Trust Awards Grant to Cal State Campus

Ventura County’s budding Cal State University campus has been given $10,000 to survey the region’s agricultural community and craft a curriculum to meet the educational needs of farming-related industries.

Awarded by the Thelma Hansen Trust, the grant will enable Cal State University Channel Islands to take an in-depth look at agriculture in Ventura and southern Santa Barbara counties and develop a field of study that includes course work, seminars and certificate programs.

“The receipt of this grant is an exciting example of the progress that we are making toward building a university that reflects the uniqueness of this region,” said Handel Evans, president of the developing university.

The Hansen Trust was established in 1993 as an endowment to benefit and maintain agricultural resources in Ventura County through research and education.

Agriculture is Ventura County’s largest industry, yet university-level courses for college credit are relatively limited. By providing a custom-designed curriculum, Cal State officials said, growers will have the ability to keep their industry vibrant and growing.

The local Cal State campus is scheduled to open by January 1999 on the grounds of the now-shuttered Camarillo State Hospital.

In September, the 24-member Cal State governing board agreed to take control of the state hospital property and convert it into the new home for the Ventura campus of Cal State Northridge.

Under that plan, the satellite campus will remain an extension of the Northridge university until it attracts enough students and funding to support itself and become the 23rd campus in the Cal State University system.