North County Satellite for SDSU Comes Step Closer

San Diego State University officials expressed confidence Friday that Gov. George Deukmejian will sign legislation that may eventually lead to a northern satellite campus for the institution.

But the governor’s office said that Deukmejian has a lot of concerns to weigh before deciding. He has not yet made up his mind, said Bob Taylor, Deukmejian’s deputy press secretary.

Taylor said the governor’s advisers had raised several issues concerning the bill by state Sen. William Craven (R-Oceanside), which would appropriate $250,000 to study the need and select a site for a satellite campus.

Although Deukmejian has said there is probably a need for a new campus in the growing northern area of the county, Taylor cautioned:

“That’s a long way from saying he will sign a bill like this.”

SDSU President Thomas Day said he hopes the governor will sign the bill so that he can get the demographic study under way. The university system board of trustees must approve the plan before he can send the proposal back to the governor, which Day hopes to do in time for Deukmejian’s budget message next year.

“I think it is essential to keep the momentum going,” said Day.

“I assume that the demographic study will show what I can see with my eyes everyday,” Day added. “It is very clear that anyone who drives through the northern part of San Diego County that there is a tremendous population explosion.”

Craven’s bill received final legislative approval Thursday with the Assembly vote of 80-0. The Senate had approved the measure May 24.

On June 4, Deukmejian said at a Sacramento press conference that he had “heard and received information to the effect that there probably is a need for another campus in north San Diego. But we first need to have a very thorough study, and we would support that.”

That was the governor’s first and only public statement regarding a new satellite campus.

But some of the governor’s advisers have questioned the wisdom of a new four-year campus, which might someday become independent of the existing university, and whether other high-growth areas of the state have similar needs.

Taylor said that Deukmejian will consider the SDSU bill along with “a variety of education bills that are coming to him that have a significant price tag.”

“Before the governor takes any position, he will review the overall impact and the recommendations of his educational advisers,” Taylor added.