Program Overview

Bachelor of Science Interior Design
The interior design degree at Southern Miss, which began in 1976, is accredited as a first professional-level degree program by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), formally known as Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER), and was the first Mississippi program to obtain this accreditation. Southern Miss is the only interior design program in the state of Mississippi endorsed by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA). Requirements are in accordance with the published standards and guidelines of the Council for Interior Design Accreditation and NKBA.

This program prepares students to identify, research, and solve problems related to the needs of people in residential, institutional, and commercial environments in order to enhance the quality of life and protect public health, safety, and welfare. The program's interdisciplinary approach addresses the demands and standards of qualification of the profession and related fields. The core of program requirements includes sequential studio courses covering the analysis, planning, and design of human environments. Supplemental courses include instruction in presentation, HVAC systems, lighting, plumbing, acoustics, codes, special needs, historic and contemporary furnishings/design, aesthetics, and professional procedures. The program emphasizes understanding and application of current technology, building codes and laws, oral and visual communications skills, relationship of the user and the immediate environment, and the designer ' s professional responsibility to society.

Professional designers, architects, manufacturers, and allied representatives serve the program in an advisory capacity as members of advisory boards, guest lecturers, part-time faculty, critics, and supervisors of interns. Further contact with professionals is supported through the Southern Miss student chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), which has been awarded 1st place (2005) and honorable mention (2004) for Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year. Students participate in campus, community, state, and regional activities in the student chapter of ASID, and participate as student members in the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA). The dedicated interior design faculty members have strong academic backgrounds, practical work experience in the field of interior design, and are members of professional organizations. Faculty members are committed to providing a high-quality education for all students in the Interior Design program.

For more information, please review the The Interior Design Program Overview and Degree Plan.