Rancho Santiago Satellite Campus to Get Autonomy

The Rancho Santiago Community College District has made it official: The Orange campus will become autonomous.

The move was approved by district trustees on a 6-0 vote Monday. Trustees said that the campus, which today is a satellite of Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana, will become its own college by June 30, 1998.

A new name for the Orange college has yet to be determined. But Rancho Santiago College will be renamed Santa Ana College, the institution’s original name.

Along with autonomy, the Orange campus will get a faculty union of its own. To cut down on costs, however, a common administration will govern both colleges. Cost has yet to be determined.

Officials have gradually prepared for the separation of the two campuses for years. Master plans drafted in 1987 and 1993 outlined such proposals. Also, additional employees in financial aid and career guidance were hired last fall in anticipation of the split.

No one criticized the move at Monday’s board meeting, but critics have opposed it in the past on grounds of high cost.

However, Vice Chancellor Dean R. Strenger, who heads the Orange campus, said the separation would not be expensive.

In a report to the board, Strenger said “several important reasons” make the separation necessary.

“First, there is a very simple problem of identity,” Strenger said. “Second, there is no recognition of the multicampus structure within the state funding structure.”

He said that with two colleges, the district would be eligible for more state funding.