The College of Design is changing its curriculum for freshmen in order to give students more time to choose future careers.

Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design, said the changes were formed after faculty members realized there were many flaws in the previous curriculum.

“With the system we have had, four of our programs had the freshmen begin their experience in a pre-program,” Engelbrecht said.

He said at the end of freshmen year, students in those programs applied to enter into the professional programs: architecture, landscape architecture, graphic design and interior design. To apply, the students presented a portfolio and faculty members selected students based on grades and other factors.

“The problem with this is that it was very selective,” Engelbrecht said. “For example, we had 250 freshmen in the pre-architecture program and there was only room for 64 in the professional program. If they didn’t make the cut, that year would have been lost.”

He said another problem with the system was freshmen had to know what they wanted to do as soon as they entered the College of Design, without having a chance to explore what the programs had to offer.

Engelbrecht said these reasons, as well as budget cuts and tuition increases, caused the college to reevaluate the programs.

“We really wanted to find a new direction and really rework the freshman experience,” he said.

The new ideas are a result of an envisioning process by an undergraduate task force, which included both faculty and students, Engelbrecht said.

This year the college is trying some experimental courses as the first step in the process. One new course is called Design Culture.

“[Design Culture] examines design from a number of different angles, some that we have not explored in the past,” he said.

Beginning next fall, freshmen entering the college will be able to take a year of “rigorous courses in design science, design studio and design culture that will apply to any or all of the programs we offer,” Engelbrecht said.

“This will be beneficial to the freshmen because they will be able to switch tracks after finding out more about the programs without the penalty of going back a year,” he said.

Charles Masterson, adjunct associate professor of architecture and chairman of the undergraduate task force, said he wanted a new vision for the college.

“We want to have the best beginning design program in the country,” Masterson said.

Masterson said his biggest problem with the previous program was it “required students to know what they wanted to be. I wanted to give them a year to see what they really wanted.”

Masterson said the task force studied 90 institutions, and Iowa State’s College of Design program is unique.

“There is nothing like it in the country,” he said.

Masterson said he wanted to see a shift toward ability-based learning.

“It’s not about exams, it’s about learning,” he said. “A professor at a university can help you gain knowledge, but what can you do with it?”

Masterson said he is proud students were involved in the task force and he thinks the new program will benefit faculty as well as students.

“I like it because it focuses on the quality of education and our willingness to change,” Masterson said.

“It’s a big step for the College of Design.” he said.

“It’s great for faculty, because it blurs department boundaries and makes us more of a college,” Masterson said.

Engelbrecht agreed.

“Students will be able to work with faculty and students from all the departments under the new curriculum, and that will be very beneficial to everyone,” Elbrecht said.

“The larger issue is to promote the idea of making use of all our resources for our students.”