Rancho Santiago OKs Study on Office Move
The Rancho Santiago Community College District has approved a feasibility study to determine the cost of a proposal to move district offices from the Santa Ana campus to a vacant building across 17th Street.
Board member Tom Saenz, who cast the only dissenting vote, said he is “philosophically opposed” to moving the district offices because “I feel administration should be visible to students and staff.”
But Chancellor Vivian B. Blevins said moving the offices, including hers and the admissions and records departments, would free up space for more classrooms.
“We are one of the largest colleges in the state on the smallest piece of land in the state,” Blevins said at a trustees meeting. “By putting us across the street, we’re putting students first. We are in the way here.”
The majority of trustees who agreed with her pointed out that students could use the space for service clubs and additional classrooms. “We need to move the district offices out of here,” Board President Enriqueta L. Ramos said.
After the feasibility study is completed, trustees will decide whether to move administrative offices into the nearby building, formerly a department store. Should the move be approved, Blevins said, the offices would be relocated by December.
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