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.

Obviously, there is much to be excited about this  September!

Dr. Darabi has given the first Learning Commons / CLAW presentation at SOAR (the new student orientation), and the response has been excellent – both students and their parents are excited about the all of the services being offered to facilitate student success.

The Design team will have something to show the committee next week, but the plans are quickly getting to the polished stage.  They’ve been in contact with two different vendors who’ll be providing the furniture (Steel Case, and KI).  As long as everything falls into place, the furniture should be installed just before school starts.  In the unfortunate case that there is a delay in the process, Fall Break was suggested as a second time that the furniture could be installed.  On the positive side, it looks like all of this will be done on or under budget!

In news directly related to the tutoring services that will be provided at the CLAW, we can finally announce that we will be getting Tutortrac!  Tutortrac is software that will be used in the CLAW to track reservations and tutoring times.  But beyond that it allows students to register on-line for appointments and even allows for some on-line tutoring (with white boards to better assist math instruction).  And from the administrative side, it will help ensure that we have the tutors available for the need (and no extra tutors just sitting around).  It’s a win-win for everyone.

One of the next major concerns for the Learning Commons’ various committees is building a cadre of excellent tutors.  Since they are at the core of this venture, it is of the utmost importance that they are some of the best that Missouri State has to offer.  If you’re reading this and know of some students that fit the bill, keep them in mind.  Once I know more information about who they must contact, I will post it here.

Last week, the Service Integration Committee met and sketched out the basics of how each various service will interact with the others so that there is open communication and a solid structure to best guide students.  This included the hours that the various portions would be open and how many separate desks would actually be present.

The last main point that we discussed involved publicity.  While the committee is confident that the popularity of the learning commons will be assured through word-of-mouth, getting students there initially is highly important.  Some of our intentions are this point are to hand out information at SOAR, get a table for the new student convocation, have a table in the student union and hand out bear claws during the first week of school, give out some kind of publicity (magnets?) for students in the Residence Halls, and have the Learning Commons be one of the focuses of the Library’s annual New Student Pizza Party.  Additionally, a formal Learning Commons website is being constructed and should be up in the coming weeks. And finally, Michael Frizell has produced bookmarks to hand out to new students.  Given their popularity in the past, they should be quite popular:

They use shorter walls to divide the space but maintain an open, airy feel.

Their architectural choices make the space aesthetically interesting and unique.

The use of glass for walls allows light to come in, but still distinguishes the space.

They also have multiple spaces designated for group study.

The highlighted section is where the Learning Commons will be located.