Letters to the EditorialFrom Our ReadersI read the article, "A Force to Reckon With," in the July/August 2003 issue with interest as I know Lisa Whited and was affiliated with the Boston Architectural Center (BAC) for several years. I am impressed with Lisa's energy and commitment to interior design licensing. She deserves to be commended for her contribution to interior design education and the profession. I noted, however, a factual error in the article that I feel needs to be corrected.Lisa Whited was not the first interior designer to sit on the board of directors at the BAC. I was the first interior designer to be elected by the general membership to the board of directors in 1993. There were before me at least two other interior designers that served on the board as faculty representatives.During my two-year term I sponsored a proposal to amend the institution's bylaws. The new amendment requires that there is always interior design representation on the board from both the profession and the student body. At the time this was a big step for an institution that was often referred to as an "old boys' club" among female designers and architects. It also marked the beginning of a change in direction as the BAC initiated its first degree program in interior design and abandoned the Interior Design Certificate. The proposal was actively supported by the former president, George Terrien, and the first interior design chair, Faith Baum. I share the credit for its passing with them.
Sincerely,
S. Christine Cavataio,
IIDA, IDEC
NCIDQ Certified #9471
Associate Professor
Interior Design Program
Newbury College
Brookline, MA
This letter is in response to Harvey Rosenberg's IDEC column ("Solving Our Identity Crisis," October 2003), in which he asked, "How will you help?"Concerning his first suggestion to improve the status of the interior design profession: "If two organizations must exist, perhaps a logical solution for the profession's dilemma is to establish a distinct organization for interior decorators and another for interior designers."I am pleased to inform Mr. Rosenberg and your readers that Certified Interior Decorators International (CID) was formed in 1997 for that purpose. Due to trade, industry and consumer confusion related to education, association disputes, licensing and grandfathering by states and professional organizations, we decided to take action on behalf of the consumer and the trade by redefining the title and the role of the "interior decorator."However, since the "previously established and widely recognized title" has been misrepresented so poorly in the industry for the past several decades, we opted to help raise the industry standard by requiring the completion of a certificate program in interior design and decoration, and the passing of a CID entrance exam prior to granting certification and issuing credentials as a "Certified Interior Decorator" and professional membership in CID.In 1999, we were granted a registered service mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the appellation CID and the term Certified Interior Decorator.We have also been acknowledged in trade publications, by resource leaders, educators and presidents of design organizations as quoted in Interiors & Sources magazine on several occasions. Certified Interior Decorators is also listed in the Web Site Directory in this magazine under associations. Our international headquarters is based in Florida with membership throughout the United States, Canada and England. We also have a network of college-level programs and direct learning schools which are CID-accredited and specifically designed for the interior decorator who chooses to become "certified" through our organization exclusively. The schools and member requirements may be seen on our Web site: www.cidinternational.org.
Sincerely,
Ron Renner, ASID
NCIDQ Certified #1456
Florida State Licensed Interior Designer (ID #114, Retired)
Founder and President
Certified Interior Decorators International, Inc.
Stuart, FL
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