The College of Design launched a $4 million fund-raising campaign known as the “Silver Challenge” in celebration of its 25th Anniversary.

The Silver Challenge, launched last week, is seeking to raise money to support new faculty hires and an addition to design building renovation.

“The Silver Challenge is fund-raising for professorships, assistantships, and chairs that will supplement the new faculty hires. We want to make sure there are research funds available, and there are graduate assistantships to help with the research for different areas,” said Jennifer Jennings-Davis, director of development for the College of Design.

The addition is what Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design, and others involved call a “super studio.”

“The super studio will take the best of the present Armory environment, its openness and flexibility and incorporate it within a new space,” Engelbrecht said in an e-mail to the Daily.

The new space will provide studios for freshmen taking the new common foundations course. The freshmen will be surrounded by studios for students who have been accepted into the College of Design’s programs.

“I know that as a freshman, I looked up to the older students’ work and was motivated by it,” said Chris Newman, senior in graphic design.

All of the plans for the super studio are conceptual at this point, Engelbrecht said. The college will not retain architects and designers for another year.

The College of Design also plans to add seven new focus areas within the college. They will be multimedia design and animation, Midwest community design, product design, geographic information systems, landscape ecology, design history and undergraduate foundations education.

“The entire program will provide more flexibility for students as they move through various courses of study,” Engelbrecht said.

The campaign will also help construct new offices, classrooms, labs, shops and support spaces.

Engelbrecht said he has great expectations for the college and the campaign. “Each dollar given by the friends and alumni of the college involves a ‘challenge’ to students, staff, and faculty to work even harder at raising the level of performance,” he said.

The College of Design hopes to reach its $4 million goal by June 2004.