Students at the Center of Blackhawk Future

The College celebrated the grand re-opening of the Student Success Center with a Ribbon Cutting on Monday, Oct. 21. The newly renovated Student Success Center brings many areas together to better support students in one central location. Areas included in the renovation are library services, tutoring, writing and math labs, testing, and faculty support.

“We have consolidated many of our support services into our Student Success Center to give students more access to academic support. We often call this our learning commons, because this is where people come to learn. We're in the business of learning and we all have that in common,” said Lynn Neitzel, Director of Teaching and Learning at Blackhawk.

The Center features both common and quiet areas for study and collaboration. Students and faculty can work together in the open collaborative areas or find quiet in one of six study rooms. The open design concept allows students to easily identify and interact with others in the college community. There are also areas for tutoring and testing as well as several banks of computers available for student use.

In the consolidation and renovation, the library went from a large space at the back of campus to just a few bookshelves in the Student Success Center. A vast majority of Blackhawk students access their information digitally. They do so through the on-campus library as well as many library systems and databases across the state and nation. More online library and research services are available to help students develop and improve their information and digital literacy skills for success in the workplace.

The Student Success Center is also home to the Center for Innovation, Teaching, and Learning (CITL). There are four instructional designers on staff who help Blackhawk teachers stay at the forefront of innovative practices in teaching and learning. Lynn continued, “We believe our students deserve the best, and we support our teachers so they can be the best. We want our students to see their instructors and other staff learning right along with them in our learning commons.”

The Student Success Center is just one of many changes that Blackhawk plans to better support students. Other upcoming projects include:

• University Center opened in Fall 2019 with plans to expand partnerships with 4-year colleges and universities
• Student Union (Winter 2019)
• Renovation of the Student Services area (Summer 2020)

Blackhawk is committed to providing flexible education in a supportive environment. By bringing these areas to the front of campus, it will be easier for students to access the academic support they need to succeed at Blackhawk.