CSU Site to Host Its First Academic Symposium

It may not yet be a full-fledged university, but the emerging Cal State Channel Islands campus is already set to host its first academic symposium.

Over the next three days, hundreds of members of the California Geographic Society will find their way to the facility.

It is the first time the organization, the oldest group in California dedicated to promoting geographic education, has held its annual conference in Ventura County.

As many as 300 members of the group are expected to attend the symposium, which starts today and will include field trips to the Channel Islands and the Ojai Valley, as well as a tour of some of the county’s agricultural operations.

“It’s a coming-out party for the university and a chance for us to explore this brand new campus,” said society President Stephen Cunha, a professor of geography at Humboldt State University.

“We’re excited to be the first to hold a major academic conference there,” he added. “That’s what we do, we plow new ground.”

For university officials, the conference represents the first of what they hope is a long line of academic symposiums at the new campus under development at the old Camarillo State Hospital complex.

In addition to creating a four-year college to meet the educational needs of area residents, university planners intend to develop an institution that will serve as a beacon for a range of academic endeavors.

“I think that even in our beginning stages, this is a wonderful example of what this university can bring to the area and to the profession of teaching and research that these ladies and gentlemen embody,” said Handel Evans, president of the Channel Islands campus.

The 400-member California Geographic Society is a mix of educators, researchers and private sector geographers. The 53rd annual conference will include study sessions on a variety of topics, including public planning and policy issues.

And because of the novelty of the new campus, society members say they hope to have the largest conference attendance ever.

“Everyone is very excited about coming down to the new campus,” said Linda O’Hirok, a Thousand Oaks resident and professor of geography at Cal State Los Angeles. “It’s history in the making and when we’re talking about history, geographers are in heaven.”