Renewing our BFA with a Competency Driven Approach

This session shares our multi-year redesign of the BFA in Design, anchored by a cross-program competency framework, a shared foundations year, and track pathways (Graphic, Interaction, Interior, Product). We share our use of skills-based 1.5-credit Labs—short, focused courses that teach technology (software, fabrication, machine operation) in a lab environment—alongside our studio-based emphasis. We discuss redistributing credit hours toward studio practice, aligning with NASAD/CIDA and AIGA/IDSA, and integrating ethics, sustainability, and social sciences in the cardinal core. Assessment centers on portfolio evidence using competency rubrics. We will present existing artifacts and results from our implementation, providing a framework for similar approaches.