Enrollment Rises at Grossmont, Cuyamaca As New Facilities Allow More Classes

By Leonel Sanchez, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Jan. 27–EL CAJON — Grossmont and Cuyamaca college students might notice a new look at the East County campuses this year. Six buildings, which cost more than $125 million to build, are opening this year at both community colleges.

Three facilities are in use at Grossmont College in El Cajon: a $19.7 million science building and a $17.5 million digital arts and sculpture complex, made up of two buildings.

“It feels like I’m in grad school,” student Doug Lentz, 22, said of the two-story science building, which includes 11 labs for biology, chemistry and earth science.

At Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego, the first floor of a $25.1 million two-story science and technology mall opened Monday. The floor contains 10 classrooms for graphic design, computer and information science, business and business technology. Also opened in the mall is a 100-computer center for students to do homework and research assignments. The science labs on the second floor will open in a few weeks.

Later this year, Cuyamaca will open a $44.6 million, 88,590-square-foot communication arts building, which will house the campus radio station and newspaper, and a video studio. Also opening is an $18.9 million, 47,000-square-foot student center.

Enrollment is up 6 percent in the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, partly because the addition of buildings has allowed for more courses. Grossmont added 65 classes this semester while Cuyamaca added 50.

District officials also attribute the enrollment boost to the statewide reduction in registration fees, which dropped from $26 to $20 per unit this year.

At Grossmont College, the new buildings address space problems that have long plagued the college, which opened in the early 1960s. Waiting lists to get into science labs, for example, are bound to get shorter, said Jerry Buckley, dean of the math and science programs.

Feb. 2 is the last day to register for spring classes at Grossmont and Cuyamaca community colleges. The semester began Monday. For more information call (619) 668-4040″Everything is two to three times larger than what we had before,” Buckley said.

The science lab building will particularly benefit students in the college’s nursing and allied health programs, as well as those planning to transfer to four-year universities, Buckley said.

Construction of five buildings is being funded by bond revenue and the state. East County voters approved Proposition R, a $207 million bond measure, in 2002 to help repair aging buildings and build new ones. The student center is being funded by Proposition R funds and student fees.

Other construction projects on the horizon include a proposed $24.7 million, 58,140-square-foot health sciences building at Grossmont College. The district would tap into Proposition 1D, a $10.4 billion education bond passed by state voters in November, to help get that project built.

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