CSU COULD OFFER NOVEL TRANSITION; JC, UNIVERSITY MAY MIX.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

Community and state colleges in California have long worked to ensure that students have access to classes needed for a four-year degree.

Now they may break new ground at the planned California State University, Channel Islands, by offering community college courses on a university campus - the first such program in the state.

``Someone could finish in June as a community college student and start in September as a Cal State student at the same site,'' said Mary Stephens, executive project manager of the planned state college.

The first step toward this goal was taken Tuesday as Ventura County Community College District trustees authorized the creation of a task force to draft plans for a community college cluster at the Channel Islands campus, proposed for the former Camarillo State Hospital site.

The community college program, like off-campus sites in Simi Valley and Newbury Park, would supplement the system's main campuses in Moorpark, Ventura and Oxnard, she said.

All of these plans hinge on whether state officials get permission and funding to move forward on the Channel Islands campus, which officials hope to open in January 1999.

Officials are studying methods to fund the renovation of the mental hospital, which was closed last month as a money-saving move.

One proposal is to lease the northern portion of the grounds to research or communications companies that would complementthe university's mission, Stephens said.

While the community college district would have to lease space to hold classes at the university, this is not considered a lucrative enough venture to help with the university's construction.

The task force is expected to present its plan to the trustees at their Sept. 9 meeting, a week before the CSU board votes on whether to create a Camarillo campus, which would be the 23rd in the system.

Many questions remain, including who will lead the task force and just what community college classes might be offered at the state university.

In the simplest terms, college officials envision a system in which most of the county's freshmen and sophomores take community college courses before transferring to the Cal State level for junior and senior studies.

This arrangement would be both convenient and economical for full-time students who could spend the first two years in classes that cost about $300 per semester, compared to three times that for a semester at the state university, Stephens said.

Taxpayers, who underwrite much of this public education, also would benefit since the cost of funding a community college student is roughly half that of a state university student.

Stephens said community college students seeking admission to the state university would be held to the same standards already expected of other students around the state.

The task force will iron out details such as which classes are equivalent in each system so the transfer will be near seamless for students.

Student who meet these requirements are effectively guaranteed admission to a state school, accounting for the fact that about 70 percent of the state university students hail from community colleges, Stephens said.

Compared with the state average, Ventura County has a higher-than-average number of students in community college, but half the state's average of students in the Cal State system.

The lack of a Cal State school in Ventura County is largely to blame, she said.

Officials expect most of students who attend the university in Camarillo will rise from the ranks of the Ventura County's community colleges simply because they will choose that campus over, for example, Cal State Northridge, because it is closer to home.