STUDY URGES EXPANDING CSUB-A.V. ENROLLMENT SURGE PREDICTED.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A California State University, Bakersfield, study supports expanding the college's Lancaster operations, which Antelope Valley leaders hope will lead to a local four-year college.

The study, released Tuesday, estimates enrollment in Cal State Bakersfield classes on the Antelope Valley College campus will double to more than 1,200 full-time students by 2012, which CSUB and Antelope Valley officials described as an extremely conservative projection.

``We've outgrown our space here,'' said Mark Evans, CSUB's interim dean of Extended University. ``I'll be surprised if enrollment doesn't exceed that number.''

The surging enrollment is one of the reasons CSUB and High Desert officials want the state to recognize the center with a permanent designation, allowing it to become a separate line item in the state budget. Funding for the Antelope Valley center has been coming out of the CSUB campus operating budget.

``This study is an indication of the kind of growth and potential for this center,'' said Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster.

The study says a permanent designation as an off-campus center is needed to help accommodate surging enrollment and to bring a higher percentage of Antelope Valley students into the California State University system.

The study will be evaluated by the California Postsecondary Education Commission. If the commission concurs with its findings, the Antelope Valley center will be designated as a permanent off-campus center.

The CPEC is expected to complete its review of the study by April. Efforts will be made to try to expedite that review, but CPEC was hurt by staff cuts resulting from the state's budget crisis, Runner said.

CSUB-Antelope Valley operates about half of its class offerings out of four modular buildings erected on Antelope Valley College. The remainder of its classes are conducted in borrowed classrooms at Antelope Valley College or more leased space off the AVC campus.

``Once CSUB-Antelope Valley is classified as a permanent off-campus center, the center will network with community leaders and elicit community help in identifying alternative sites and determine whether a permanent site for the center is feasible,'' the study said. ``The reality is that Antelope Valley College cannot provide a permanent site on its campus for the CSUB-Antelope Valley center nor can it lease additional land to the center to accommodate growth through 2012.''

Runner said it will take a grass-roots campaign from the community and a major donation of land to find a permanent site for the Antelope Valley center.

An expanded CSUB-Antelope Valley center will benefit the community and the CSU system by drawing in more high school students and students transferring from community colleges. Statewide rates for both high school students and transfer students entering the CSU system run at about 10 percent, but in the Antelope Valley the percentage is around 5 percent.

The study attributes the low number to the lack of a four-year university in the region.

``So when the CSU expands its presence in the Antelope Valley region, the expectation is that the overall college-going rates of the local community will rise, eventually reaching statewide norms,'' the study said.

CSUB began offering courses in the Antelope Valley 10 years ago. The local program started with three courses and now includes nine complete upper-division course programs, three credential programs, and one master's degree program.

Last year on the Antelope Valley College campus, Bakersfield officials opened an 11,000-square-foot classroom building once expected to be large enough for local upper-division students for about three years.

But officials said the demand for third- and fourth-year college courses in the Antelope Valley is so intense that they immediately began expansion plans.

The center recently added more than 8,000 square feet of classroom space to the Lancaster center with modular buildings. CSUB is looking at the possibility of adding one more modular building to the center.

The center also recently entered a partnership with Antelope Valley College, Fresno State University, Cal State Northridge and others to allow engineering students to complete their first three years of an engineering degree in Lancaster.

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Photo:

Assemblywoman-elect Sharon Runner, California State University, Bakersfield, officials Michelle St. John and Mark Evans, and Assemblyman George Runner, from left, attend a press conference on a study that supports expanding CSUB operations in the Antelope Valley.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer