Abstract

This article argues that by integrating a package of collaboration strategies between academics and profession into an interior design academic curriculum, graduates can achieve an appropriate level of professional interior design skills. This can provide an appropriate way to produce valuable graduates with high employability potential. The article explores the professional skills requirements, collaboration stakeholder roles, and curriculum collaboration strategies. This study aims to highlight and evaluate one experiment in adopting and mapping collaboration strategies throughout all curriculum courses and extra-curricular activities in an undergraduate interior design program. The article evaluates the effectiveness of integrated collaboration procedures, which were implemented in interior design programs for a period of seven academic years from 2008 to 2015. The integration experiment was documented through surveys targeting graduates measuring the overall effectiveness of the collaboration procedures on their readiness for the professional market, faculty members determining the effectiveness of the integration process, and employers evaluating the professional experience of graduates.