Curriculum Accreditation
The 20th century saw many changes in design education. As the century progressed, a number of formal college course and programs in interior decoration became available across the country. The profession became more formalized and began to change its image from that of the untrained decorator to that of the trained professional.
Yet, these new educational programs caused concerns about educational requirements and programs that evolved during the 1940s and 1950s. The professional organizations supported the creation of an accrediting agency to help standardize interior design education. In 1970, the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER) was founded to provide voluntary accreditation. This organization had great success in accrediting programs across North America. In 2006, the FIDER board voted to rename the organization the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). This nonprofit organization, recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), is considered the reliable authority on the quality of postsecondary interior design education in North America. Accreditation of a program indicates to the student that the curriculum meets educational standards that are accepted and supported by the profession of interior design.
The CIDA “has been passionately committed to the ongoing enrichment of the interior design profession through identifying, developing and promoting quality standards for the education of entry‐level interior designers.”* The council continues to develop and evaluate educational standards in interior design programs as a means of granting accreditation. These standards are reviewed from time to time, and the full details of the updated standards are available on the Web site, www.accredit‐id.org/resources.
CIDA accredits a single type of program of interior design education, the professional‐level program. The program must result in a minimum of a bachelor's degree and must include classes in the arts and sciences, as well as courses specific to interior design and other specific standards detailed in the Professional Standards document available from CIDA. Other types of programs including Master's degrees and online programs may meet CIDA standards. Information on these kinds of topics should be researched from the CIDA Web site for the most current standards. This would include programs outside the United States.
Accreditation of an interior design program is a voluntary process of self‐study and measurement of the curriculum against the CIDA standards. This self‐study investigates the quality of programs as meeting the needs of professionals in the current market. After the self‐study, a group of site visitors conducts reviews of materials and discussions with faculty, students, and administrators. Accreditation is not forever; a program must be reevaluated every six years.
* Council for Interior Design Accreditation, 2006, Accreditation Manual, p. 1–1.
INTERNSHIPS
A very important part of educational preparation in interior design is an internship. An internship is a supervised work experience within an interior design firm or other appropriate company within the industry. Internships are generally a part of the required curriculum. It is an intensive work experience providing students the opportunity to work in the real world before starting a full‐time job and see how coursework relates to the professional world. In addition, internships give students some work experience that they can include on their resumés.
Most internship opportunities are with interior design and architectural firms. The experience might be with a small residential firm, a furniture store, large or small interior design practices, or the design departments within architectural firms. The interests of some students may also lead them to valuable internship experiences at other businesses in the design–build industry, such as with contractors and vendors.
The length of the internship will vary with the requirements of the academic program and the employer. An internship should last at least six to eight weeks, full‐time, to allow the student to obtain the greatest exposure to tasks performed in the firm.
The student should discuss the types of work experiences that will be provided during the internship. Ideally, an internship should include as many actual tasks and activities as possible in the chosen work environment. In some situations, the supervising faculty member will already have discussed this issue with the employer, so work tasks will already have been generally determined. However, not all internship locations include all the tasks that might be of interest to the student. For example, few internship positions allow students to work directly with a client.
Sometimes students get their expectations of what they will do during an internship confused with the reality of the internship. As I have told my students in the past, you get the internship (or job) because of what you are learning in school. However, the employer is uncertain of your ability and must be shown on the job what you can do—usually in a gradual way.
Of course, the internship experience is different for everyone. Certainly, some internship positions give a supervised intern responsibility for project work. Often these spots are in firms that go through extensive, competitive application processes for any interns, as they often also hire the student upon graduation. Most locations gradually involve students in assisting with parts of projects, doing such things as researching products or drafting parts of plans or other design documents from sketches by more senior designers. They may have the intern attend meetings with clients to silently observe and take notes, and/or perform other tasks that are all part of the professional experience; however, all the intern's work is supervised, and firms rarely give the intern final decision‐making tasks.
It is very important for each student to carefully consider what she hopes to gain from the internship. This helps the faculty supervisor connect students to the types of firms that most closely match student interest and ability with what the firm needs. For example, having a student do an internship at a firm that primarily designs small commercial spaces when the student is really interested in residential design is clearly a mismatch.
It is also important to note that the student is expected to meet the general policies of the design firm. That will mean meeting a business dress code, arriving on time, keeping track of time worked on various tasks, attending appropriate meetings, and observing any other business regulations applicable to any employee. Students should remember that the internship is in a way an “audition” for a job although a job at the end of the internship should not be automatically expected. The student “hat” and attitude should be checked at the door before entering. This is a time to be sure you act as if you are a professional interior designer, as many firms hire interns at the conclusion of their internship term or after graduation.
LIFELONG LEARNING
Regardless of the type of interior design one practices, professionals must be ready to embrace lifelong learning. Technical updating is a paramount need for most designers. Others may want access to topics related to a specific design specialty. Business owners often seek professional education on business practices. Like all other professionals, interior designers should seek out continuing lifelong learning opportunities.
Professional education generally is represented via seminars, workshops, lectures, correspondence courses, online seminars, webinars, and intensive professional studies that meet individual needs. These continuing education offerings are available in almost every topic and area of the profession.
Educational programs that provide continuing education units (CEU) furnish short‐term coursework in a wide variety of topical‐interest areas. This is the most common way for professionals to obtain lifelong learning opportunities. CEU classes provide a means for professional interior designers to remain current in the practice of interior design. Courses that provide CEU credits are those that have been approved by a reviewing body. Not all seminars