Becoming CMDI
A sample of student projects from environmental design and CMCI. Both areas bring a rich tradition of hands-on learning and project work to the combined college.
Celebrating a new name for CMCI that reflects design’s importance in telling a story.
The problems of tomorrow are cross-disciplinary and complex. Solving them requires thinking beyond traditional silos and operating in the places where the communication, media and information science fields overlap. Increasingly, design—especially the way we interact with the built environment—is a part of that conversation and an important tool for how we engage those problems.
To reflect that change, and to better position students, faculty and alumni for the challenges of the future, the environmental design program is becoming part of the College of Media, Communication and Information at CU Boulder. On July 1, CMCI will become the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, demonstrating not only the inclusion of environmental design students in the college, but the importance of design as a storytelling and problem-solving tool.
To understand why the integration of CMCI and ENVD makes sense, it’s important to consider the cultures and values of the programs. Both have a long tradition of learning by doing, with hands-on, project-based classes led by industry-active faculty. Both prize innovation and a recognition that, amid continuous change, yesterday’s solutions are tomorrow’s pitfalls. And both are driven by a shared vision of sustainability, a commitment to solving problems and a drive to do work that matters.
Importantly, we are committed to a student experience that is identical to the one you expected when you first applied to CU Boulder.The tuition costs, degree names, curricula and class sizes that brought you to your program are the same.
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‘Joy and excitement over what’s possible’
Students, faculty, alumni and leadership from CMCI and ENVD share their excitement about coming together under a new name. Read more →
Coming together
CMCI and environmental design were made for each other. Here are some examples of how these areas complement one another.
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FAQ: Current Students
On July 1, the college will be rebranded as the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, and environmental design and its students will be a part of the college.There are no major changes for currently enrolled CMCI or ENVD students. Your degree plan, courses, class sizes, tuition, financial aid, housing assignments, academic and career advising, extracurricular clubs, and so on will remain the same. If you have confirmed internship, work study or study abroad plans, they are not affected by this change.
ENVD will become a department, instead of a program, when it joins CMDI, which will create new opportunities for students without negatively affecting your experience.
All students will benefit from the resources of a larger, established college, including a broader alumni network, opportunities to collaborate with faculty and peers studying different disciplines, and additional extracurricular opportunities. If anything, the ENVD student experience will be improved as a result of the integration.
No. CMCI and ENVD students are both in tuition tier 2, which will continue for CMDI.
As long as you remain in the college, your scholarships will be unaffected.
If you have been offered a scholarship from CMCI or ENVD and choose to transfer to a major in another college, you will no longer be eligible for the CMCI or ENVD scholarship.
No. Students in an environmental design major will still earn a B.ENVD, while CMCI majors will still earn a BS or BA, depending on their major.
Your current study abroad plans will not be affected, and you may be eligible for new study abroad opportunities through a different area of study.
Graduation requirements for currently enrolled students will remain the same. Current ENVD students interested in a minor or certificate from a CMCI discipline should consult their academic advisors to learn how to add a secondary area of study.
ENVD’s student organizations will continue to operate as they have. These groups are student-led and operated. To be a recognized student organization eligible for campus funding, the group must be registered with the Center for Student Involvement.
Based on the CU Student Government Constitution, two senators from each college or school serve on CUSG. For the 2025-26 academic year, one senator from CMCI and one from ENVD will be selected during the spring 2025 term. In subsequent years, senators will come from general members of the CMDI student government organization.
Absolutely. You will retain access to the labs and centers you have been using, or will be required to use, for your coursework and creative endeavors.
The advising service models for CMCI and ENVD may be adjusted slightly over time, however, your access to your primary advisor and career services will remain the same. You also will have access to additional support and resources.
If you want to change your major from ENVD to a CMCI major or vice versa, you would go through an internal college process managed by CMDI. An IUT application is not required. You should first consult your academic advisor if you are interested in applying to change your major within the college.
In most cases, yes, though you should meet with your advisor for any and all questions related to curriculum and degree requirements. CMCI and ENVD courses will retain the same prerequisites. ENVD students can pursue a minor in CMCI, and CMCI students can pursue a minor in ENVD. We encourage students to explore the minor options in order to fully round out their academic experience and have additional professional perspectives for when they graduate.
FAQ: Admitted Students
No, ENVD is in the same tuition tier as CMCI. There will be no changes to your tuition tier or financial aid.
No. IncomingENVD students are still required to live in Willard Hall as part of the ENVD Living Learning Community. CMDI students in the other majors can choose from multiple residence halls, including the Residential Academic Program in Buckingham Hall.
Any college or department-level scholarships you have been offered will still be awarded if you remain in the same degree program.
Most admissions events will still operate separately (CMCI and ENVD) this spring. Please attend the events and sessions that correspond with your major. You are invited to join other events to learn more about the programs that could be your secondary area of study (as a minor or second major).
Remember,your curriculum and experience are not impacted by the name change. The opportunities and experiences that made you interested in applying to your major still exist.
If you want to change majors outside of CMDI, or if you want to change from ENVD to a CMCI major (or vice versa), you can do so through your application status page. This process may take several weeks, as we may have to re-evaluate your application for admission to that particular department.
If you have been offered a scholarship from CMCI or ENVD and choose to transfer to a major outside of CMDI, you will no longer be eligible for the CMCI or ENVD scholarship.
Please see a more comprehensive list of admissions-related questions at the main CU Boulder admissions website. Here are the resources for first-year, transfer and international students.
FAQ: Alumni and Community
Adding “design” to the CMCI name allows the environmental design program to retain an identity forged from decades of leadership in the fields of architecture, sustainable design and urban planning. It also demonstrates the importance of design skills and perspectives for professionals working in communication, media and technology fields, to understand both the tools of the trade and design’s role in solving the interconnected problems of the future.
As a college, when we look at some of the big problems facing us—like how to make the built environment work better for people, how to incorporate sustainability into everyday solutions, or how to elevate equity into what we build and create—it’s clear that design is an important part of developing effective solutions. Hands-on learners, innovators and problem-solvers are at home in both CMCI and ENVD, which will allow our communities to seamlessly collaborate in seeking sustainable solutions to the great challenges facing our society and the world. By adding ENVD’s majors to CMCI, we will cultivate faculty and student collaborations that encourage us to explore new areas, look at problems from a different perspective and marshal creativity in developing innovative solutions.
An advantage of the curriculum each student takes in earning the B.ENVD—which is not going away—is it offers both depth and breadth, encouraging curiosity about topics like sustainability while requiring a deep dive into their major-specific coursework. The integration will give students greater flexibility in their studies and help them graduate with a well-rounded set of professional skills in areas like communication, presentation and media literacy, without changing the important skills they develop in their upper-level courses and labs.
Graduates with CMCI or ENVD majors benefit from a larger and more diverse network of alumni. Especially for ENVD graduates, the move to CMDI allows for much greater resources that can be used to connect you with students and alumni in different fields and keep you abreast of what’s happening in the college and at the university.
Currently enrolled students will complete their degree plans with no changes. As CMDI takes further shape, curricula may be adjusted in order to provide further skills and broader perspectives to students, better equipping them for the complex, interdisciplinary problems they will engage in the workplace.
Last updated: Feb. 24; All FAQ