Mentorships
Appraisal Institute of America Mentorship Program
Students who have completed CASP are eligible to apply to the Appraisal Institute of America’s Mentorship Program. As their first step toward participation, the student must submit an application.
The application requires a current professional resume and a brief statement of purpose, which should indicate the student’s professional interests and goals. After reviewing this application, the AIA will look for a mentorship opportunity for that student. Mentorships may include working at a regional auction house, assisting an appraiser on site visits, independent research on a larger project, or cataloguing a collection or archive.
Once placed, the student must immediately work with their designated mentor to complete a “Learning Contract,” which identifies the responsibilities and expectations of their role and submit this contract along with their payment form to the AIA. The student is required to work a minimum of 60 hours. Once the student has completed 60 hours of work, the student must write and submit a “Post-Mentorship Report” to be evaluated by the AIA. This report will provide information on the nature of the mentorship, the primary areas of research or practice, and the skills learned. The AIA requires this report in order to evaluate the substantive knowledge and practical experience gained during the mentorship.
Once all the above steps have been successfully completed, the AIA will acknowledge the student’s achievement by crediting them with one year of professional experience toward the five-year minimum requirement to apply for Accredited Membership with the Appraisers Association.
The fee for participation in the Appraisal Institute of America’s Mentorship Program is $525.