Assistant Professor of Interior Design Trudy Christ, center, receives the 2023 FA Member Excellence Award for Community Outreach and Social Justice from FA President Dante Morelli and FA Secretary Cynthia Eaton. (photo by Victoria Pendzick)

Given the size and range of work that our FA members do, we FA officers periodically will have members who perceive that people really do not understand what they do because their program/area/role is so different. This makes sense since we represent classroom faculty across many disciplines, from astronomy to automotive and from veterinary science to visual arts, as well as professional assistants and specialists who perform all manner of work at the college both in and out of the classroom and of course counselors, librarians and coordinators who all have certain specialties.

Interior design is one of these specialized programs, which resides only at the Eastern Campus and is staffed by a single full-time faculty member plus three adjunct faculty. Assistant Professor of Interior Design Trudy Christ has developed such a remarkable program for her students at Brighter Tomorrows and Boys & Girls Club that she was nominated for and awarded this year’s FA Member Excellence Award for Community Outreach and Social Justice.

Q — Since I’m at the Eastern Campus also, I periodically will hear people ask about the interior design program and make a rather flip comment about how it’s just about making sure the throw pillows are pretty or complement the decor. But we know that your program is about so much more. Can you start by describing what you do?

A — Interior design is an A.A.S. program but it incorporates all of the traditional liberal arts components. We don’t just teach how to make things look aesthetically pleasing. We teach students critical thinking, collaboration, effective oral and written communication and business skills such as project management and financial management. 

Students absolutely learn about the aesthetic value of well designed interior spaces in their studio classes. They need to know the core principles of color theory, architecture, textiles and finishes, 2D Design and more. They also need to know core principles of effective business practice since many will enter the workforce upon graduation. Students develop portfolios and do internships.

Beyond that, we work hard to help students gain a solid understanding of how to communicate effectively, both in writing and through oral presentations. They need to develop their interpersonal skills and creative problem-solving skills too. Everyone reading this who’s ever had any kind of renovation done in their home knows that issues will arise—relating to construction, costs, availability of materials or even customers changing their mind—and our students need to know how to find productive solutions.

Q — Given all that you do in your curriculum, then, what led you to develop these programs with the Brighter Tomorrows domestic violence shelter and the Boys and Girls Club of Bellport?

A — I think a lot about the college’s mission and about what we are doing as educators at a public community college. Yes, I am preparing students for a career in interior design but more importantly I am helping create future leaders who will be a part of a specific community. Our SCCC mission statement talks about transforming lives, building communities, and improving society.

In all of my classes, I work hard to try to fulfill the institutional promise made in the college mission statement. Many of us across the disciplines focus on transforming our students’ lives, but it’s just as important to focus on building communities and improving society as well.

Five years ago, when I was still an adjunct, I was in touch with someone on the board of the Brighter Tomorrows domestic violence shelter and we discussed the possibility of students redesigning a room in one of their safe houses as a volunteer project. That really was the start of it. I was enthusiastic about it from the start because I realized this was a way for students to really get the impact, the importance, of what we do in interior design.

Over the years, the project has grown into a regular part of my curriculum, now in my INT201: Interior Design III class—and it has become one of the best parts of the program. It’s an authentic assessment project for which students physically go to the domestic violence shelter and the Boys & Girls Club location to develop and implement a project to achieve the INT201 learning outcomes. 

To date, this has included designing or redesigning bedrooms, a children’s playroom, and a living room at the main domestic violence shelter as well as an entire safe house. It also includes several rooms at the Boys and Girls Club of Bellport. For each individual project, students interview the clients, take site measurements, and establish budgets. Using budgeted or donated materials, students learn to work within the organization’s specific parameters, research codes and analyze and evaluate their data. They create floor plans and develop presentations for the board. Once their designs are approved, students obtain all of the required elements—furnishings, materials, accessories—and since I have an extensive business network through practice in the field, I assist students as needed so they can understand the value of building relationships within the design community.

The results have truly been transformative both for the organizations and for the students. You can see some photos from the Boys & Girls Club of Bellport project on the SCCC Facebook page.

Q — When developing your JEDI Institute: Colleagues Share project about this, you reached out to some current and former students, and their comments on that Share page really demonstrate how meaningful this has been to them. What do you most want to highlight about this project?

A — Two things: There’s a very real academic benefit and there’s a very real social justice benefit.

Academically, I think this kind of authentic assessment is something more of us faculty can and should be doing, no matter our discipline. It gives students real world experience, not just learning from the textbook or from what I say in class, but they are out in the field and responsible for the kinds of issues and decisions that they will face on the job. I give them almost full responsibility for the project, but of course I build in a few stop-gap measures, e.g., I review and approve their plans before they proceed. But they are learning how to manage issues in the workplace as they arise. For example, maybe something they specified in their plans was discontinued; they need to decide how to respond rather than panic or react badly because they didn’t anticipate things. This is the kind of critical thinking skillset that all students need in their lives.

They also work as a team at an entirely different level. I know many faculty do groupwork and collaborative activities in class, but this is even more involved in terms of teamwork since they have to decide things such as how to delegate tasks.

The social justice benefit is this: They see that they are truly making an impact. In the case of the Brighter Tomorrows design projects, they meet with and interview the staff there. They know that they are playing a role in empowering people who need a bit of support. Their work can help make women and children coming from abusive situations feel safe, feel loved, feel good about themselves. For example, they know that LGBTQ+ students might not have had safe spaces before, so they work to determine how design can help them feel calmer and give them a sense of belonging and safety.

Q — The impact of this program is truly remarkable, and I know you’ve put endless hours into not only developing it but also helping students as they go through this experience, such as soliciting donated items students need, helping them navigate their projects, supporting them emotionally and so much more. Have you always been this mindful of the importance of community involvement?

A — I studied at Colorado State for an M.S. in Design and Merchandising, but my focus was almost fully on design. Here on Long Island, it has been really interesting because there is such a contrast between marginalized groups and everyone else.

There are definitely people in the world of interior design who are very focused on designing for projects in the Hamptons because that’s where so much money is. But I want my students to know there are other, more impactful ways to make a difference in our communities. For example, I might get calls about redesigning a local pizza parlor. That’s fine, but there’s also work that needs to be done in, say, a local hospital to make it more functional or more welcoming for patients. I look for the more meaningful projects.

It sounds trite but I do try to teach students that they can make the world a better place. Marginalized communities have the greatest need so why not put our attention there? I think I’ve always been this community and justice focused. My dad was a police officer, my mom was a nurse and my sister is a teacher, so helping others has always been a part of my family. I think that for my students, it’s not just about being successful, it’s also about how do they look at others who are coming up the ladder and what are we doing to help pull them up.

Q — What does it mean to you to be involved with the FA? Why should everyone contribute to the union?

A — The FA is so important! I never had any union experience anywhere before coming to SCCC. I remember in my very first semester coming to you with some questions I had about moving from being an adjunct to being full time. Being involved in the FA matters because it’s a collective effort to work for the things you need to help our students. It’s great to be in an organization with so many like-minded people, all using their voices to say, “This what we need to serve our students.”

I am 1,000% convinced that everyone needs to contribute to the FA. Our union looks out for all of us as educators, adjuncts and full time, and that’s something in my career I had never experienced before. It is a level of support that I am thankful for.