Students Return to Old Friends and Long Lines at Local Colleges

Opening day at Cal Lutheran University found members of the freshman class engaged in a new school tradition: repainting the giant CLU letters that loom over the campus in the Thousand Oaks hills.

At the Ventura campus of Cal State Northridge on Monday, students sized up the college’s new classrooms, parking lot, bookstore and student lounge.

Students at both schools found old friends and long lines as they prepared for their first week of classes on Monday.

The Thousand Oaks college welcomed 255 freshman and transfer students, up slightly from last year’s count. Total enrollment should be about the same as last year’s--1,700 undergraduate and 1,028 graduate students. But more students will be living in dorms this year.

Freshman Jeannie Miller, 18, came from Cambria to stand at the end of a long, slow registration line before settling into her new routine as a college student.

Miller’s parents had already left for home. Saying goodby had been tough. “It was emotional,” she said. Still, she had no regrets about choosing a school away from home.

“I’d lived in Cambria since I was 2, so I really needed to leave,” Miller said. She had plenty of errands left to do--check on switching her Spanish class, look into getting a library card, check the mailbox to see if anything had arrived. She was eager for the school year to begin.

“I’m ready to get in the groove of things,” she said.

Enrollment was up, as well, at the Ventura CSUN campus, a welcome sign at the newly expanded school. Officials there said enrollment tallies through last Friday exceeded last year’s 1,400 by 10%, with more expected during late registration this week. Enrollment also was up at the college’s main campus in Northridge, with 600 more students than last year, for a total of 23,991.

“It’s the trend at the Ventura campus for the enrollment to increase, but we’re bucking the state trend of declining enrollment,” said Ventura campus Director Joyce Kennedy. “People think of us as a small, off-campus center, but we’re really the size of a small liberal-arts college now.”

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Nearly doubling in size to 30,000 square feet, the Ventura campus has six more classrooms, more parking spaces, space for student government and student affairs, a larger student lounge and more computer lab space. But the most popular, and crowded, new attraction Monday was the new bookstore on campus.

Cheryl Leslie, a Ventura resident who returned to college to pursue her teaching credential, waited for the crowd to thin out inside the new store, which is housed in a converted business office. Students used to have to buy books at a Ventura bookstore.

“It’s really convenient,” said Leslie, waving to friends passing by. “Now, if I could only get inside,” she said, gesturing toward the long line of students.

Leslie credits the Ventura satellite campus with keeping her on track for her bachelor’s degree, which she received last year after 10 years of on-and-off night classes.

“I’m tickled that this facility has been available,” Leslie said. “I don’t think I would have gotten my degree without it. I don’t see myself commuting to Northridge.”

The student body is composed of commuter enrollees seeking a state university education without the drive.

At least 28 classes have already filled up this semester, so five more are being added to the original 120-course list. Both day and evening classes are offered at the campus, which is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays. The school hopes to attract even more students in January, when it launches a master’s program in business administration.

Cheryl McDougald, 44, of Oxnard said the expansion means easier parking and more room.

“It’s still in an office building, but it seems more like a college,” she said.

Students looking for a more traditional college experience moved into the dorm rooms and registration lines of Cal Lutheran this week.

After painting the CLU letters in the morning, many freshmen spent the afternoon at Zuma Beach north of Malibu--one last afternoon of relaxation and bonding before their first classes today.

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Sophomore roommates Lori Johnson and Kristy Marks thought of hitting the beach after making it through the registration line.

“But we ran out of time,” Johnson said. “Too hot. Too lazy.”

Like many Cal Lutheran students, Johnson picked the school for its small size, a perfect fit for her after growing up in the small town of Mariposa near Yosemite National Park.

Although Johnson was glad to see her friends from last year, saying goodby to summer and hello to classes is a different story.

“I’m happy to see these guys,” she said, pointing to Marks. “But I’m not happy to be back.”

Times correspondent Stephanie Brommer contributed to this story.