Interior Design
Interior Design Major
A professional interior designer is one who is qualified by education, examination, and experience to identify, research and creatively solve problems relative to the function and quality of people's interior environments. The course of study in interior design leads to a first professional degree.
Students pursue courses in which creative and technical skills are applied within a structure to achieve the built interior environment. Design solutions are functional, enhance the quality of life of occupants, and are aesthetically attractive while adhering to code and regulatory information. Design solutions produced protect and enhance the health, safety and welfare of the public. Students learn how to approach design problems through a methodology that includes data gathering, product specification, identification of details, contractual documents and design business procedures.
The first two years of the program introduce the fundamentals of design, visual and technical communication techniques (including drafting, CADD, perspective drawing, model building and rendering) and theoretical and practical applications (including anthropometrics, ergonomics, interior design technology and color theory). The interior design profession is exceedingly complex, and collaborating with design professionals and related disciplines in a team approach to problem solving is routine practice.
Upper-division course work is focused on a series of integrated studio experiences and support courses including history, interior materials, professional practice, building information modeling and interior systems. The studio experience culminates in a senior project. Studio experiences require that each student be exposed to a variety of projects at several different levels of complexity and different client project goals.
North Dakota State University interior design students are required to complete a field experience between the junior and senior year. Students accept a variety of positions throughout the United States. In the past few years students have completed field experiences in cities such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Denver, and Shanghai, China.
Enrollment in sophomore level interior design courses requires a 3.0 institutional cumulative grade-point average. Admission into the third-year studio is based upon demonstrated professional interest, a portfolio review completed during the spring semester of the student's sophomore year, a 3.0 institutional cumulative grade-point average, and a minimum grade of 'C' in all major core requirements. Students must maintain the 3.0 minimum cumulative GPA and earn a grade of 'C' or better in all major core requirements throughout the remainder of the program. All students successfully completing sophomore review are required to purchase a laptop computer for upper division studio courses.
Transfer students entering the interior design program should contact the program coordinator to review previously completed interior design or related course work.
The interior design program at NDSU is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
Major Requirements
Major: Interior Design
Degree Type: B.A. or B.S.
Required Degree Credits to Graduate: 128
General Education Requirements
| First Year Experience (F): | ||
| HD&E 189 | Skills for Academic Success (Students transferring in 24 or more credits do not need to take HD&E 189.) | 1 |
| Communication (C): | ||
| ENGL 110 | College Composition I | 3 |
| ENGL 120 | College Composition II | 3 |
| One Course in Upper Level Writing. Select from current general education list. | 3 | |
| COMM 110 | Fundamentals of Public Speaking | 3 |
| Quantitative Reasoning (R): Select from current general education list | 3 | |
| Science & Technology (S): | ||
| CSCI 114 | Microcomputer Packages | 3-4 |
| or CSCI 116 | Business Use of Computers | |
| A one-credit lab must be taken as a co-requisite with a general education science/technology course unless the course includes an embedded lab experience equivalent to a one-credit course. Select from current general education list. | 6-7 | |
| Humanities & Fine Arts (A): | ||
| ADHM 315 | History of Interiors I | 3 |
| ADHM 316 | History of Interiors II | 3 |
| Social & Behavioral Sciences (B): Select from current general education list | 6 | |
| Wellness (W): Select from current general education list | 2 | |
| Cultural Diversity (D): Select from current general education list | ||
| Global Perspectives (G): Select from current general education list | ||
| Total Credits | 40 | |
Major Requirements
Students must maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA and a minimum grade of ‘C’ in all major core requirements.
| General Education Requirements | 40 | |
| Interior Design Core Requirements | ||
| ADHM 150 | 1 | |
| ADHM 151 | Design Fundamentals | 3 |
| ADHM 153 | 1 | |
| ADHM 160 | Interior Design Careers | 1 |
| ADHM 161 | Introduction to Manual Drafting | 3 |
| ADHM 162 | Intermediate Manual Drafting | 3 |
| ADHM 250 | 2 | |
| ADHM 251 | Interior Design Studio I-Residential | 2 |
| ADHM 253 | Interior Design Studio II-Office Design | 2 |
| ADHM 254 | Interior Design Studio III | 2 |
| ADHM 261 | Visual Communications | 3 |
| ADHM 264 | Residential Systems | 2 |
| ADHM 300 | Design Resource Management | 1-3 |
| ADHM 351 | Interior Design Studio IV-Advanced Residential | 3 |
| ADHM 353 | Interior Design Studio V-Large Scale Contract Design | 3 |
| ADHM 362 | 3 | |
| ADHM 363 | Commercial Lighting Design and Building Systems | 3 |
| ADHM 365 | CADD for Interiors | 3 |
| ADHM 366 | Textiles | 3 |
| ADHM 367 | Textiles Laboratory | 1 |
| ADHM 368 | Interior Materials | 3 |
| ADHM 450 | Research and Project Development in Interior Design | 3 |
| ADHM 452 | Comprehensive Interior Design Project | 6 |
| ADHM 460 | Career Development and Professional Practice | 3 |
| ADHM 461 | Building Information Modeling | 3 |
| ADHM 491 | Seminar | 2-3 |
| ADHM 496 | Field Experience | 3 |
| HD&E 320 | Professional Issues | 1 |
| Department Requirement: Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Art History | ||
| Art History I | ||
| Art History II | ||
| Minor Program of Study Required | 16 | |
| One of the following minors is required: Business; Hospitality and Tourism Management; Apparel, Retail Merchandising and Design; French; Spanish; German; Communication; History; Gerontology; Emergency Management; Natural Resource Management; other minor options may be approved by interior design faculty. | ||
| Total Credits | 128-131 | |
Degree Requirements and Notes
- Course taken Pass/Fail will not be used to satisfy any requirements other than total credits.
