Academic Membership Program
An all-inclusive membership for industrial design programs, their educators and students.
About Academic Membership
An evolution of our highly successful Group Membership program, Academic Membership packages new and existing offerings that serve three distinct academic audiences: students, educators, and the industrial design program itself.
For the Student
Access and opportunities beyond the studio that helps jumpstart your career.
For the Educator
Resources to support your multi-faceted role through peer exchange and IDSA HQ white glove service.
For the ID Program
Market your ID program to prospective students and set your school apart.
Exclusive to Academic Membership, ALL industrial design educators and students at your school receive IDSA membership, and all corresponding benefits – at a single, steeply discounted flat rate when compared to per person individual memberships. Best of all, as semesters change, you are able to easily add and remove members at any time, at no additional cost. In addition, a package of unique benefits is also included, with a wide variety of perks such as a Design School Directory listing, a new peer group exclusively for design educators, and additional printed copies of INNOVATION magazine (released quarterly) to distribute however you’d like amongst your students and faculty. A full list is listed below.
For Students
As emerging professionals, graduate and undergraduate students crave access and opportunities beyond the studio that help jumpstart their careers. IDSA is bolstering its support to student programming to ensure students enhance their academic education.
Student Chapters
Student members, through their involvement with Student Chapters, have the opportunity to learn new skillsets, gain visibility, and connect to a larger network of other similarly motivated individuals. Many student chapters are located in close proximity to professional chapters which means that they have near-instant access to a network of professional designers. Student and Professional Chapters are encouraged to collaborate and share resources to help prepare emergent talent for life as a working designer.
At the start of the Academic Membership Program, Student Chapters will have a dedicated IDSA staff contact at the headquarter office who will help support Chapter Leaders and Faculty Advisors with resources and connections.
Student Merit Awards
Each year, IDSA recognizes exceptional student design talent through our undergraduate and graduate Student Merit Awards (SMA) competition. The SMA’s have long been recognized by professional designers and hiring managers as the premiere competition in the US that highlights exceptional student talent. Trust us, having this on your resume is a major achievement and will certainly open the door to new opportunities! School Finalists and District Winners benefit from massive media exposure through IDSA’s extensive reach and high-level industry exposure.
In order to participate in any stage of the SMA program, student membership at the national level and an active student chapter status is required. Both requirements are automatically met through the Academic Membership Program.
INNOVATION Magazine
Student IDSA members already receive access to digital copies of INNOVATION magazine. Each issue of INNOVATION provides in-depth coverage of industrial design trends and processes and frequently explores the changing role of industrial design within the creative and professional landscape. The annual Yearbook of Design Excellence (Fall issue) is a celebration of the winning designs in the International Design Excellence Awards competition. The Winter issue is dedicated to Academia and prominently features SMA winners and finalists from schools across the US.
Schools enrolled in the Academic Membership program will receive quarterly bulk shipments of the printed magazine for distribution as an exclusive benefit.
For Educators
We recognize that your role as an ID educator and/or student faculty advisor for IDSA programs is multi-faceted and that your time is very limited. The Academic Membership program is designed to address these challenges and offer support for your layered responsibilities to the students, administration, and IDSA programming.
Educator Peer Group
We’ve heard your feedback and know that you want to connect with other educators more frequently. So we’ve developed a new program which affords increased opportunity for connection with peer-to-peer knowledge sharing round-tables hosted virtually. Best of all, you’re in control of the details — you determine discussion topics, how often to meet, and everything in-between. We’ll support on the backend with logistics and technology as needed to ensure a meaningful experience.
This opportunity is only available to industrial design educators who are part of the Academic Membership program.
Education Symposium
For over 20 years, IDSA’s Education Symposium has been a platform for celebrating the very best in design academia. It routinely draws design educators, students, and design practitioners from all over the world and helps connect our vast community through knowledge sharing and networking opportunities.
The Education Symposium includes Education Paper presentations which is the opportunity to share your work with colleagues. Papers are selected by a peer-reviewed committee and are also published on the IDSA website with over 160 papers to remain as a resource for others in our community.
Streamlined Administration
Academic Membership is easy to manage. You’ll have the ability to add and remove members or update information 24/7. A dedicated IDSA staff point of contact will be assigned to you throughout the year.
Your participation in the Academic Membership program also provides automatic student chapter eligibility, so there’s no need to worry about your students’ eligibility for the SMA program.
For Industrial Design Programs
Academic Membership offers ID programs significant visibility and marketing opportunities. Through IDSA’s programs and services, you can promote your program, your top-notch educators and exceptional students to prospective students.
Design School Directory Listing
IDSA’s Design School Directory is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 visited pages on IDSA.org, which receives more than 1.7 million visitors annually. Market and grow your ID program by distinguishing its unique value to prospective students from all over the world who visit our directory when researching where to apply for higher education. The listing alone is $995 per year if purchased individually.
Academic Membership includes a Premium Listing in the in the Design Schools Directory with high resolution imagery and detailed information about your school.
Award Winner Promotion
We know that celebrating the talent at your school is a top priority. The students and educators who participate in IDSA awards and other academic programming benefit from massive media exposure through IDSA’s extensive reach and high-level industry recognition. For example, SMA Finalists from each school receive an online profile and social media promotion. District Winners benefit even more with a print feature in INNOVATION magazine, a trophy, and the opportunity to present at the annual International Design Conference. All of this helps build your brand and gain recognition amongst the academic community.
When your students or educators win an IDSA award or find success in one of our other annual programs, you will be provided with promotional assets to help you spread the word to your network of donors and alumni.
Streamlined Administration
Academic Membership is easy to manage. You’ll have the ability to add and remove members or update information 24/7. A dedicated IDSA staff point of contact will be assigned to you throughout the year.
Your participation in the Academic Membership Program also provides automatic student chapter eligibility so there’s no need to worry about your students’ eligibility for the SMA program.
Pricing
50 or fewer members
$1,999 / year
15 additional copies of INNOVATION Magazine mailed to your school quarterly
51-100 members
$2,999 / year
25 additional copies of INNOVATION Magazine mailed to your school quarterly
101-200 members
$4,999 / year
35 additional copies of INNOVATION Magazine mailed to your school quarterly
201-350 members
$6,999 / year
50 additional copies of INNOVATION Magazine mailed to your school quarterly
351+ members
$7,999 / year
50 additional copies of INNOVATION Magazine mailed to your school quarterly
- Academic membership offers tiered pricing based on the total number of industrial design educators and students (graduate and undergraduate) at your school. You pay one flat price based on the corresponding tier.
- All individuals listed under your Academic Membership receive corresponding member benefits at the professional or student tier.
- Every school structures their programs differently. IDSA considers additional degree programs as part of industrial design: service design, transportation design, user experience design (UX), user interaction design (UI), human factors / ergonomics, footwear design, and furniture design. Educators and students from these programs may be included in your membership regardless of where they reside on campus.
- All tiers unlock access to the Educator Peer Group.
- All tiers receive a premium Design School Directory listing ($995 value).
- Membership at any level automatically satisfies Student Chapter requirements for participation in the annual Student Merit Award program.
Participating Schools
