Smart Money for CSUN

Plans to develop Cal State Northridge’s North Campus got a big boost earlier this month when a biotech company agreed to build a research and office park on the land. The project is just the kind of smart development cash-strapped public colleges ought to encourage to close holes in their budgets and expose students to the real-world applications of classroom lessons.

It’s the sort of joint effort we hope to see often as CSUN’s Ventura County branch takes root in its new home at the former Camarillo State Hospital campus and begins to evolve into Cal State Channel Islands.

We welcome State Sen. Jack O’Connell’s plan to sponsor legislation to create a redevelopment-style agency to manage the financial aspects of the new campus. Universities today must pay their own way to a much greater extent than in days gone by, and the creators of Cal State Channel Islands are pursuing an array of partnerships and entrepreneurial ventures to bring this long-awaited dream to life.

Yet we call attention to the North Campus biotech deal because it serves the school’s academic needs as well as its financial ones. Earlier plans for that location would have been mere moneymakers without much direct role in education. We hope Cal State Channel Islands will work hard to meet both goals.

The biotech complex proposed by Sylmar businessman Alfred Mann will occupy roughly half of the 65-acre North Campus with a complex to include office, research and manufacturing facilities expected to generate as much as $800,000 each year for the university. Plus CSUN students will be eligible for internships and work-study jobs as well as the opportunity to compete for permanent positions after graduation.

From community colleges to the University of California, public schools are asked to do more with less. Their choice: Cut programs or find new ways to pay for them. Obviously, the latter course makes the most long-term sense.

Like CSUN, many campuses have available land that can be used for lucrative private development. But that development must always relate to the mission of public education. Yes, a shopping mall or private apartment complex can provide a comfortable cash flow for schools to spend on everything from extra classes to building repair. Yet is that the best use for public land dedicated to educational use? As CSUN has shown, lucrative development can dovetail with educational responsibility.

It takes a little work, but the payoff is substantial.