The Design and Construction Department has come through with some wonderfully rendered designs of the Bear CLAW. This design was approved this morning, and while the main counter and glass partition will probably take a little longer to be installed, everything could be ready by September 1.
Check out some of the other views of the space. Seeing it in 3 dimensions certainly makes all the ideas coalesce.
This is a long post, but in the past few weeks a lot of work has been done on the Learning Commons and the Bear CLAW. Given how soon the summer will be over, this is excellent news!
Dr. Darabi has given the first Learning Commons / CLAW presentation at SOAR (the new student orientation), and the response has been excellent – Continue reading
As of Monday, June 1, the Writing Center is in the Library! There’s not much in the way of furniture for it, and it won’t start serving students until the 10th, but the move has been made.
This means that the first part of the Bear CLAW is in place. As the summer progresses, expect to start seeing furniture and other services move in as well.
To get the word out about the CLAW, we need to start considering how we can let students know about the services offered. This goes for both incoming students (who should be the easiest to reach) through commuting graduate assistants. Below are the various means we’ve considered: Continue reading
Within the Student Advisory Committee, there has been a strong contingent of people focused on branding the Learning Commons with a name and visual identity that will be recognizable and interesting to students while still emphasizing the Commons’ purpose as a centralized place for services. Of the nearly two dozen suggested names, Bear Hub, Bear Central, and Bear Commons were given serious serious consideration. Continue reading
Herman Miller, a leading provider of office furniture in the United States, gave a presentation on what was possible in regards to furniture, lighting, and color in a learning commons. Some of their more interesting ideas involved creating adaptable spaces to suit individuals’ ideal study environment. This included moveable “sails” that could enclose an area and desks with adjustable heights. In addition to that, they presented desks with somewhat-flowery canopies above them, to give the space a more three dimensional feel.
Another contingent of people on the various Learning Common’s committees had an opportunity to visit MU’s Learning Commons. Again, there’s doesn’t have the services integrated yet, but they’re planning to incorporate those elements in the near future. Continue reading
Some of the committee members were fortunate enough to go to UMKC where they have built a Learning Commons of their own, although they call it an Information Commons. The primary difference between theirs and the one we’re planning (aside from size) is that they are just now starting to integrate all of the services we plan to integrate from the beginning. Below, you’ll see some of the pictures that were taken during the trip.
The Student Advisory Subcommittee has done some preliminary outlining of the duties of the students who would be employed in the Learning Commons. Here’s what they have outlined:
To work with the Learning Commons* partners to create outstanding learning spaces, services and resources.
Services to be integrated:
Not all these services may be physically housed at the Commons, but could be integrated virtually.