ISU satellite program Design West won the University Economic Development Association’s Award of Excellence in Partnership.

The UEDA “is a vibrant and growth oriented national organization of higher education, business and economic development professionals,” according to the organization’s website.

Each year the group holds an annual summit dedicated to improving universities around the world. At the conference, honors are given out, including awards in business excellence, excellence in community development, awards for excellence in economic development and an award for excellence in business partnership.

The Award for Partnership Excellence is given out to a unique and beneficial partner to the UEDA. This partnership achieves a shared goal with the surrounding community and the college it is allied with.

Susan Fey, the program coordinator for Design West, and Maggie Dougherty, third year architecture student, traveled from Sioux City to Reno, Nev., and represented Iowa State and Design West against colleges from Muncie, Indiana, and Greenville, North Carolina. 

Iowa State’s Design West studio is a satellite program based in Sioux City, Iowa. They are dedicated to expanding regional education opportunities and exploring options in landscape architecture, urban and interior design and even graphic design. The facility is a remodeled boiler plant with a four story smokestack from the late 19th century. It is an extension of Iowa State’s college of design, and offers education to people who do not have access to the campus proper.

Since it’s inception, Design West has been called home by 200 students and 12 faculty members who have participated in a dozen outreach programs in Sioux City. Clocking in at over 15,000 hours of community service, the students and teachers at Design West have been a great help to the city and it’s surrounding environment.

In order to allow Design West to continue to operate in a cost-effective manner, they recently received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. This will allow them to continue to offer, among other things, summer workshops for high school and middle school students.

“This is a great honor for ISU Design West” said Fey.”…it showcases the amazing partnership we have forged to benefit students on the Iowa State campus, students in Siouxland and the community at large.” This quote is from the e-mail I got about the award. The Daily sent it to me, just remove it if it can’t be used for some reason.