Questions and Answers

This year the College of the Canyons Foundation is launching a capital campaign to raise $10 million to build a university center for the Santa Clarita Valley, which will reside on the COC campus.

Q. Why can’t College of the Canyons just become a university?
A. The mission of College of the Canyons is to serve the needs of the Santa Clarita Valley for higher education and training, but by law the college offers lower-division work for transfer, associate degrees and workforce training, among other things. The college cannot offer upper-division work for bachelor’s degrees and graduate-level work.

Q. Is the university center project to be funded by both the bond initiative and the capital campaign?
A. Yes, the building and infrastructure will be funded through the COC Foundation’s major gifts capital campaign, and the bond measure that was passed in November 2001 will fund technology maintenance and future expansion only. In addition, the college is pursuing several funding mechanisms for the university center as well as for the build-out of the campus.

Q. Can developer fees be used for the university center as they are for schools?
A. No, developer fees support K-12 educational facilities. However, local developers and other donors will be asked to participate in the campaign by providing private support for the university center.

Q. Will donors to the capital campaign know exactly how their money will be used?
A. Yes, all of the capital campaign funds will be used to construct the building that will hold the University Center. The building’s specifications will be available in the campaign materials.

Q. How will you decide which majors will be offered?
A. Majors will be determined several ways. The college is asking for input from local businesses about the majors they need for their employees to be prepared for the workforce. The college also is looking at the majors our students are taking for their lower division work, so students can transfer into upper-division university classes in their chosen fields. The universities will also determine what majors they want to offer based on their market research.

Q. Where will the instructors come from to teach in the university center?
A. The instructors will work for each individual university. The universities may bring in their own faculty, as well as hire faculty from our community and from our college faculty. Each university will manage its own faculty.

Q. Will the university partners pay a fee to offer classes in the university center?
A. Yes, the classroom and shared spaces will be leased to each university partner. The fees will cover operating costs so the center can be self-supporting.

Q. Who will "own" the university center—the partners or COC?
A. The university center will belong to the Santa Clarita Community College District, your community college.