It’s 3 p.m. Typical school day on the CC campus.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a student looking for a quiet, comfortable place to study or a professor trying to find a spot for an impromptu meeting, don\u2019t go to the Learning Commons in Tutt Library.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re way<\/i> too late \u2014 the place is already packed.<\/p>\n
The Learning Commons, with its enveloping leather sofas and hushed atmosphere in the intellectual hub of the campus, is the favored location for curling up to study. And if you haven\u2019t arrived by 1 p.m. or reserved a spot on one of the couches or chairs, you\u2019re out of luck.<\/p>\n
This presents a problem if you are one of the members of the team tasked with instituting the programs that will form the framework for the new Center for Immersive Learning and Engaged Teaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpace is a huge challenge. We want to initiate all these cool new programs, but we have no space to put them,\u201d said Anne Hyde, CC professor of history, director of the Crown Center for Faculty Development, and head of the aforementioned committee.<\/p>\n
Enter, the Center<\/b><\/p>\n
Creating a Center for Immersive Learning and Engaged Teaching is the linchpin of Recommendation 1 of CC\u2019s strategic plan \u2014 \u201cThe Colorado College Plan: Building on the Block.\u201d Recommendation 1 calls for providing additional support to realize the potential of the pioneering Block Plan. And to support faculty and students as they experience the full potential of the Block Plan, CC will create a center that will be a focal point for academic support.<\/p>\n
The center will bring together, under one roof, the offices of sustainability, community engagement, international programs, and academic technology, as well as the Help Desk, the Crown Faculty Center, and the Colket Student Learning Center. It also will house new resources, such as an Office for Field Study to support faculty as they design and implement field trips. The center will support undergraduate research and writing.<\/p>\n
It also will extend CC\u2019s reach by instituting in-residence programs for artists, scholars, social entrepreneurs, journalists, postdocs, and filmmakers. A staff member from the Alumni Relations Office will help faculty connect with alumni and parents who are experts in their fields so they can enlist them to engage with classes. One of the center\u2019s most important roles will be to develop a higher profile for the Block Plan by researching it and sharing the findings.<\/p>\n
Finally, CC will renovate Tutt Library to provide a physical home with more space for the new center and to prepare the library for this generation of students. The space will offer technology-equipped seminar rooms, study space, and group collaboration rooms, as well as a caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
The Pilot Projects<\/b><\/p>\n
As part of the next phase of thinking about the new center, President Jill Tiefenthaler has allocated funds this academic year to support exciting pilot projects that demonstrate how the center might enrich the college\u2019s scholarly and pedagogical life.<\/p>\n
A request for proposals from faculty members was released at the end of last semester and the first pilot projects for the center have been selected.<\/p>\n
These projects embody the intent of the center and demonstrate its potential; created within the campus community and reflective of CC\u2019s multifaceted nature, they further the scholarly work of students and faculty. Out of 14 proposals received, the committee so far has approved three projects for funding.<\/p>\n
The pilot programs selected thus far are:<\/p>\n
- \n
- $6,700 to employ CC\u2019s advanced Italian language students to add English subtitles to the film \u201cVecchia Guardia,\u201d (Old Guard) by Alessandro Blasetti. The debut of the newly subtitled film will be held on campus when the project is complete.<\/li>\n
- $3,000 to train student peer tutors in the Writing Center in oral communications. Hyde said students on campus have been asking for help developing their public speaking skills; this project will bring in professionals to train student peer tutors, who can then help train other students needing help.<\/li>\n
- $8,000 to develop a summer program in which CC education students and teachers in Colorado\u2019s San Luis Valley will collaborate to create and implement culturally appropriate curricula for students in the valley.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The pilot programs will begin in summer 2014.<\/p>\n
The Library of the Future (Is it Even Called a Library?)<\/b><\/p>\n
Having a cutting-edge academic commons at the heart of the campus is becoming increasingly important for top-tier colleges to stay competitive. Will it be called a library in the future? That remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if it will be called a library. It\u2019s not so much about books, although there will still be books, of course. It\u2019s more about help with research, databases, other resources \u2014 how to navigate the overwhelming amount of material,\u201d said Hyde. \u201cBut it will also be a place where faculty can imagine new courses and create them, where students can get help developing a research project. The center will be a place where problems are solved; where, if you come asking questions, a human will help you find answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents come to us and say, \u2018I\u2019m interested in doing X, but how do I start?\u2019 For example, with Venture Grants, we have some very entrepreneurial students who can figure it out on their own. But we ought to be making it easier for more students.\u201d<\/p>\n
A big part of the problem with developing new programs and resources to help students and faculty is where to put them. There simply is no space available.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bring these fantastic scholars and experts to campus and they have no place to go to work with students. We can\u2019t even find space to have our committee meetings! We need flexible, undedicated space where these programs, activities, and impromptu meetings can happen. We\u2019ve even joked about getting fancy yurts and putting them out on the quad for space,\u201d said Hyde.<\/p>\n
The Tutt Library Renovation<\/b><\/p>\n
Renovating any campus building, especially a library, is a serious commitment and investment of college resources. This commitment is recognized by the CC Board of Trustees. With an early budget estimate of $40-$45 million, the board has prioritized this initiative by establishing a trustee-led Strategic Project Team (SPT) that, along with President Tiefenthaler, is overseeing the overall renovation effort.<\/p>\n
One component of the SPT charge is overseeing the work of a 16-member campus-based action team of faculty, staff, and students that was appointed by President Tiefenthaler. This action team is helping to both identify the programming of the space and lay the groundwork of envisioning the collaboration between programs and flexible spaces needed to support both faculty and student work.<\/p>\n
Sandra Wong, dean of the college and head of the campus action team, said the team has gathered and reviewed descriptions and images of new or recently renovated libraries and academic commons throughout the U.S. and abroad. In mid-February, a sub-committee of the campus team, with trustee representation, interviewed four firms that specialize in programming and conceptual design. The chosen firm\/consultant will solicit input and ideas from the campus community so that the renovated space and center will serve the needs of multiple users. After the programming and conceptual design phases are complete, architectural firms will be selected to plan and undertake construction.<\/p>\n
What most excites Wong, she said, is the opportunity to incorporate state-of-the-art design ideas into the new library. \u201cWe have seen how other colleges and universities are re-conceptualizing their library space by integrating academic services and informational technology, and by creating versatile areas for individual study and reflection, group projects and problem-solving, and cross-disciplinary conversations,\u201d Wong said. \u201cIt is exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
But although Wong said CC could easily adopt or reproduce the models others have chosen, the team is committed to identifying features that are well suited to Colorado College\u2019s location, to unique ways of teaching and learning, and to the possibilities of our distinctive Block Plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been especially attentive to the use of natural light, to ample seating arrangements and furnishings, and materials that offer comfort, mobility, and choice. Whether we are talking about the storage and accessibility of collections, the availability of event spaces, exhibits, and coffee, or ceiling heights, acoustics, and ambience, we are imagining settings in which knowledge can be both shared and produced,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see the new library design facilitating the planning of field trips and field study, enabling students to find academic support in one dynamic place, and increasing the chances that people from different parts of the campus will connect. In these ways we hope the library and center will help us to celebrate and make the most of our capacity for communication, interaction, and ingenious new projects,\u201d said Wong.<\/p>\n
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