CSUSB president shows how High Desert extension can be reality
By Leroy Standish/Staff Writer/Daily Press
APPLE VALLEY - Synergy, student demand, a network of community partnerships - and lots of money - are the keys for California State University, San Bernardino, to create a satellite campus in the Victor Valley.
That was the message that university president Dr. Albert Karnig delivered Tuesday night to a small gathering of local politicians, business leaders and educators at the Lewis Center for Educational Research.
Karnig was invited t
o discuss the possibility of creating a university extension
in the Victor Valley.
Michael Stenerson/Staff Photographer
"We'd be excited about finding ways of serving the High Desert," Karnig said. But, he added, "There needs to be more than interest." Cal State San Bernardino president Dr. Albert Karnig speaks at the Lewis Center about the possibility of opening a satellite campus in the High Desert. If there are sufficient students, then interest in developing a Victor Valley campus could peak, he said. Currently there are about 1,000 students who have completed their first couple years of college at Victor Valley Community College and are now commuting to Cal State, San Bernardino, he said.
That number needs to rise. Beyond that there need to be partnerships forged within the community and the university. Already there are some offerings for students of medicine at local hospitals participating in cohort programs. For those cohort programs to succeed in the long run there needs to be 20 to 30 students enrolled, because of some falling out, he said.
Using the university's only desert extension campus as an example, the Palm Desert campus, Karnig told the gathering that various communities and institutions banded together and raised millions of dollars to get that campus off the ground. It currently offers several degrees to undergraduates. Classes are open to desert residents who have completed their freshman and sophomore studies at a community college or other institution.
Thus a working partnership with VVC was seen as a path to creating a future university extension in the Victor Valley that would offer advanced courses.
Just constructing a building was not identified as a way to realize the goal of a university extension in the Victor Valley either. "For there to be a facility before there are students — I'm just not really sure the field of dreams works," Karnig said.
For the immediate future it seems the university will continue offering programs through VVC, and as student numbers increase, so too will the university's presence. "If we can identify enough students in appropriate majors, we will be very glad to work with you," Karnig said.
LeRoy Standish may be reached at 951-6277 or lstandish@vvdailypress.com.
Used with permission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2005