Understanding the Profession
If you are thinking about working toward a career in interior design, you’ll want to be informed every step of the way. You will want to start by understanding what interior design is—and what it isn’t.  For example, interior design is not the same as interior decorating.  They are different fields and require different educational preparation. 

To understand more about the profession of interior design, take a good look at the Web sites of these professional interior design organizations: American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) at www.asid.org, the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) at www.iida.org and the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) at www.nkba.org. You may especially want to note the ASID site http://www.asid.org/become/ for a detailed description of the profession.  These sites can give you information on colleges offering interior design degrees, planning a course of study, careers in the field, and areas of specializations.

Interior Design Program at ECU
The mission of the ECU interior design program is to prepare leaders for the field of interior design who will be creative problem-solvers with a strong sense of social responsibility.  Through a broad foundations curriculum in the arts and sciences students prepare a lifelong foundation for understanding design within the larger context of culture and society.  A strong major in interior design which integrates aesthetics and creativity with technology and an interdisciplinary knowledge base in addressing the human condition prepares students for assuming diverse roles in professional practice.  Honing intuitive abilities, mastery of critical thinking and interpretation of knowledge underlie abilities of graduates to pursue specialty areas of design, adapt to rapid changes in the profession, and pursue graduate level training. Cognates in art, design, and business augment competencies achieved in the interior design curriculum.  The art and science of design, tempered with a business acumen that encompasses a global economy, the interjection of computer-aided drafting, model building, and image processing and other leading-edge technologies in the workflow, and knowledge of the ethics and procedures in the interior design profession are all a part of the foundation of the ECU interior design program.  This context is the basis on which students program, develop, and evaluate their designs for effective environments for residential settings, retail, office facilities, health facilities, and hospitality.   For more information about the interior design program philosophy and goals, go to www.ecu.edu/che/idmr/idphil.pdf.

Admission and Retention
To declare the interior design major, students must have a cumulative 2.5 grade point average and complete IDSN 1180, 1181, 1281, and 1500 with a C or better.  At ECU, students complete freshman and sophomore preparatory courses in interior design followed by admission into professional-level (junior-senior) courses based on an acceptable level of proficiency in studio work as shown in the sophomore portfolio review, a minimum cumulative 2.5 grade point average, and minimum grade of C in the following courses:  IDSN 1180, 1181, 1281, 1500, 2040, 2800, 2850; and Art 1905.

During the second semester of the sophomore year, students submit portfolios which contain representative work from specific courses:  IDSN 1181, 1281, 1500, 2800, and 2850.  This work is evaluated by the interior design faculty, who recommend whether students are prepared to enter the professional level (junior-senior) interior design courses.  Students who do not meet the level of proficiency needed for the professional level courses have the opportunity to re-submit a portfolio a maximum of two additional times. Admission to professional level courses is competitive and limited.

Topics of Study
As a student preparing for a bachelor’s degree in interior design, you will be studying these topics:

• Color theory and application
• Drafting and space planning
• Product knowledge of furniture, textiles, and equipment
• Historic period styles
• Adaptive reuse design
• Computer-aided design and drafting
• Lighting and building systems
• Barrier-free design
• Residential design projects
• Commercial design projects such as office, health-care, restaurant, hotel and retail facilities
• Professional business procedures
• Portfolio development

Accreditation
ECU’s program is accredited by the and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (http://www.accredit-id.org) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and endorsed by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA).