PITTSBURGH-The Community College of Allegheny County is pleased
to announce that the college has received a 2018 Innovation of the
Year award from the League for Innovation in the Community College.
The awards were granted to 46 community colleges across the nation
for outstanding innovations that serve community college students.
CCAC received the award for the college's Milton Hall Rotunda
project, submitted under the title: Using Technology
and Collaboration to Enhance Student Space and Student
Engagement.
The project description, in part,
reads: The Phi Theta Kappa
(PTK) student leaders from the Allegheny Campus engaged the campus
leadership in an innovative eight-month planning and renovation
project aimed at increasing student engagement. What initially
started out as a capstone project morphed into an entrepreneurial
and collaborative initiative that conceptualized and ultimately
transformed an outdated, desolate space into a welcoming and
high-tech space (that) is not only a gathering space for our
students, but that now has the capacity to be a central information
hub for students as well as an additional transactional hub with
its kiosks.
The redesigned Milton Hall Rotunda features video walls,
interactive kiosks and digital wayfinding and informational
signage. The displays are consistently updated with information
about how students can become more engaged, informed and prepared
regarding their program of study and CCAC support services as well
as internship, transfer and career information. The MyCCAC kiosks
enable students to log into the CCAC portal and register for
classes. Additionally, the rotunda received new paint on the first
three floors as well as new carpeting, furniture and flags from all
the countries of the campus' international students that line the
third floor overlook. The Student Government Organization also
played a significant role by contributing $25,000 to the project
and providing valuable advice during development.
"Phi Theta Kappa's work has provided new beginnings to
support student learning and advancement," CCAC President
Dr. Quintin Bullock said at the ribbon cutting ceremony in
November. "They've done an exceptional job in planning the work
that has taken place in Milton Hall."
The project carried out the vision of Allegheny Campus President
Dr. Evon Walters to renovate the rotunda through interactive
presentations, proposals and staunch advocacy on the part of
students. According to Walters, "A lot of field research and
benchmarking of best practices took place on how the technology
could be integrated to engage and support students by further
connecting, informing and empowering them with information about
CCAC support services, academic programs and our transfer and
career opportunities."
To learn more about the Innovation of the Year Awards and to see
this year's winners,
click here.
Photos:
Milton Hall Rotunda: The redesigned rotunda features informative
video screens and comfortable seating areas.
Milton Hall Rotunda kiosk: A student interacts with one of the
MyCCAC kiosks located in the rotunda.
CCAC and PTK leadership at rotunda ribbon-cutting ceremony:
Pictured, from the left, are CCAC Allegheny Campus President Dr.
Evon Walters; PTK chapter advisor Joy LeViere; PTK officers Surbhi
Sharma, Krista Kohr, Dylan Yee, Shailja Patel, Sahara Muhina and
George Sotiriou (far right); and CCAC President Dr. Quintin
Bullock.