New Horizons for Santiago Canyon College

When Santiago Canyon College President Mark Rocha looks out the window of his second-floor office, his view is of the empty 12 acres that will lead to the transformation of the east Orange campus.

Next comes $100 million of construction, expected to be completed in 2007.

Down will come the 10 temporary bungalows that have served as classrooms, and in their place will go 243,000 square feet of buildings for science and technology, business, arts and humanities, science and engineering, administration and a library.

And on the undeveloped 12 acres will go the sports center--a soccer field, two baseball diamonds, a gym and a pool.

The land, donated by the Irvine Co., is the final addition to the campus, which will grow to 64 acres and allow the student body to double in size in the next seven years, from its current 8,300 to 17,000.

For the moment, though, much of Rocha’s energies are not taken up by thoughts of academics or intercollegiate sports or even more students for his two-year college.

“I’m a construction manager,” Rocha joked during a recent tour of the campus--a place still wild enough that hawks can be seen swooping down to grab rabbit for lunch.

Plans call for Santiago Canyon College to become an integral part of east Orange rather than just a place for students.

The city of Orange, for example, will pay for the lights for the soccer field and then use the facilities for its youth soccer programs. “We provide the field, they provide the lights,” Rocha said.

And college officials are considering expanding the pool into an aquatics center. “There’s not a first-class one in this part of Orange County,” Rocha said.

Besides the sports facilities, Rocha said, the college hopes the campus becomes something of an east Orange town center.

“Unlike downtown Orange, there’s no hub in this section of town,” Rocha said.

He envisions people coming to the college on Saturdays to see films not shown in the local multiplex, while other members of the community take dance or dog obedience classes or go to a baseball game and then hang out at the bookstore and have a cup of coffee.

“We really believe if we build it, they will come,” the president said.

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Orange Mayor Joanne Coontz likes the idea of integrating the college with the neighborhood. “It isn’t just an enclave,” she said. “It becomes a community-based college.”

Santiago Canyon had been a satellite campus of Santa Ana College for years before it became a college in its own right in 1997. Although growth of about 6% a year is projected, the percentage increase of students was twice that this year.

“It’s a happy problem to have,” said Rocha, who came to the college in August from Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

Rocha, 47, is no stranger to Orange County, having received a master’s degree in English from Cal State Fullerton. He received his doctorate from USC.

Much of the growth will come when the Irvine Co. completes its Santiago Hills II project of 1,746 houses, apartments and condominiums. Another boost is coming from students commuting from Riverside County.

Santiago Canyon, like other community colleges, has a mixed mission. Not only is it supposed to prepare students to transfer to four-year schools, it must also provide professional training classes and courses of interest to the community.

Rocha said the school is discussing with nearby Chapman University ties between the film and television programs.

“We see ourselves overall as good-neighbor partners with Chapman,” he said.

At one time, the college had options to buy not only the 12-acre plot from the Irvine Co. but also an additional 25 acres near Jamboree Boulevard and Chapman Avenue. At about $1 million an acre, the price was unaffordable.

“Long story short, we don’t even have the money to buy 12 acres of prime land,” Rocha said.

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Now that Irvine has donated the smaller parcel and the 25 acres are out of the picture, the college can move forward to obtain most of the money needed for construction from the state.

The college will try to raise $7 million to $10 million of the construction funds itself.

Its fund-raising campaign is beginning with the selling of bricks, an oft-used tactic.

For $175, a donor can pick a name to be etched onto the brick and laid in the central plaza.

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College Expansion

Santiago Canyon College in Orange expects to double the size of its student body to 17,000 in the next seven years. To make room for them, the two-year college will undertake $100 million in construction, with most of its athletic facilities being built on a 12-acre parcel the Irvine Co. has donated.