A Leap Ahead for CSUCI

Like the sleek dolphin they have adopted as their mascot, organizers of Cal State Channel Islands will try this week to make an energetic leap that would bring opening day for Ventura County’s first four-year public university a full two years closer than the current timetable.

On Tuesday they will ask Cal State University trustees to immediately designate the former Camarillo State Hospital grounds as the 23rd campus in the CSU system, asking state lawmakers for an annual operating budget of $13 million to hire staff and develop academic programs.

That would bypass what had been envisioned as an intermediate stage as the Ventura campus of Cal State Northridge, which would eventually grow, financially and in enrollment, until it could stand on its own. Planners did not expect that to occur until 2004. But under the plan to be presented this week, the new campus could welcome its first CSUCI students as early as August 2002.

Credit for this momentum goes to community support for the university, which has been building for 30 years. The enthusiasm and leadership of state Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo) has been crucial. Now, with California’s economy booming, with supportive Democrats as governor and secretary of education’s office, and with a development plan designed to generate the hundreds of millions of dollars it will take to fund the university over the next 25 years, the time is right to step up the pace.

“What I think has happened is that a lot of pieces have fallen into place faster than we anticipated,” says CSUCI President Handel Evans. “There’s still a long way to go and a lot of planning needs to take place. But this is a significant step in the process.”

The next significant step--like so many tricky ones--comes with a dollar sign. Trustees must persuade lawmakers to find $13 million a year in the budget to permanently establish an operating fund for the new campus.

After 30 years of working and waiting and too many dead ends, Ventura County is more than ready for this university. Trimming two years off the phase-in process is a goal well worth pursuing. California is enjoying a wave of economic progress and renewed zeal for education at all levels. CSUCI should do all it can to catch that wave and ride.