For the last five years, Southwestern College has been transforming the Chula Vista campus—with construction hitting turbo mode the last two years.
If you have driven past the Chula Vista campus lately, you will see the college is finally realizing the potential of the corner lot that remained vacant for nearly 50 years. A fitness center with three pools and gymnasium opened to students and the community in 2018. A sister building—a new Performing Arts Center—will open to students and the community in fall 2020. Together these buildings invite our community to come onto campus to take classes, enjoy recreational activities and eventually watch some of the best theater South County has to offer.
Residents don’t have to wait until next fall, however, to see some great entertainment. Our performing arts students finish out the semester with community performances: the Winter Concert Band performs tonight (Dec. 6), the Winter Choral Concert is on Sunday and the Winter Symphony Concert is Tuesday, Dec. 10. Our Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society also holds a United event today to bring together students and community members for games and creating the power of connection. For more information, visit www.swccd.edu/events.
Southwestern College’s construction is far from over. We will be opening a new College Police Building in January, and our students, faculty and staff are currently planning a new student center to house all clubs, a new cafeteria and bookstore. Our construction team recently unveiled the plans for building new facilities for our Landscape and Nursery Technology (LNT) Program. Nestled in the South Bay Botanic Garden on the Chula Vista campus, the LNT program will incorporate the natural beauty of the garden for this hands-on learning experience.
Our Otay Mesa campus will break ground next year for a new Public Safety Training Center that will give our police, fire, EMT and paramedic students different structures in which to conduct a number of emergency scenarios. The center will also house a live fire simulator—the only such facility on a community college campus in the county. The Otay Mesa campus will also be the new home of our automotive technology program. We’ll be moving the program from its current location in the center of the Chula Vista campus to make room for some much-needed parking. Moving the program also allows us to upgrade the facilities for the new breed of electric vehicles.
Perhaps one of the most exciting developments coming to Southwestern College will be a new University Center. For years the number of students earning associate degrees from Southwestern College has been increasing. Last year, we awarded 1,001 associate degrees, plus another 873 Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADT). With an ADT, our graduates are guaranteed a spot in the California State University system. Unfortunately, because San Diego State University doesn’t have room for all of our ADT graduates, many students must make the choice to move to another part of the state to pursue their bachelor’s degree. For a great majority of our students, that simply is not an option.
As a community, we must provide as many paths to a four-year degree as possible. An additional criterion for me is that the four-year degree must be affordable. The last thing we want is for students to rack up thousands of dollars of loan debt to pursue their degrees.
That’s why we are excited to announce a new partnership with San Diego State University to bring an SDSU microsite to Southwestern College. Along the south end of the Chula Vista campus, we have torn down the 300 buildings to make room for the University Center and an additional instructional building.
While we plan and build the University Center, SDSU will conduct classes beginning in fall 2020 in three majors—communications, business and criminal justice. Each degree will begin with a 30-student cohort.
San Diego State University will join our current university partner—Point Loma Nazarene University, which currently offers bachelor’s degrees in business management, child development, criminal justice and nursing.
This effort is a significant investment in our students. It is well worth it. For the economic expansion of our community, we must train and retain the human capital the South County has created and nurtured.
Dr. Kindred Murillo is Superintendent/President Southwestern College.
