CMU joins Adobe Creative Campus program
Central Michigan University has become one of the first universities in Michigan to be a part of the Adobe Creative Campus program.
In the past, students had access to Adobe applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator for free on school computers. The creative campus program allows students to have full access to Adobe products on their own computers and phones at home.
Dean Emeritus of the College of the Arts and Media Janet Hethorn is the Adobe Creative Campus liaison. She said the goal of the program is to give students the resources and the skills to become more digitally literate with practical media.
"I would love for our students to become familiar and fluent in a digital language in a way that helps them," Hethorn said.
Plans to integrate Adobe creative campus with CMU began in the Fall 2019 semester before the school prepared to transition to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an Oct. 18 press release, CMU's participation is supported through an award from the president and provost's Fund for Program Innovation and Excellence, a program launched in October 2019.
Faculty have control over what applications to apply to their classroom and the training to use them properly. Students will have access to all Adobe applications.
Adobe has created and released videos, tutorials, keynote speakers and other training resources during the world-wide Adobe MAX conference. To help students become acquainted with the new program, CMU has launched a webpage that provides these same training resources for using the creative campus.
In addition to digital training resources, the Charles V. Park Library is planning to open a creative lounge, a space in the library where students will have access to computers, recording equipment and staff trained in Adobe applications.
"Students can come in and have a space that's comfortable to work with the tools and have access to equipment." Dean of Libraries Kathy Irwin said.
The creative space lounge is still in the planning phase of production and will become available to students in the Fall 2021 semester.
The University of Michigan is the only other institution in the state that has joined the program as of Nov. 10.
To start using the creative campus program, visit Adobe's website.
