College of Alameda Receives $250,000 Makerspace Grant

Alameda, CA (August 11, 2017) – The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has awarded College of Alameda $250,000 to create an inclusive makerspace community. The grant will fund curriculum development and internships to develop students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. Twenty-four colleges will receive funding to participate in the California Community Colleges (CCC) Maker Initiative. These grants are renewable for a second year and have been awarded through a competitive process.

California Community Colleges are building makerspaces so that students, faculty, staff, and others with shared interests may collaborate across the state, learning to use tools, making class projects, and developing their knowledge through exploration and hands-on experiences, according to Carol Pepper-Kittredge, CCC Maker statewide project manager.

“Makerspace community members collaborate and teach other, enabling students, faculty, and business owners to interact in ways not possible in the classroom, enriching students’ education,” said Pepper-Kittredge. “Faculty members are discovering how making, entrepreneurship, and projects for social good can be incorporated into their teaching. Students benefit from freely exploring their interests while learning to use laser cutters, art supplies, electronics labs, sewing machines, milling machines, and many other creative tools.”

For its makerspace proposal College of Alameda identified ecosystem partners in internal and external communities, engaged in a makerspace planning process, assessed students’ interests, and involved faculty in the CCC Maker Initiative concept.

“As a result of the CCC Maker Grant, our college will develop an innovative education model that will better prepare our students for careers in our regional economy and beyond,” said College of Alameda President Timothy Karas, Ph.D. “Faculty will develop curriculum focusing on twenty-first century job skills development, students will be placed in interesting internships, and we will benefit from learning from other colleges through a statewide network of college makerspaces,” said Dr. Karas.

The vision of the statewide initiative is to encourage innovation in education and prepare California Community College students for success in STEM/STEAM (science, technology, engineering, and math/science technology engineering, art, and math) careers that demand twenty-first century skills, explains Pepper-Kittredge. “Through the CCC Maker initiative, colleges engage with businesses in new ways, students are inspired by learning by doing, career skills are incorporated into education, students develop interests in emerging technologies, and community colleges contribute to a thriving statewide economy,” said Pepper-Kittredge.

For more information about College of Alameda’s makerspace initiative, please contact Interim Dean of Instruction Lilia Celhay, LCelhay@peralta.edu, (510) 682-0352.

About College of Alameda

College of Alameda is a two-year community college located at 555 Ralph Appezzato Memorial Pkwy, Alameda, California. The college has been inspiring students to achieve academic success since 1968 and is part of the Peralta Community College District.

About the California Community College (CCC) Maker initiative

The CCC Maker is a California Community Colleges initiative under Doing What MATTERS for Jobs and the Economy, http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu. The initiative will build a community of college makerspaces that welcome non-traditional students, support faculty in embedding making into instruction and offering adaptive curriculum, and partner with businesses to produce innovation-ready graduates inspired to contribute to the creative economy. Learn more about CCC Maker at http://cccmaker.com/. The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation composed of 72 districts and 114 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.

The California community colleges that have been awarded grant money are:

Allan Hancock College

American River College

Butte College

Cabrillo College

Chaffey College

City College of San Francisco

College of Alameda

College of San Mateo

College of the Canyons

Folsom Lake College

Foothill College

Glendale College

Golden West College

Hartnell College

Laney College

Moorpark College

Moreno Valley College

Mt. San Antonio College

Mt. San Jacinto College

Orange Coast College

Sacramento City College

San Bernardino Valley College

Sierra College

Woodland Community College

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