Faculty Spotlight: Shannon Rice, NCIDQ

November 14, 2024

Meet DI faculty Shannon Rice, NCIDQ. An educator, design practitioner and business owner with over 20 years of professional experience in the field of hospitality, Shannon brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the commercial design and business practice courses she teaches in the BFA program. Shannon’s specialties include hotel re-branding, property improvement plans, and in-house design services for a major vacation ownership developer.

Outside of teaching and professional practice, Shannon has been supporting the interior design community through active service on the professional boards of the San Diego Chapter of NEWH and ASID, where she served as Chapter President. A true believer in the power of design and its ability to change lives, Shannon has been serving as an Advocate & Fundraiser Committee Member for Humble Design, non-profit helping families transitioning out of homeless shelters by providing furnishings and design services.   

Q&A With Shannon: 

What is your most memorable project thus far? 

One of the most memorable projects I worked on in recent years was the conversion of the Holiday Inn to a Courtyard by Marriott in Miramar, CA. This was not just a renovation but a hotel brand change. What makes it so remarkable and successful is that the project began at the beginning of 2020 and when Covid shut down the county in the first and second quarters of that year, my design practice was faced with unparalleled obstacles. Despite the challenges, we were able to completely renovate the entire first floor of the hotel that included public spaces, a pool and all guest rooms in under 27 months, which is truly extraordinary.   

What are you working on currently? 

I’m in the midst of learning more about Best Western, which isn’t a franchise but a membership-based hotel ownership brand, that is 100% boutique.  Most consumers don’t realize that Best Western does not have brand standard requirements for their interior décor. Owners have the ability to design whatever suits their fancy but in-line with commercial quality expectations. Finding the balance in designing a boutique hotel at an affordable price is a niche market that I’ve found great success in. Most designers aspire to work on and design the best of the best, however, there is still a need for mid-price properties to receive quality design services as well. I renovated the guest rooms for Best Western Newport Beach and now I’m working on a property in Chula Vista. 

What inspires your designs? 

My clients are my biggest inspiration.  I am the type of designer who collaborates deeply with the vision of my clients and when they share what they want, I go to work to curate that vision. I’m drawn to interesting and unique inspirations from my nature walks, community activities and living spaces active with a vibe that can affect my emotional experiences. I am a functionality junkie, finding excitement around efficiencies and creative solutions. Lastly, my students are a huge inspiration as I get to mentor so many different types of creatives who bring their collective backgrounds, sharing small gifts along our journey.  

What is something about the BFA program at DI that differentiates it from other programs out there? 

We hear so much from our community business owners about how junior designers experience difficulties in the daily aspects of working in an office. The BFA program at DI is unique in that core curriculum is taught by faculty who are working practitioners. Because the instruction is taught by working professionals, real-life aspects of the profession reach the BFA students.  Also, computer generated design courses are often not available at other interior design programs, resulting in students having to pay for and manage other teaching methods outside of their school. 

At DI, we collaborate across required computer aided design classes with studio courses for implementation of what, truly, employers are seeking in their recent graduate new hires.  Faculty work hard to ensure the process of a design, done in an office environment, is understood, while simultaneously meeting creative design learning outcomes. By keeping the focus of their instruction on these two facets they are mimicking what the working professional experiences.  Our externship program helps immensely by requiring employers to be NCIDQ certified or licensed AIA architects and because of this, DI grads often have an upper hand with both of these important differentiators at play. 

 Another differentiator is that DI’s BFA program is CIDA accredited. The CIDA accreditation process allows for faculty and administrators to work together on a consistent basis to ensure DI’s curriculum meets, and even exceeds, the learning standards for the profession of Interior Design. With the ever changing and evolving technology tools along with social and global needs, our mission is to align our curriculum to the best implementation of the CIDA requirements. Semester to semester, course to course, the work our students are producing raises the bar for what a BFA program should be, resulting in a true awareness of why universities must hold themselves accountable to a greater degree. 

How important is NCIDQ certification to design practice and how is DI’s BFA program supporting student preparation for a career? 

Professional accreditation is a requirement in life regardless of your background or area of expertise.  Our society as a whole has more potential to thrive and grow when higher educational qualifications can be mandated and applied.  The NCIDQ certification is our industry standard method of elevating the career of Interior Design, hugely necessary now more than ever.  With advancements in technology such as AI in design, the NCIDQ certification is even more important because design isn’t only about concept, but about how to take that concept and make it a reality.   

At DI, we seek to instill the importance of this post-graduate certification by providing exposure to NCIDQ, the exam, the process and the preparation. NCIDQ Brain Teasers at the weekly start of my Commercial Interior Design II course helps to train students on understanding the multiple-choice test question formatting and dissecting the answers with intentional thoughts. Design Institute stives to keep our students up-to-date on the latest news about the exam providing invaluable insight students need to further their preparation. By partnering with a local NCIDQ Ambassador to present for an all-campus event DI students get first-hand information on test preparation, building their confidence and leading to success in their future design practice.  

You can view Shannon’s work here: https://www.paytemillerinteriors.com/portfolio/courtyard-miramar-conversion/