American Institute of Floral Designers Membership

Each year, immediately prior to its National Symposium, the American Institute of Floral Designers will conduct an Accreditation Evaluation Session for floral designers seeking to gain membership into the Institute and to earn their "Accredited In Floral Design" status. Enrollment in an Accreditation Evaluation Session is limited. AIFD Candidate Members will have first guarantees of enrolling; other interested designers will be accepted on a first-come/first-serve, space available basis upon receipt of an Application to Participate after April 1. Those who wish to become AIFD Candidate Members and get a guarantee of enrollment should click here to register online as a Candidate or click here to download the Candidate form.

During these evaluation sessions, participants are required to demonstrate their design artistry by creating five (5) designs in specific categories which will be announced to them during an initial briefing and process orientation. They will also need to successfully complete an open-book test that will have been provided to them upon receipt of their "Application to Participate" and the payment of all appropriate fees.

Upon receipt of an Application to Participate and a minimum payment of the $500 non-refundable deposit, AIFD will send to the interested designer or AIFD Candidate several items including a copy of the AIFD Book of Floral Terminology, and an open-book terms exercise consisting of 25-questions which must be successfully passed before the designer can be approved for membership in AIFD. The test will be based solely on the information contained in the AIFD Book of Floral Terminology.

While the day of the week may vary depending on the starting day of any given National Symposium, the following schedule will be observed during an Accreditation Evaluation Session. If the AIFD Symposium opens on a Sunday, for instance, this schedule would apply to the Thursday - Friday immediately preceding. (If Symposium started on a Friday, the following example would change to Tuesday and Wednesday.)

Tuesday	Noon	Candidate Sign in
	2 p.m.	Accreditation Evaluation Session Orientation (invitation only) Candidates seeking to become Accredited Members of AIFD meet to be briefed on the specific design categories to be evaluated this year.
	3:30 p.m.	AES Candidates' Reception with the AIFD Board & Membership Committee
	4:00-8:00 p.m.	Candidate Design Session
Wednesday	8 a.m.- 6 p.m.	Accreditation Evaluations by AIFD Membership Committee**
	2 p.m.- 4 p.m.	Complimentary Education Program Exclusively for AES Candidates (that are registered for symposium) Presented by Jerome Raska AIFD
	7 p.m.- 9 p.m.	Reception and Viewing of Candidates Work
	9 p.m.- 10 p.m.	Candidates to take or move flowers

Participants will receive their evaluation results in mid-August following their July evaluations. Should they have achieved the necessary evaluation scores, they will also receive an invitation to attend the following year’s Symposium where they will be inducted into AIFD and presented their "Accredited In Floral Design" credentials. This will allow them to proudly add the "AIFD" addendum to their name.

As noted above, a four-hour (4) time period is allowed for the completion of the five design categories. The only people allowed in the design work room during this four-hour period are the Accreditation applicants and the AIFD Membership Committee monitors. To assure a non-bias evaluation of candidate work, the monitors may not also serve as evaluators. No one may assist applicants during the four-hour design session, and no one will be allowed to observe. To assist international candidates, AIFD will, if requested and if candidates provides his or her own interpreter, make special arrangements for language interpreters during the initial briefing and orientation session. AIFD will not be responsible for providing interpreters.

Accreditation Evaluation Session participants will design in five (5) categories. Specific categories will vary from year-to-year, but general categories will remain the same. AIFD’s Membership Chairperson will announce the selected categories during the morning briefing session. There will be one design in each of the following:

All flowers, foliage, containers and supplies needed to complete the required designs will be provided by AIFD. Each participant will receive an identical supply of flowers, foliage, containers and supplies.

Candidates will be allowed to bring only the following tools into the design room:

Seven members of the AIFD National Membership Committee will evaluate each Accreditation Evaluation Session participant’s work. The high and low scores of the evaluators will be dropped before a final score is rendered on any design.

Each of the above Design Evaluation criteria will be scored using the following point scale:

5	Excellent	Exceptional use of design principles and elements with strong creative emphasis
4	Above Average	Good consistent application of design principles and elements with a creative flair.
3	Average	Good design work, applying use of the principles and elements of design, but not demonstrating any special flair or creative emphasis.
2	Below Average	Weak in the application of design principles and elements and creativity, would not qualify as a good basic design.
1	Not Acceptable	Design work lacking the application of the principles and elements of design and shows no creativity.

