Essential Functions

The purpose of the essential functions list is to allow prospective students who are considering a career to be informed of the physical, emotional, and psychological demands related to training and employment in a field of study. These lists are provided to allow prospective students to make informed career choices by providing them with a summary of the physical abilities and personality traits that are generally required for the successful completion of a curriculum and result in employment in their field of study after graduation. For students to be successful in the Interior Design programs, they must be able to perform the following essential functions:

• Ability to Use Senses.
  • Visual: Acuity to read fine print on equipment and/or other documents as required by the industry.
  • Hearing: Ability to hear sounds and emergency signals (with auditory aids or a full-time interpreter for the hearing impaired) and to understand a normal speaking voice without direct access to the speaker's face.
  • Manual Dexterity: Ability to work with fingers.
• Motor Ability.
  • Physical ability to walk and stand for possible long periods of time and ability to lift, move, and transfer weight of at least 25 pounds when utilizing samples for client demonstrations.
  • Ability to work while in hot/humid and/or cold conditions.
  • Ability to efficiently use computer to create CAD drawings.
• Ability to Understand Need for a Safe Work Environment.
  • Ability to wear necessary safety gear, i.e., safety glasses, gloves, head covering, etc. if necessary when working with computer equipment, especially printers and plotters.
  • Ability to maintain safe environment at all times.
• Ability to Communicate.
  • Ability to communicate effectively in verbal and written forms to class partners and/or team, managers, clients, customers, the general public, and instructor.
  • Ability to write and perform routine mathematical calculations clearly and correctly as applied to the industry.
  • Basic proficiency in technology (computers and peripheral components) as required by the industry.
• Ability to Problem Solve.
  • Intellectual and conceptual ability for measuring, calculating, reasoning, analyzing, and prioritizing daily functions in today's interior design work environments.
  • Ability to react and adjust as instructed by the instructor(s) during lab instruction or based on the customer's needs and deadlines.
• Ability to Maintain Emotional Stability.
  • Ability to function safely under stress in today's workplace and adapt to changing staff and client/customer situations.
  • Ability to maintain composure and professionalism at all times in labs and work environment.