Makerspaces on Campus
Radford University in Radford, VA, has developed an ecosystem of MakerSpaces to
empower faculty and students create the objects of their imagination. Spaces available include:
- The Center for Innovative Teaching
and Learning (CITL) New Media Center
THE CITL represents a base of operations for
the convergence of media, design, making,
outreach, innovation, research, and
creativity-driven teaching and learning.
- The Department of Design Make
Lab
The Design Makerspace was built to
give design students an outlet to realize
creative ideas in physical form. The spaces
and equipment are used primarily by
students in interior design, fashion design,
merchandising, and design management.
- The Peery Makerspace
The Peery
Makerspace grew out of a crossdisciplinary
faculty Maker movement, and
is an anchor for the university’s Makers
living-learning community. Faculty from
the Colleges of Visual and Performing
Arts, Science and Technology, and
Business and Economics are the leaders in
this initiative.
In California, California Community College
(CCC) makerspaces are creating and
sharing a model to fuel job creation and
strengthen regional economies. With the
CCC Maker Initiative,
the goal is to prepare students for STEM/STEAM careers. California Community
Colleges are building makerspaces, faculty
are embedding making into curriculum,
and employers are providing internships.
The CCC Maker Initiative is funded by the
California Community College Chancellor’s
Office, Workforce and Economic Division
under the Doing What Matters for Jobs and
the Economy framework.
This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management October 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.