‘Hidden gem’: Interior architecture program granted re-accreditation

Oklahoma Christian University’s interior architecture program retained their accreditation through The Council for Interior Design (CIDA), a process which takes three years to complete.  

Amy Beauchamp, the program chair for art and design, explained the importance of being accredited by The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). 

“There’s what’s called the NCIDQ exam, and it’s kind of the equivalent of a lawyer’s bar exam or the boards in medical school. It’s kind of that same kind of idea, but there’s a certain process that students have to take to be able to take that test,” Beauchamp said. “There’s a length of time, for example, that they can be practicing after graduation, and then they can start taking parts of that exam. But if they don’t come from a CIDA school, that process takes longer, because that CIDA stamp of approval says that, ‘Yeah, this university is producing awesome quality people in their work’, so when we send them out into entry level positions, we know that they’re going to get the job done.” 

Beauchamp said students are not legally allowed to practice interior design without an education process and passing the NCIDQ exam. She explained this legal standard as the difference between a designer and a decorator. 

“[Physicians’ mantra] is do no harm, right? That’s their mantra. So in our field, it’s to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public,” Beauchamp said. “If you just wake up one day and decide you’re going to be an interior designer, but you go out and you start designing things that aren’t up to code for a building, or they don’t protect people in spaces, then somebody is held liable for that, and that’s gonna end up being you.” 

Abby Oldham, a junior majoring in interior architecture, said she chose to attend Oklahoma Christian instead of Oklahoma State University. 

“I was originally looking at OSU for their architecture program, but I’ve grown up Church of Christ my entire life. And so when I came to OC, it just kind of felt like home. It was super cozy. Everyone was super nice,” Oldham said. “And then I met with Amy, who’s over the department, and she kind of explained everything that we would go through, and it seemed just a little bit more artistic than what OSU had.”

Beauchamp said she gathers every quiz, test, assignment and project from the past three years of her classes to make sure Oklahoma Christian meets the 16 marks CIDA requires. She then organizes this information and turns it into the accreditors. 

“I had to write what’s basically the equivalent of a 100 page document to explain all of those things. And then those site visitors, they read through that about two months in advance, so they at least have some understanding in narrative form of what they should be expecting when they get here,” Beauchamp said. “And then back in March, we had the entire gallery shut down, and all of the work was displayed there. So that document that I wrote becomes their roadmap to go through all of that information. But they’re only here for about three days, so they have to go through three years worth of work in three days, right? So, I have to do my best to make it as easy as I can for them to find all of that information quickly.” 

Oldham, whose projects were displayed in front of the accreditors, said the experience was a little intimidating. 

“It’s definitely kind of an honor to have my stuff looked at, because, you know, not everyone was picked, and I had a couple of things in there, so I definitely felt very honored that Amy would choose some of my work to put in there,” Oldham said. “They were super nice. They were great. They asked us, you know, questions about our work, kind of the things that they saw, they wanted to just kind of know about the process and things like that. So overall, the process, despite being a lot of work, getting there, was pretty seamless.” 

Jenna Lewis, another junior in the interior architecture program, described one of the projects she displayed for the accreditors. 

“I had a freshman project in there, and it was where we picked a Bible verse and then designed a room based off of that Bible verse. And I was really proud of that one, so it’s nice to see that in there,” Lewis said. 

Lewis discussed the design she created based on a verse in Song of Solomon.

“I can’t remember exactly, but it had something to do with a fig tree. So there’s this tile that’s called an arabesque tile, and it was kind of shaped like a fig, so I included that in the bathroom that I did. And then it said something about fragrance, so I incorporated glass perfume bottles in there.”

The accreditation is a holistic judgment of the campus beyond the interior architecture program.

“When the site visitors get here, we take them on a tour of campus, because they also evaluate our facilities. They interview my faculty, and they interview my adjuncts to make sure that we know what we’re talking about,” Beauchamp said. “They interviewed the students as well. So they spent almost two and a half or three hours with the students one day, just visiting with them, because it’s not just about the tangible work, it’s about the conversation that they can have about what it is that they’re learning.”

After the on campus observations are made, the commissioning agency for CIDA has to vote to approve the accreditation. Votes are only cast twice a year, and the vote must be unanimous for approval. Before they leave campus, the site visitors do an exit interview and provide their feedback in written form. 

“They sent me back about a 75 page document, saying, ‘You guys do this really well.’ But then part of their job too is to also find weaknesses, which is good because we’ve got another set of eyes on the student work and what we do here,” Beauchamp said. “And if they find areas that we need some work in then that’s what we’re going to do. So we’ve got the next three years to kind of work on some of those things, and then we have to start this process all over again.”

Beauchamp said she is proud of how the exit interview went. 

“In our exit interview, they referred to us as a hidden gem … the Christian University, the smaller size, the quality of the work and how you guys all interact with each other, they were very impressed with the students and how they presented themselves, and how they all cheer each other on in their camaraderie. And I couldn’t be more proud of that,” Beauchamp said.

Oldham said she wishes more people knew how many hours interior architecture students put into their work. 

“Interior Architecture is one of those majors that’s never really finished. There’s always something that you could polish a little bit more,” Oldham said. “There’s always something to learn. It’s very artistic and analytical … If you thrive on a lot of work and being busy and timelines, then this is definitely something to consider, because it kind of uses both parts of your brain, the artistic and analytical, which is what I really like.” 

Lewis echoed the uniqueness of engaging both sides of the brain when designing. 

“It’s very analytical and creative,” Lewis said. “I love how every home is unique to everyone and different, and it just goes with the function that everyone needs and what everyone likes. So I always like the uniqueness and variety of homes.”

Lewis also emphasized the work students put into their designs. 

“We aren’t just decorators. We don’t just pick out fabrics and what colors go together. We do a lot of technical stuff, and it takes a lot of time. It’s a lot of hard work. We do lighting plans, egress plans, just stuff that people don’t really know a lot about. And so it is a lot of hard work, and we do a lot of construction and architecture,” Lewis said.