One of the oldest community colleges in California, MJC has two main campuses in the city of Modesto and serves more than 18,000 day and evening students each semester.
Located near the city of Sonora in the wooded Sierra Nevada foothills, Columbia College is a primary resource of adult learning for residents throughout the Mother Lode region.
Project: Calaveras Educational Site
Status: Land Acquired
Final Cost: $1,230,751
Project Goal
Provide local education programs in the Calaveras Community.
Overview
The Calaveras Educational Site is currently housed in a rented facility on Highway 49 (main north/south thoroughfare in the Central Sierra foothills) about 17 miles from the campus at the Glory Hole Shopping Center in Angels Camp.
The center itself contains only one standard classroom that will accommodate up to 35 students. Its computer lab is surrounded by moveable partitions with a second partitioned classroom area that will hold about 25 students.
Also at the center is a two-bed nursing laboratory with limited access and usage due to the nature of the equipment that must be housed there for this particular program.
The administrative and service areas include an admissions & records counter with locking cabinets for supplies and book sales, director's office, a counseling office, a student study/resource room, a mail room with copier, restrooms and a large storage area with roll-up garage door.
This temporary facility does not meet the projected growth needs, as prepared by the college and allows for only two classes to be conducted at any one time, thus limiting the usage of the center.
Transportation for students in the Sierra Nevada foothills is one of the major challenges that inhibit their ability to reach their educational goals. Towns are spaced far apart, terrain is hilly, and the area's winding roads are rarely more than two-lanes in size. Wages are low in this rural market area and a high percentage of the population falls below the poverty level for the State of California.
The Calaveras Educational Site enables the college to bring instructional programs closer to its core population in the county, but the current site is too small to accomplish this task. Additional space is badly needed so that a full complement of general education courses and certificate programs can be offered to students.
A permanent center, as described, will be constructed in Calaveras County in order to meet the stated needs. The new center will be centrally located within the county, along or close to the Highway 49 corridor. In fall 2003, 738 were enrolled at Columbia College from Calaveras County, representing over 21% of the college's enrollment
Project Status Updates
There are currently no bulletins to view.
Earlier updates have been archived. Please contact the webmaster for access.
Links of Interest
There are no links at this time.
