Our March 2005 installment of The “Real” Real World initiated some interesting and important conversation. The majority of us in the (North American) design world believe that design legislation implementing state Title Acts and Practice Acts is a step in the right direction if we want to strengthen the profession, but with some of those laws comes a caveat. The way some states are writing their Acts, one must have graduated from a FIDER accredited program in order to become licensed in that state. So where does that leave non-FIDER accredited graduates, and should this be considered fair? Read on and then respond.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

For those of you who don’t know, FIDER [Foundation for Interior Design Education Research] is the organization that, according to their literature, “sets standards for postsecondary interior design education; evaluates college and university interior design programs; and publishes a list of accredited programs that meet the standards.”

Many design programs in North America are “accredited” by FIDER, but many more are not. The process of accreditation is somewhat lengthy, requires extra hours of each school’s department faculty and staff, and must be budgeted for by the department.

READER RESPONSE

The most vocal of the responses was Susi Santorelli, Director of U.S. & Canadian Affairs & ASID Student Chapter Faculty Advisor for Rhodec International and a contributor to PLiNTH & CHiNTZ [LEARN, BABY, LEARN – 10/04]. Her initial response is as follows:

I read with great interest the article in the March issue The "Real" Real World. I am in complete agreement with the Interior Design Legislation for Title and Practice Acts, BUT I feel very strongly about some of the education requirements that several states in the US and provinces in Canada are mandating. Many require a FIDER or equivalent accredited education. I’d love to know what constitutes the ‘equivalent’! I can see why this makes the jobs of those who push the bills easier because 'if it's FIDER it's gotta be good', but it doesn’t help the students or graduates of those other good schools that are not, or choose not to be, accredited by them. It’s almost like insisting that a doctor graduate from Tufts or a lawyer from Harvard, both good schools obviously, but not the only ones out there.

Rhodec International (my personal favourite!) offers an excellent 3-year programme in interior design by distance learning. It meets the educational requirement for NCIDQ exam candidacy, so in theory a Rhodec graduate could complete the requisite professional practice experience, sit and pass the exam and then go on to obtain professional memberships with ASID and IIDA yet still not be deemed properly educated to practice as an interior designer in, let’s say, my home state of Massachusetts, which is yet to be regulated but if and when it is, FIDER will be required. In my mind passage of the NCIDQ exam should be proof enough that these students have received a quality education.

I’m interested to know what those schools without FIDER accreditation feel about this and what they are doing to prepare their students and graduates. Are any of them working on an equivalency to the requirements? I’d love to hear from any that are in this position.

Susi Santorelli followed up with us later to let us know that she is working hard to find out exactly which states are making a FIDER accredited degree required for registration vs. which ones are making 'equivalency' an option. When she completes this research, PLiNTH & CHiNTZ will be sure to report it.

All that said, PLiNTH & CHiNTZ would love to hear from readers on this subject. All opinions are welcome! Please send your comments to contact@plinthandchintz.com.