The CAVE : A Room with a View of Academic Success and More

Increasing students’ academic success through academic engagement outside the classroom is a challenge faced by colleges and universities. As a commuter school serving Appalachian students in Virginia, Blue Ridge Community College struggled to foster face-to-face interactions between students and faculty members outside of class. In response to this problem, a group of students, faculty members, staff, and administrators worked together to create a welcoming room in which students and college employees alike would want to linger. Funded by the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation and a Chancellor’s Innovation Fund grant, the colorful, comfortable, and technologically advanced Center for Academic Vision and Excellence (The CAVE) opened in February 2012. Since then, thousands of students have visited The CAVE and it has evolved into a vibrant social setting that meets a variety of student needs. As students, faculty, and staff have interacted in The CAVE, they have formed new student clubs, offered special seminars, exhibited works of art, and even raced robots in the room