April 1, 2011—The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) and International Interior Design Association (IIDA) recently announced a partnership among the three design organizations to create an accrediting body for interior design continuing education. They are formalizing and centralizing what is currently a voluntary, decentralized consortium known as the Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC).
The partners say the mission of IDCEC is to serve as the premier advocate for continuing education in the advancement of the interior design profession, and to inspire and guide providers of continuing education programs to deliver high-quality lifelong learning activities for interior design practitioners.
The partners note that continuing education strengthens the interior design profession by improving individual attitudes, competencies, knowledge and skills in subject areas essential to the growth and success of the industry. Because of this significance, the new IDCEC aims to streamline the accreditation process for both course takers and providers, and to elevate the quality of continuing education within the industry. Quality of content, sustainable business practices, customer service and reliability are all core values of the new IDCEC.
IDCEC will be operated by and for the benefit of the interior design community exclusively for the purpose of continuing professional education. In addition to members of the founding organizations, members of other organizations are welcome to actively participate in IDCEC in a manner which best serves their membership and strategic directions.
Under the direction of newly hired IDCEC Director Brynell D’Mello, a small staff will be selected and board of directors chosen as the organization works to centralize records/files and convert them to a Web-based, data-driven infrastructure. The IDCEC office will be based in Toronto, Canada.
