by Brianna Crandall — April 29, 2015—The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) is inviting community comment on the first draft of its Professional Standards 2017. Stakeholder input is needed to refine and validate the educational expectations for interior design graduates entering the field in 2017 and beyond to ensure that they are not only prepared with the knowledge required for entry-level practice, but also with a foundation that poises them to be highly valued contributors well into the future.
Interior design educators, practitioners, employers, students, and members of allied fields are key stakeholders whose input is valuable to CIDA’s standards development process, says the organization. Input from facilities professionals could help ensure future interior designers are well prepared in such areas as how design relates to the current research on space management, ergonomics and effective sound masking, for example.
Throughout 2013 and 2014, CIDA says it has been deeply engaged in gathering information about dynamics and trends influencing the future of interior design practice and higher education and in validating the impact of those trends. The first draft of Professional Standards 2017 reflects this two-year process of research and analysis.
Now community consultation is the next step in developing a final proposed set of standards. The slated period for review of the current draft standards is April 15 through June 16. Standards will then be refined with consideration to stakeholder comments, and the next period of public review will span from August to October 2015. CIDA anticipates that final standards will be adopted in December 2015 and implemented beginning just over a year later on January 1, 2017.
CIDA gratefully acknowledges CIDA standards development project sponsors: The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), the ASID Foundation, the IIDA Foundation, the Interior Designers of Canada, Interior Design Media, and Steelcase.
