I am still confused. I can’t find any mention of ‘Associate’ in The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice (15th Edition). There is no entry for ‘Associate’ in the appendix. By contrast, the appendix does have an entry for Intern Architect. There is no entry for an ‘Associate’ in the index. However, there is an entry for Intern. This entry references the AIA definition of Architectural Positions. And there is not a definition for an ‘Associate’ on that list. The positions with the lowest level of experience are: Entry-Level Intern and Intern. No ‘Associate’.
Furthermore, the AIA only has one reference to an ‘Associate’ in the ‘Definition of Architectural Positions’, and it is an ‘Entry Level Interior Design Associate.’ Not an architect.
The Associate AIA designation has to do with membership in the AIA and not a team member of an architectural firm.
Can you point to a specific example in the AHPP where the term ‘Associate’ is used to mean an entry level architect? There is a definition of an ‘Intern’ on p.68. But again no reference to an ‘Associate’.
The Black Spectacles flash card equates Associate with Intern. They are not the same thing.
[Definition of architectural positions](https://AIA Definition of Architectural Positions)