Program Coordinator/Contact
Angela Boersma, Lecturer
Department of Consumer Sciences
Wagner Hall 229, Box 2275A
605-688-5196
E-mail: angela.boersma@sdstate.edu
Click here for additional information.
Program Information
A major in Interior Design prepares students for professional practice, which requires generalist knowledge of the interior built environment. Very broadly, it seeks to teach students the importance and value of the design process and design thinking, promote the awareness and knowledge of the contributions of the profession to the health, safety and well being of people in the built environment, and to prepare graduates of the program to succeed as professional designers. Upon graduation from this CIDA (Council of Interior Design Accreditation) Accredited program, students are eligible to begin the NCIDQ (National Council of Interior Design Qualification) certificate examination process.
The curriculum is interactive, haptic and performance based, offering problem solving experiences in all major areas of design practice (i.e. healthcare, retail, corporate, residential, etc.). It seeks the involvement of local and regional design professionals in order to enrich the program and maintain currency. Issues of national and global importance are included in courses so students will graduate with an awareness of the challenges and opportunities in the world of their professional futures.
The mission of the Interior Design Program is to prepare graduates for practice in interior design profession through research informed, design thinking infused and practice-based projects and opportunities that will strengthen their rational and creative thinking. This is rooted in its vision that the interior designers enrich users’ experience of the built environment by creating space that is purposeful, compelling and socially and environmentally responsive.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Interior Design major, students should be able to:
- Promote and build upon design awareness and fundamentals to develop new ways of perceiving interior environments.
- Understand the historical and theoretical foundations of the profession, embedded in human sciences and behavior.
- Demonstrate comprehensive design thinking through creative problem solving within interior environments founded in research and process.
- Demonstrate effective communication skills necessary to express research, analysis and design solutions.
- Demonstrate technical proficiencies necessary for understand and representing the systems, methods and regulations of designing interior spaces.
- Understand contemporary issues affecting interior design.
- Understand the professional practices, values and social responsibilities necessary for design professionals.
- Demonstrate core values of collaboration and leadership.
Program Requirements
The Interior Design major requires students to lease or own a laptop computer by the start of their sophomore year. Instructors provide the necessary specifications for processing speed, memory, capacity, and all required software.
Additionally, the Interior Design major requires the completion of a practicum experience during the summer between the junior and senior years, and a travel studies course required at least once during the standard 4-year sequence (typically summer/May-term).
Interior Design students must earn at least a C in studio courses to advance to subsequent studios.
Accreditation, Certification, and Licensure
South Dakota State University offers the only four-year Interior Design degree in South Dakota accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).
Course Delivery Format
Within the major, students are required to take 58 credits, with six credits of supporting coursework and 10-15 credits electives. The courses offered via distance education, which are program requirements include two credits of Professional Practice ID 317 and the Consumer Science Department Requirement—three credits of Professional Behavior at Work, CS 381 from (2012 -13). Practicum ID 495 is an on-site professional practice/work experience course taken in the summer between their junior and senior years.
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