Arkansas Joins NCIDQ as 21st Member Board

July 24, 2006
Contact Peter James at 202.721.0220

WASHINGTON, DC--The National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) announces the Arkansas State Board of Interior Design as its 21st member board. The vote to approve the Arkansas Board’s petition for membership was unanimous.

NCIDQ’s members are US state and Canadian provincial regulatory boards that regulate the interior design profession. These boards represent most of the 26 U.S. states and eight Canadian provinces that legally recognize interior designers.

Benefits to member boards include the right to admit candidates to the NCIDQ Examination as a prerequisite for registration or licensure. Member boards can also authorize exam retakes as needed for disciplinary action or registration reinstatement. Members vote in NCIDQ Board of Directors elections and for Council resolutions at the annual Council of Delegates meeting.

“I am so excited to welcome the Arkansas Board as our newest member,” says Barbara Pallat, NCIDQ President. “With each new member, the Council grows stronger as a forum for interior design regulators and as a force to protect the public.”

The Arkansas Board protects the title of “Registered Interior Designer.” Interior designers who wish to use this title must meet the Board’s eligibility criteria, including passage of the NCIDQ Examination. Registered Interior Designers have the right to seal and submit documents for public record. They must complete continuing education and agree to a code of ethics.

“NCIDQ membership represents a new level of professionalism for the Board,” says Claudia C. Shannon, an Arkansas Registered Interior Designer and the delegate to NCIDQ from the Arkansas Board. “We are so pleased to join our fellow regulatory boards in the collective effort to raise standards for the interior design profession and increase public awareness of the profession.”

NCIDQ’s minimum competency exam is used not only for state registration and licensure but also for individual credentialing. Passage of the exam is a prerequisite for the NCIDQ Certificate--the mark of a professional interior designer. The NCIDQ Certificate is required for professional association membership and many design firm and teaching positions.

NCIDQ is an organization of regulatory boards and provincial associations in the United States and Canada whose core purpose is to protect the health, life safety and welfare of the public by establishing standards of competence in the practice of interior design. More information about the organization may be found at www.ncidq.org.

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