Environment, Textiles and Design administrators stated Wednesday they will require students entering the interior design major this year to purchase a laptop with accommodating software upon entrance into the Professional Course Sequence instead of using a computer lab and designing by hand.
The faculty of the interior design school strongly pushed for this decision after considering it for a few years, said Majid Sarmadi, departmental chair of ETD.
However, some interior design students said they feel this requirement was sprung on them.
\They ... gave us a heads up last year that they were highly considering requiring it for this year, but they didn't say for sure,"" an anonymous interior design student said.
Wei Dong, professor in the Interior Design School, said UW- Stout and UW-Stevens Point have required students to rent or purchase these computers for the last three years.
Besides keeping the interior design school competitive, Sarmadi said the technology will prepare students for interior design jobs.
""It is not only important; it is vital that [students] learn this state of the art designing with this program,"" Sarmadi said.
Professor Dong also stated the effort the school has made in talking to the software company AutoDesk to provide this software for students at a lower rate.
He cited a specific program, AutoCAT, as having a commercial cost of $5,000 but a student cost of a little over $300.
Although the software has been reduced in price for students, some interior design students expressed stress about collecting money to pay for the computer and software.
""If they would have told us at the very beginning when we came into the program ... that down the road we're going to have to buy this computer and gave us the specifications, we could have bought it off the bat. I've already spent $2,000 on a computer and now I'm going to be spending another $3,000,"" the student said.
Currently, the only computer lab containing these programs is usually overcrowded.
""Apparently, all of Human Ecology ... [is] using that computer lab more heavily over the last few years,"" the interior design student said.
The student said she plans to seek a loan offered by the Human Ecology Program.
