June 3, 2020

Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and Illustration Meena Khalili will be stepping into a national role as co-chair of the AIGA Design Educator’s Community, alongside the Chair of Design at Virginia Tech. Institutions with faculty on the committee include: California College of the Arts, The New School Parsons School of Design, University of Florida, University of Arkansas, Tennessee State University, and more.

AIGA is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected organizations for practicing designers. Born from this organization, the AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) seeks to enhance the abilities of design educators and educational institutions to prepare future designers for excellence in design practice, design theory and design writing at the undergraduate and graduate levels while supporting the fundamental mission of AIGA. The DEC is comprised of 13 dedicated educators providing service and leadership to the Community. These 13 represent a range of experience, interests, types of programs, and regions.

AIGA’s purpose is to further excellence in design as a broadly defined discipline, strategic tool for business and cultural force. AIGA is a professional association committed to stimulating thinking about design through the exchange of ideas and information, the encouragement of critical analysis and research and the advancement of education and ethical practice. 

The DEC was established in 2004 to support the unique activities and responsibilities of the design educator at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels in a wide variety of institutional settings. The goals of this community are to: facilitate communication among design educators; create, foster and promote dialogue; produce design education events such as conferences and competitions; present current research and teaching methods; establish standards for design education; differentiate between design’s various subdisciplines; raise the level of design-driven thinking in schools across the country; and communicate the value of design education to the larger profession.

Subjects of interest to this community span teaching, research, and service. They include curriculum and program development, design theory and history, methodology, typography, usability research, and the social roles of designers, as well as tenure, promotion, teaching standards, and school accreditation.