FAICP is recognition of exemplary planning professionals meeting rigorous standards for the award.
    • While the eligibility years have changed, it’s important to consider that not everyone can pursue AICP at the beginning of their eligibility for several reasons.
      • The number of years as an AICP member does not always reflect the number of years as a professional planner.
      • Not everyone who is an AICP member has accomplished enough to be eligible for Fellowship after 10 years. Nominees and nominators should review the primary criteria to evaluate if a nominee qualifies.
    • All allied organizations have lowered their requirements to 10 years.
    • Expanding the pool of eligible nominees may further the equity initiatives as demographics may change over time.
    • We are not expecting an increased volume of nominations due to Chapter and Division capacity limits.
  • Streamlined submission process: A new nomination submission webpage to submit the nomination, headshot, and payment in one place is online.
  • Nomination Toolkit will be available in November. The new approach is to provide additional resources for nominators highlighting tips and tools to support the three nomination sources (Chapters, Divisions, 10 AICP members) including materials collected by successful nominators, sample successful nomination packages (redacted) and what the selection committee seeks in a nomination package.

Eligible AICP Members

Attached, please find a list of AICP members from your Chapter or Division eligible for nomination into the College of Fellows of AICP.  Fellowships will be granted to planners who have demonstrated excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, public or community service and leadership.

Nomination Submissions

The online nomination form and 2024 guidelines may be found at: https://www.planning.org/faicp/nomination/. Nominators may upload the application package in a single pdf file and a separate, high quality, digital photograph labeled with the nominee’s name. The nomination fee of $100 may be paid online with the nomination application at https://www.planning.org/faicp/nomination/form/.

If you have any questions, please contact fellows@planning.org.