2024-2025 Academic Catalog
Interior Design
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Interior Design Department Mission
Interior design shapes human experience and enhances the quality of life through the creation of environments that are sustainable, meaningful, innovative, and functional. RMCAD’s Interior Design graduates create spaces that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are healthy and resource-efficient while promoting the health, safety, and welfare of the public as well as all of the earth.
Interior Design Program Description
The mission of the Interior Design program is to provide a comprehensive educational experience that prepares students to be creative, responsible, ethical interior designers who are qualified to successfully enter the design profession, gain the necessary experience to successfully complete the NCIDQ examination, and contribute to the health, safety, and welfare of society and the planet. The program prepares students to draw upon critical and analytical thought processes in order to meet the current demands of professional practice and provides the means and lifelong learning skills to positively impact the future of interior design. The mission of the Interior Design program is to provide a comprehensive educational experience that prepares students to be creative, responsible, ethical interior designers who are qualified to successfully enter the design profession, gain the necessary experience to successfully complete the NCIDQ examination, and contribute to the health, safety, and welfare of society and the planet. The program prepares students to draw upon critical and analytical thought processes in order to meet the current demands of professional practice and provides the means and lifelong learning skills to positively impact the future of interior design.
The Interior Design program prepares students to contribute to society as skilled, ethical, and environmentally responsible designers committed to improving the health, safety, and welfare of the public. This philosophy holds that the built environment is central to many qualities of life issues including physical and emotional health and well-being; productivity; resource efficiency; environmental conservation; and aesthetic experiences. As the world’s cultures become increasingly complex and interdependent and natural resources become increasingly diminished and degraded, the demands upon the built environment to meet a wide range of physical and psychological needs also increase. In order to create interiors that support the growing and diverse needs that human beings require of their environments, it is essential that interior design students acquire and develop an understanding of the dynamic reciprocity between people and environments. The program addresses this dynamic relationship through an interdisciplinary orientation, drawing upon research and practice from related disciplines of art, architecture, environmental design, landscape design, sustainable design, industrial design, and graphic design.
Additionally, the program includes relevant information from the social and natural sciences of psychology, sociology, anthropology, ecology, and biology as part of the interior design profession’s expanding knowledge base. This philosophical foundation is synthesized with the technical, practical, ethical, and professional knowledge and skills necessary to fully prepare students, as part of an integrated design team; to think critically and holistically about design problems; and to develop effective, creative, and socially and environmentally responsible design solutions.
The Sustainable Design Specialization option allows students to investigate and apply advanced studies in green/sustainable design using methods, products, and processes that minimize the ecological impact of design and construction upon the earth and its species. RMCAD’s on-campus and online Interior Design program is accredited by CIDA (Council for Interior Design Accreditation). Both the on-campus and online programs follow a strict and logical sequence of studio courses, which increase in difficulty. Each course in this sequence builds upon the knowledge and skills acquired from previous courses.
Program Outcomes
Interior Design Program Learning Outcome Rubric
The Interior Design Department uses the Professional Standards set forth by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation found at http://accredit-id.org/professional-standards.
Interior Design Online
The online BFA degrees in Interior Design and the Sustainable Design Specialization are first-professional degrees for students needing remote access to the educational requirements for careers in interior design. The online BFA degrees in Interior Design are accredited by CIDA (Council for Interior Design Accreditation).
The degree consists of 125 credit hours with courses delivered in 8-week sessions in a regulated sequence to allow for the acquisition of necessary skills; the retention and transfer of knowledge; and the professional discipline necessary for entry-level interior design practice.
Students must officially declare the Sustainable Design specialization in order for it to be indicated on the permanent student record.
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