The Consortium for Design Education: A Model for Internationalizing Interior Design Programs

The trilateral Consortium for Design Education (CODE) project merged an international design experience with a student exchange among six institutions representing Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The purposes of CODE were to institute (1) trilateral North American student exchanges, (2) joint design projects through virtual charettes for interior design students, and (3) the means of exposing students to the nature of the profession in North America, so that they would recognize, realize, and capitalize on innovative opportunities, thereby improving quality of community life and the environment in North America. The two significant components of the CODE project were a virtual design charette and the exchange of selected students over a period of four years. The virtual design charette provided an intensive two-day international team experience for over 200 interior design students. The goal of the charette was to take interior design programs beyond geographic boundaries and employ technological and international approaches to a design problem. The intent of the exchange was to provide students with an opportunity to study in a North American culture other than their own. The CODE project embraced a framework of integrating a global community into the interior design curriculum. The project created an international environment that fostered an interactive atmosphere among North American students, faculty, and administration. The project may serve as a model for other institutions that desire to integrate an international program into their interior design curriculum. Summary In response to increased focus upon internationalism at institutions of higher learning, six interior design programs from Canada, Mexico, and the United States came together to create an authentic, technologically advanced global learning environment for students of interior design. The Consortium for Design Education (CODE) was a trilateral project consisting of a virtual design experience and student exchange between the three countries. The project was based upon a philosophy of integrating a global community into the interior design curriculum. The project created an international environment that was fluid, continual, and supportive of interaction among North American students, faculty, and administration. The nature of CODE required that faculty, administration, and students be committed to the project, place trust in one another, and be flexible. Each of the six institutions came to agreement regarding the policy and procedures of the project by following Oblinger's (1999) consortium model, and together they developed the Memorandum of Agreement. Furthermore, the CODE project embraced the National On-Campus Report (2004) plea for internationalizing college campuses through offering a rich international experience for all students whether or not they traveled abroad. Each element of the CODE project provided students with unique experiences, and many informal responses indicate the positive impact the events had on students' lives and approaches to design. Formal assessment of the program will occur in the near future, and results will be reported. Both successes and challenges will be identified, and recommendations for guidelines for future projects will be prepared based on the data collected from student and faculty participants. Whatever recommendations for improvement are necessary, however, it appears that CODE provided an enriching, international learning environment that exposed students and faculty to the various perspectives and cultures that exist across North America.