The College of Visual and Performing Art’s interior design program is moving up in the ranks nationally. In the 2011 DesignIntelligence report, titled ‘America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools,’ the program is ranked No. 4, a jump from its spot last year at No.10.

DesignIntelligence’s report, released Nov. 4, is based on surveying design firms and calculating the percentage of how many graduates are being hired from which national universities. DesignIntelligence studies and publishes literature on trends in different design fields, such as architecture and real estate.

Ruth Westervelt, a professor in the interior design program at VPA, said the unique relationship between the design students and teachers helps undergraduate studentsbecome contemporary problem-solvers and critical thinkers who design managers want to hire.

‘We put the responsibility for learning on students. We aren’t art directors like (teachers are) at other institutions, going over to students and telling them their work is good or bad,’ Westervelt said. ‘We ask, ‘What is your plan for next week to improve your project?’ When you change the role of teacher and student (like that), it requires students to figure out ways to improve their development.’

Several professors attribute the jump in rank to the addition of new staff members, as well as the progressive style of teaching offered in the program.

‘Our strength is the fact that we give our students real-world projects, we reach out to a lot of nonprofit agencies,’ said Sarah Redmore, an assistant professor and program coordinator at VPA. Current interior design students are provided with real scenarios that are client-centered, and students approach every project with problem-solving skills geared toward clients, she said.

Although three of the program’s faculty members, professors Jennifer Hamilton, Westervelt and Zeke Leonard, have taught at SU for only a few years, they pinpointed a special aspect of the design program they believe gives SU’s alumni a competitive edge.

‘One thing that we try to push is to get rid of the old idea that interior design is just decorating. … It’s not HGTV when you hear interior design,’ Hamilton said.           

Hamilton and several other interior design professors highlighted the importance of cross-disciplinary projects in the program, which adds another sense of realism and community to the students’ work.            

Leonard said what brought him to Syracuse is the dedication of the entire department to cross-disciplinary work that is socially and economically aware, and he is truly committed to making the world a better place.

Even students have noticed the partnership’s significance.

‘We collaborate. We share ideas with different majors, not just design,’ said senior design major Qian Zheng. ‘We work with industrial design.’  

Hamilton explained that the program also works with the psychology department, the School of Information Studies and design firms in the community, among others.

Redmore also attributes the design program’s success to the fact that the new faculty is very aware that students’ technology needs to be kept up to date.

‘We focus on sustainability and bigger issues and how to apply design to those problems,’ said senior interior design major Jessica Sarli.

The program achieves this progressive sensitivity to environmental responsibility by maximizing natural lighting and square footage, as well as by using recycled materials, Redmore said.

Leonard notes a different aspect about the learning style in the design program that makes it so successful.

‘We’ve got a really specific mix of extremely theoretical and extremely pragmatic skills. When you look at other institutions throughout the country, they usually have either one or the other,’ Leonard said. He emphasized cultivating in the students an appreciation to openness of other’s ideas.

‘The most dangerous thing is to think your point of view is the only one,’ Leonard said.

With its innovative style, VPA’s interior design faculty strives to continue modifying its program to keep up with the times. 

‘I think that it’s a really exciting time to be in interior design right now because the industry is changing so much,’ Redmore said. ‘We have to keep evolving, it’s a very dynamic field, and we learn something new every day.’

amichels@syr.edu

Published on December 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm