West Hills Community College

Growing in the ValleyA huge program of expansion and renovation is under way at West Hills Community College in California. Frank Gornick explains to Gay Sutton how the program has been developed in partnership with the local communities. Situated almost midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley, West Hills Community College District (WHCCD) serves a population of just under 200,000 people in an area of around 3,000 square miles.  For the past 10 years the district has been very aggressively expanding and revitalizing its infrastructure and buildings, to support the steady growth in enrollment that has been happening year after year for 15 years. But that program of expansion is about to accelerate, with the full backing of the local city councils and communities. ÔÇ£We work very closely with our local communities,ÔÇØ explains WHCCD chancellor Frank Gornick. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve put in motion a significant plan to become a center for lifelong activity by opening our facilities to the local citizens to help extend their lives as part of the drive toward healthier communities. We also aim to support the regionÔÇÖs economic growth. As the communities seek to attract business and industry to the area, we work closely with them in terms of training the workforce.ÔÇØA current example of this type of partnership is that power generation company Martifer is planning to construct a 640-acre solar/biothermal plant in the region. WHCCD is already in discussions to create an educational program that will satisfy their unique solar energy and biofuels training needs.WHCCD currently manages two major campuses; the older is at Coalinga in the southwest part of the region, and about 40 miles to the east is the Lemoore campus, which opened its doors to students in 2001. Both are fully accredited two-year colleges providing a wide range of vocational courses, from nursing and truck driving to welding and agriculture, specifically aimed at training young people for immediate employment by local businesses and industry. ÔÇ£We also have a service center in Firebaugh, about 75 miles north of Coalinga,ÔÇØ Gornick says. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs not a full college, but we offer a number of courses that allow students to do their first year there.ÔÇØ Meanwhile, the district also offers a wide variety of very successful online courses that not only attract students from across the US but also internationally.Things are, however, about to change radically. The facilities at Firebaugh are currently located in a renovated building that had begun life as a bowling alley and restaurant. New purpose-built facilities are scheduled to be constructed on an adjacent plot of land that WHCCD is in the process of purchasing. These will include classrooms and offices, student facilities, a bookstore, a lecture hall that will also double as community meeting rooms, a library and laboratories. For the labs, the college is pioneering a unique design that will incorporate chemistry, biology and physics labs in one location. ÔÇ£But whatÔÇÖs really exciting about this project is that weÔÇÖre going to be joining forces with the local community, which is losing its local library,ÔÇØ Gornick explains. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre going to incorporate the community library into the college library, which will make it a truly multipurpose facility.ÔÇØThe new college is also going to become the town center. ÔÇ£Because of the design and appearance of the new college facilities, the council would like to use it as the blueprint for the design of future downtown redevelopment,ÔÇØ Gornick explains. Meanwhile, once the new building is up and running, the old one is likely to be demolished and the site landscaped for college use, with the possibility of adding parking and an outdoor theater at a later date.The largest project in the series, however, will take place on the beautiful 100-acre site at Lemoore. The current college facilities occupy only about one-third of the land, and this second phase of development will expand occupation to around two-thirds. This development has also attracted considerable interest and backing from the city authorities, and each element of construction is designed to provide facilities for the college and the local community. A multi-use sports complex will double as a lecture hall, community meeting area and concert hall. Large enough to hold a number of basketball games, it will also contain a jogging track and a wellness facility for aerobics and Pilates.Alongside this, there will be an aquatic center that can be used by the college and local community, and finally a field sports area. ÔÇ£WhatÔÇÖs exciting about this is, weÔÇÖre going to be using artificial turf surfaces, which should minimize the amount of fertilizer running off into the adjacent wetlands. And of course when weÔÇÖre not using the facilities, the local soccer leagues can use them.ÔÇØ All this will hopefully be completed within the next three years.Then in about six yearsÔÇÖ time, once enrollment has reached the level to qualify for site completion funding, construction will begin on a large performing arts complex that will fill the last 25 percent of space on the site.The final piece in the overall puzzle is a series of renovation and construction projects at Coalinga College. Work is under way renovating the gymnasium and the menÔÇÖs residence hall and should be completed in the next 12 months. ÔÇ£But we have a 235-acre Farm of the Future adjacent to the college, which was given to us as a generous gift. We grow almonds and pistachios and occasionally some specialty vegetable crops. We provide a range of sophisticated agricultural training at the college, including irrigation technology and GPS/GIS tracking technology. In January or February next year weÔÇÖll be going out to bid for the construction of a brand-new agricultural complex there, and weÔÇÖre hoping the work will be completed in around 24 months.ÔÇØThe funding for all this work has been managed through the creation of three School Facilities Improvement DistrictsÔÇöone in the north, one in the east and one in the southwest, corresponding to the areas served by each of the three college locations. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve raised $11 million in the northern district for Firebaugh, $27 million for Lemoore in the east, and $12 million for Coalinga in the southwest. This will generate approximately $79 million more in matching funding from the state,ÔÇØ Gornick says, ÔÇ£and will accommodate our construction needs for the next 10 to 15 years.ÔÇ£So we have a bright future ahead of us, even though weÔÇÖre going through significant downturn in California,ÔÇØ he concludes. ÔÇ£Our plans are for continued growth, and weÔÇÖre well positioned to allow that to occur.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Dan Finn┬á