This fall marks one year since the opening of the Make It Center (MIC) at ACC Highland. Since it opened to the public in September 2023, nearly 10,000 unique visitors have walked through the doors of the first-of-its-kind center.

“It’s been an exhilarating experience. We’ve taken off faster and on a larger scale than we ever expected in year one thanks to our incredible partnerships. By connecting with mission-aligned partners, we’re creating a powerful synergy that benefits everyone — allowing us to make a meaningful impact in our community,” says Dr. Janelle Green, Make It Center director.

Green has been at the helm, designing, planning, and staffing the Center from its inception. The MIC team currently comprises 18 staff members — 11 full time and 7 hourly. 

The First Year

The Center, born out of a partnership with the Make It Movement, aims to inspire anyone from middle school to middle-aged to consider college on the path to a future career. This is done through hands-on career exploration at the 10,000-square-foot Center. 

“It’s hard to truly describe the Make It Center. You can talk about what it offers, but it’s something you have to experience firsthand,” says Green. “The most exciting part is watching people’s reactions when they step inside and engage with the team and the various experiences. It’s like a catalyst for wonder — people are filled with a sense of ‘wow!’ — and it’s rewarding to see that spark in everyone, from students to adults.” 

The MIC invites the community to explore the space through events, tours, field trips, summer camps, press conferences, and meetings. Groups from nearly every Central Texas school district, various chambers of commerce, community organizations such as Boys & Girls Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters, industry partners such as Samsung and Tesla, other higher education institutions, and special guests such as U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Dr. Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, visited the Center in its first year.

The Center collaborates internally with academic areas and departments collegewide and externally with community and business partners. Together, the groups create programs and experiences that can connect students with various career pathways — jobs that are well-paying and in high demand in our community.

Embracing Change

Over the past year, Green has learned the importance of embracing change as things evolve, noting that much of what the Center does today has been shaped by the feedback of its visitors.

“That’s the nature of an innovative project that’s new to the college and new to the community. You have to be patient as it develops, learn from the process, and adapt to meet emerging needs. We started with a vision of what our community needed based on labor market data and our own research, but as people began visiting, we listened to their feedback. We’ve learned to adjust, even if it means veering from our original plan, to better serve the real needs of our community,” says Green.

Green says that one thing she has learned over the past year is to be comfortable as things evolve, and that a lot of what the Center is doing now has been informed by the requests of its guests. 

Some of the experiences that were added since the Center’s opening in response to feedback include:

  • Architectural & Engineering Computer Aided Design (A&E CAD) showcase
  • Health Sciences X-ray experience
  • Signature Forge experiences

The Forge experiences provide a fun and unique approach to introduce potential students to various career pathways through hands-on projects. New experiences include F1 Frenzy, Food Truck Throwdown, Legolympics, and Beyond City Limits to highlight careers in advanced manufacturing, entrepreneurship & marketing, design thinking & engineering, and A&E CAD, respectively. This fall, the MIC will add a new Sketch & Etch semiconductor experience after discussions with Samsung.

The Importance of Partnerships

“Internal partnerships are essential. We couldn’t do what we’re doing or offer the depth of our programs without collaboration across the college. This includes various instructional units connected to our experiences. Being at the Highland Campus, many of our key partners are based here — Manufacturing and the IMPACT Lab, Culinary Arts, Health Sciences, and Biosciences/Biotechnology. We also collaborate with College and High School Relations, the Welcome Center, Student Affairs, Student Care Centers, Student Life, Career Services, and the Recruitment and Enrollment team. It’s truly a collective effort, creating a dynamic experience for every guest who walks through our doors,” says Green.

Green highlights that these collegewide collaborations create a ripple effect, boosting visibility and engagement for department partners. In the 2023-24 academic year, the MIC served nearly 3,000 students through field trip experiences. Each field trip not only introduced students to the MIC and career exploration opportunities but also connected them with an academic or student affairs partner within the college. 

“This plays a vital role in fostering a college-going culture and building a pipeline of prospective ACC students who are developing relationships, trust, and a sense of comfort with the institution,” says Green.

External partners involved in the programming range from the Austin Regional Manufacturing Association and Circuit of the Americas to Samsung and VIA 313.

In addition to bringing in more traffic, the Center is also bringing in dollars. As of June 27, the MIC has generated revenue totaling $61,043 to support operational costs and has raised $15,000 in gift funds. The MIC has also received in-kind donations from local businesses in the form of donated or deeply discounted lunches for field trips and camps.

What’s Next

The MIC is now working to kick off its fall 2024 programs and events. It expects to begin hosting field trips again by mid-September.

Additionally, the team is planning programming during the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). This will be in partnership with local school districts, COTA, and Mission 44, a nonprofit founded by F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

The Center is also working on creating more intentional opportunities to help undecided ACC students explore educational and career paths.

“We’re really just getting started — there’s so much potential in our team and in this space,” says Green. “We launched with an exceptional experience; however, we also recognize the areas we want to enhance and the elements we still want to bring together. We’re only going to get better from here.”

To learn more, visit the Make It Center website.