New things are coming to campus. You may have noticed the numerous upgrades to the lower level of the Gladys Crown Student Center. The bright sign at the bottom of the stairs glows with the words “Innovation Alley”. This is the newly developed space with four state-of-the-art learning labs. These labs include the Podcasting Lab, Media Lab, Creative Production Lab, and the Maker Lab. These spaces are primarily used for classroom purposes, but will also be available for any student to use.
Former Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kim Gaither is who has been working to get Innovation Alley up and running. She shared that the vision for Innovation Alley goes back several years, when the Johnson-Turner IDEA Center was being developed. Both of these projects were created to create more space for experiential learning. They both go hand-in-hand with having space to brainstorm and a place to turn those ideas into reality. Innovation Alley is open to so many different disciplines and is intended to foster a culture of creativity for students.
“We hope students will be able to pursue their own passion projects, whether those are in media communication, digital photos or videos, music creation and editing, graphic artistry, or businesses utilizing the new equipment in the maker’s lab.” said Kim Gaither
Students are encouraged to use the new labs in a wide range of projects. They can use them for media communication, music editing, 3D printing, and so much more. One of the most recent examples was a student show called “College Gameday,” which was filmed before a home football game. Along with other student-run projects, the Wildcat Warehouse will soon be a fully student-run business. Students will be creating and selling their own products for the school. This will allow them to have real-world business experience.
The college plans to reinvest revenue to make sure all the technology is kept up to date. So far, there is no definite plan to help prevent this issue, but it is in the process of being developed. The college was able to fund this new project with a gift from a private foundation. This foundation has helped the college before and is always excited to help create new opportunities for students.
All four spaces of Innovation Alley are open to both students and faculty. There will be a reservation system put in place in the near future. Anyone interested in using the space will need to complete training before using the equipment.
Innovation Alley is another step towards allowing students to have hands-on experience. As the space continues to grow, it allows students to bring their ideas to life. For any other questions regarding Innovation Alley, please contact Kim Gaither at kgaither@culver.edu.
