CIOB Academic Membership: a route to quality and sustainability 10 years on!

The CIOB launched its academic membership pathway back in 2012 and 2022 marks its 10 year anniversary! Birthday cake is well deserved on this occasion, I think we can all agree! 

The purpose for creating this route to membership was because the CIOB wants to recognise and wants other related stakeholders in the sector to understand the value CIOB academic members bring to the industry. You may ask, what is this value? 

As key professionals who are at the core of building a future talent pipeline through a diverse range of traditional and contemporary education and extracurricular programmes, we must be inclusive and level up our academic members to the bar we hold for construction industry professional members globally. This demonstrates the evolving and innovative machine that is the CIOB. We stand for accessibility, equality, diversity, and inclusivity to built-environment professionals and communities across the world. 

How have we delivered on the academic membership pathway? 

Well, it is very good news indeed and of course a relief that our academic applicant members also feel and see the value in becoming chartered with the CIOB and achieving their recognition to quality, standards and integrity of their teaching and learning profession. We believe the chartered academic professionals and their institutions will experience many benefits to maintain a membership with the CIOB.

These benefits are varied and could include them belonging to a discerning community of practice. Where teaching and learning pedagogy can be shared and built upon with peers. Enhancing career progressions because of the CIOB’s global status and affiliation and recognition by organisations and bodies across the world. Bring about improved connect-ability with local, national or international research and industry partners seeking a well trained and prepared talent pipeline. The MCIOB is the badge that demonstrates a benchmarking towards high quality teaching and learning, thus education institutions and organisations can be proud to have colleagues recognised internationally via the CIOB platform. 

To date, we have a growing body of academic members that represent continents around the globe. These include Europe including the UK; Asia; Middle East and North Africa; Oceania; South Asia; and Sub-Saharan Africa. We have over 280 academic members across institutions in all the different continents. We are very pleased with this outcome and impact and look to grow our academic membership. In the year 2021, we saw our single biggest uptake through this pathway, there were 21 new academic chartered members joining the fold. 

It is time to consider your chartership status and take on the CIOB’s professional review and become an Academic Member. We have a dedicated team of supportive staff within the Professional Review team and also mentors that are at the ready to support new candidates. If you need more reasons to consider your professional review, the following describes some of the key benefits…

Why become chartered with the CIOB? 

• Personal benefit 
  • Belong to a community of practice and share best practice on Built Environment learning and teaching pedagogy
  • Be recognised by a global body with ties to industry and government organisations – this could bring about career progressions
  • Opens the door to a vast range of knowledge and industry connections via a suite of CIOB services
  • Chartered status is well weighted to other academic qualifications and is influential among construction network leaders and managers. Subscription is 50% cheaper than industry professionals seeking MCIOB 
• Institutional Benefit 
  • Your institution can be proud of staff members belonging to an internationally recognised body
  • Demonstrates your institution is benchmarking its quality of teaching and learning to high standards associated with a Chartered CIOB member - assurance that the programme content meets the highest academic and vocational standards
  • Recognition for academics who are delivering high quality and valued built environment curricula across your institution
  • Demonstrates your institution is delivering well designed programmes that are inclusive of theory and practice through industry partnerships and developing talented and well nurtured graduates ready for the international labour market
• Student/learner benefit 
  • Your students/learners will value and highly regard a CIOB chartered Lecturer, Professor, Dean or Principal. It demonstrates a sign of high-quality teaching, learning and research translation
  • Students will be highly likely to take heed from an educator in tune with up-to-date industry best practice, innovation and information