College of the Canyons, having served the Santa Clarita Valley community for 36 years, has become a vital, enduring, cultural, educational and economic force in the region. The college is proud to have modern facilities, an outstanding and enthusiastic staff, innovative programs, and advanced technological solutions. Those who are currently involved with the college and those who will enter its doors in the future will find unlimited opportunities, a chance to be innovative and entrepreneurial and to set the stage for things to come. The college has been one of the fastest growing colleges in the state for the past 16 years. In fact, it was just listed in Community College Week as the fastest growing community college in California and the eighth fastest growing community college in the nation, among those colleges with a student population greater than 10,000. The college began in 1969 with only 800 students located on the campus of Hart High School in Newhall. It now serves more than 17,000 students each term by providing high-quality academic and technical programs including 1,528 class sections, 38 certificate training programs, 55 disciplines/majors, and 34 computer labs. Seventeen intercollegiate athletic programs, nine women's sports and eight men's, provide opportunities to participate in athletics for all who are interested.

Located on a modern 153.4-acre campus, the college facilities are currently comprised of 550,000 square feet of space. As a result of aggressive planning and working with the Chancellor’s Office and legislature, we have secured a total of $81,631,000 in state building funds since 1991. A local $82.1 million bond (Measure C) was passed in 2001. Combined with two statewide bond measures approved between 2001 and 2004, Measure C provided funds for the construction of new and upgraded facilities to accommodate a projected enrollment of 21,000 students by the year 2010.

The latest buildings to be completed are a state-of-the-art, 926-seat performing arts facility and a Music Dance building. Other buildings under construction are a Science Lab & Lecture Building and a High Tech Building. A Physical Education expansion will break ground in July 2006. In addition, the district offers classes in two ACCESS sites, one in the Canyon Country library and one at the Golden Valley High School Campus. The district broke ground on a 70-acre, state approved permanent Education Center in Canyon Country in December 2005, and is currently developing the site. Also, fundraising efforts are nearing completion and will be combined with other resources to construct a 110,000-square-foot University Center on the college campus. This will allow us to expand our Interim University Center and add to the 22 bachelor’s, master’s and credential programs being offered. Groundbreaking is planned for 2007. The college also has extensive online courses, including a 100 percent online associate degree, a Sheriff’s Academy, a biomedical clean room in the Al Mann Biomedical Park, and a Manufacturing Education Center in the Valley Industrial Center.

The college has maintained its status over the years as the third largest employer in the Santa Clarita Valley. As tremendous growth has occurred in the valley since 1988, the number of employees has grown threefold. The college now employs 165 full-time faculty and 170 full-time classified staff. In support of this growth, the District has developed a comprehensive Professional Development model that includes a year-round FLEX program for faculty, an Administrative Development Program, classified development and appreciation activities, educational technology services, a Technology Center, an Associate’s Program for Adjunct Faculty, and an Institute for Teaching and Learning, as well as other opportunities for personal and professional growth for District employees.

The college plays an important role in training, retraining and educating members of the local workforce and has forged business training partnerships with 265 local companies, earning the college a reputation as being one of the most innovative, effective and responsive community colleges in California. The college has generated more than $4 million in business and training funds since 1996, including an additional $2 million to expand training for nurses and biotech/biomed workers this year. This mutually beneficial arrangement between businesses and the college fulfills the increasingly complex technological and managerial training needs of companies of all sizes in the region.

College of the Canyons has fostered enduring relationships with the community we serve, resulting in increased opportunities for the college and our partners. Nearly 1,000 internship opportunities have been made available to our students in the last two years. Our Foundation raised $2.5 million last year, and we also secured an additional $3.2 million in grant funds.

Three technology plans have been implemented at the college leading to the development of a technical support team, a Technology Center, online registration and student services, online library access, training programs, assistive technology for disabled students, a campus-wide LAN connecting over 1600 computers, 33 students labs and 1 faculty/staff lab, online classes and traditional classes with online components, and numerous other technological advancements.