NEWS RELEASE
August 17, 2006
For immediate release

For more information, contact:
Holly Mattson, Executive Director or
Kayem Dunn, Director of Development
616.458.0400

Visionaries selected to launch standards revision project

The Council for Interior Design Accreditation Board of Directors has invited 15 individuals to help describe priorities for future interior design curriculum. It is an important first step to writing new standards for education. Chosen for their well-informed, broad perspective, these thought leaders will join the Council Board of Directors at a Future Vision session in November 2006. They will consider trends and sort out the greatest need for change to interior design education. Participants are:

    From interior design practice:
  • Shashi Caan, Shashi Caan Design Collective, New York, NY
  • Allan Guinan, Figure 3 Network, Toronto, ON
  • Beth Harmon-Vaughan, Gensler, Phoenix, AZ (Council Board)
  • Keith Hooks, Hooks Design + Architecture, San Francisco, CA (Council Board)
  • Cary D. Johnson, Gensler, Chicago, IL (Council Board)
  • Pam Light, HOK, Los Angeles, CA
  • Rachelle Schoessler Lynn, Walsh Bishop, Minneapolis, MN
  • BJ Peterson, Peterson Arce Design Group, West Hollywood, CA
  • Joseph Pettipas, HOK Canada, Toronto, ON (Council Board)
  • Michael K. Souter, Luminae Souter Associates, San Francisco, CA (Council Board)
  • Ken Wilson, Envision, Washington, DC
    From industry and related:
  • Bill Black, National Director, Strategic Business Solutions, Haworth Canada, Calgary, AB
  • Janine James, President and Creative Director, The Moderns, New York, NY
  • Cathy L. Hendricks, Executive Director, Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, Austin, TX
  • Georgy Olivieri, Vice President, Architecture and Design, Haworth, Chicago, IL (Council Board)
  • Samantha Sannella, President and CEO, Design Exchange, Toronto, ON
  • Susan Szenasy, Editor in Chief, Metropolis Magazine, New York, NY (Council Board)
    From interior design education:
  • Barbara Anderson, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
  • Tim Cozzens, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
  • Betsy S. Gabb, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (Council Board member)
  • Denise Guerin, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
  • Sooz Klinkhamer, Kwantlen University College, Surrey, BC
  • David Matthews, Ohio University, Athens, OH
  • John Weigand, Miami University, Oxford, OH (Council Board)
“The profession demands more of its practitioners every day, lending increased urgency to our work to assure quality education,” according to Joe Pettipas, board chair. The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (formerly FIDER) has embarked on a methodical process to review and revise standards used to evaluate academic programs. “It will take three years to actually complete the project, but we know from prior experience that changes to education will happen simultaneously to standards revision,” said Pettipas. “Future Vision is an important first step; we need to identify priorities for standards that will be validated with subsequent surveys. In the end, we expect to build consensus about quality interior design education.”

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