	To be successfully evaluated a Accreditation Evaluation Session participant must have a cumulative score of 20 points with no individual design scoring below a 3.75.
	When, however, an Accreditation Evaluation Session participant receives a score of 19.50 - 19.99 or more than 20.0, but with one or more individual designs receiving a score of less than 3.75, that participant’s scores and work will be subject to an on-site final review by the Membership Review Committee, provided that no individual design received a score of less than 3.5 Upon review of the participant’s work, the Committee may, at its sole discretion, grant the candidate a passing score.
	Participants who do not receive the required passing score may participate in the following year’s Accreditation Evaluation Session, but no scores from the previous year will be carried forward. They will be considered to be registered AIFD Candidates and may continue to enroll in each year’s Accreditation Evaluation Session until they achieve success.

	For evaluation purposes, a participating designer will be assigned a number at check-in and a corresponding number will be placed on his or her design/display table.
	Upon completion of their designs, participants will clean the design table and place their finished creations on top of the table for evaluation, so size of arrangements is important.

Accreditation Evaluation Session participants will be mailed notification of their evaluation results in mid-August following a presentation by the Membership Committee to the AIFD National Board of Directors.

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To be accepted for an Accreditation Evaluation Session, registered AIFD Candidates and other interested designers are urged to first attend a Steps to Membership program. Although not a prerequisite, AIFD encourages those interested in pursuing accreditation to first attend an AIFD design program such as a National Symposium, AIFD Regional Symposium, In Step With AIFD program, or AIFD Connection Workshop. Attending such programs assists candidates in better understanding the level of design that is expected of them by AIFD Membership Committee evaluators. Experience has demonstrated to AIFD that designers who have had a firsthand opportunity to observe the level of AIFD design expectation can better guage whether their current skill set is advanced enough to purse accreditation. Individuals who have attended such events most often do better in their first attempt to achieve their Accreditation than those who haven't.

It is also recommended that interested designers register as an AIFD Candidate. (See "Registered AIFD Candidate" for details)

AIFD Candidates will have a first right to register for an Accreditation Evaluation Session.

AIFD Candidates may then make a formal "Application to Participate" in the Accreditation Evaluation Session (AES) before March 31. The "Application to Participate" is mailed to Candidate Members in mid-February. Click here to download the "Application to Participate" (this form will be available February 2009). Please mail or fax the application to:

AIFD
720 Light St.
Baltimore, MD 21230
410-752-8295 (fax)

If there is any space available after April 1, registration for the Accreditation Evaluation Session (AES) will move to a first-come/first-serve acceptance of received Applications until we have reached the capacity crowd.

	"Application to Participate" must be accompanied by a minimum of a $500 non-refundable deposit toward the $1,450 Evaluation Fee.
	Special Offer -- As an incentive to enjoy the entire National Symposium, AIFD offers a $1,700 Accreditation Evaluation Fee which includes a Full Symposium registration ($799 value).
	By May 15, the remaining balance of the Accreditation Evaluation Fee and the "Application to Participate" must be received or the applying designer will be subject to an additional $100/per week for each week’s delay. If final payment is not received by June 13, the application to participate in the Accreditation Evaluation Session will be denied and the $500 deposit will not be refunded.

	A minimum $500 nonrefundable deposit MUST be received by May 15 with the Application to Accredit.
	The fee shall include the cost of flowers and materials, charge for electricity, hotel design space rental (not hotel sleeping room) and full membership staff administration. As noted above, it will also include a Candidate fee in AIFD for the following year.
	In the event that a designer is not successful in his or her Accreditation Evaluation Session, he or she will be required to submit full fees in each succeeding year of participation.

Until May 15, an Accreditation Evaluation Session floral designer who submitted an Application to participate may cancel his or her Application to Participate, but he or she will forfeit the $500 deposit. A death in the Candidate’s immediate family (proof required) or a medical emergency (doctor’s letter required) will be considered in making the above decision, but because of the need to purchase flowers and supplies in advance, even in the event of such an emergency, the $500 deposit will be forfeited.

	After a participant has successfully completed his or her Accreditation Evaluation Program, he or she will be extended an invitation to become an Accredited Member of AIFD.
	Candidates will need to then pay a $150 Certification Fee (includes payment for their member pin, certificate and induction flowers), and their first year’s membership dues which are now $225 annually. Upon payment of these fees, candidates will be inducted into AIFD membership during ceremonies at the National Symposium.
	To maintain the status of an Accredited Member of AIFD, members must pay their annual membership dues and meet certain continuing education requirements every three years. The Continuing Education requirements can be easily accumulated by attending a Symposium or by attending a plethora of other floral industry design education programs. Continuing Education units can also be earned through demonstrated leadership and participation in floral industry organizations including AIFD.
	Every three years for the first 21 years of a member’s membership, he or she must earn 25 Continuing Education units and must submit proof of same. There is no re-accreditation fee. Click here to learn more about how to earn your 25 Continuing Education units.