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'College of the Canyons' is a public two-year community college that operates within the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is located on 153 acres (619,000 m²) of rolling, tree-dotted hills in the incorporated city of Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles County, California. The college’s address is: 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. Its superintendent-president is Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook, who has served in this capacity since 1988.
College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. Its fall 2005 enrollment of 17,089 students is projected to grow to an estimated 21,000 by 2015. With 171 full-time and 423 part-time faculty members (as of fall 2005), the college offers Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees in 58 academic programs, as well as credentials in 39 certificate programs. Programs include Audio/Radio Production, Biotechnology, Child Development, Dance, Film/Video Production, Fire Control Technology, Industrial Manufacturing, Music, Nursing, Paralegal Studies, Television Production, Theatre Arts and Video Game Animation.

Contents

College Formation

College of the Canyons Today

Outside Partnerships

External links

College Formation

Local voters approved the formation of the college in 1967. It officially opened in 1969, operating in temporary quarters on the campus of William S. Hart High School in Newhall. In 1970, the college purchased a permanent campus site along the east side of Interstate 5, south of Valencia Boulevard and north of McBean Parkway. The college relocated to a collection of modular buildings on the site in 1970 as permanent facilities were being built. Over the years, educational facilities have been built to ensure that they "blend with the natural attributes of the location, creating a relaxed and comfortable physical environment."

College of the Canyons Today

Recent additions to the campus include a 926-seat performing arts center, built in partnership with the city of Santa Clarita, that offers academic, community and professional productions. The facility, which also holds a smaller experimental theater, opened in late 2004. A new Music/Dance Building opened adjacent to the performing arts center in 2005. As of early 2006, construction was under way on a new High-Tech Classroom Building (34,000 square feet) and a major expansion of the Laboratory Building. Also under way was site preparation for the Canyon Country Educational Center, a full-service educational facility that the college plans to open in the eastern Santa Clarita Valley in the 2006-07 academic year. The college competes in the Western State Conference in twelve sports: football, soccer (men's and women's) women's volleyball, cross country running, golf (men's and women's), softball, baseball, swimming, track and field and men's and women's basketball. The College's football team won the national championship in 2004 and the men's golf team has won 3 state championships since 2000 (2000, 2002, 2006) Women's golf won the state championship in fall of 2001. Additionally, the college was recognized nationally for academic competition in 2006 when the Speech & Debate Team (Erik Mayer & Dayna Downing), under the leadership of coach Michael Leach, won a silver medal in debate at the 2006 Phi Rho Pi National Tournament for two-year colleges. Other team members have won countless other awards at local tournaments and in 2007, the team have won another year of achievement. Anne-Marre Bautista has won a silver medal in the Houston 2007 Phi Rho Pi National Tournament.

Outside Partnerships

The college also is a participant in several innovative partnerships that have redefined the traditional role of community colleges. Academy of the Canyons, a middle college high school operated by the William S. Hart Union High School District, opened on the College of the Canyons campus in 2002. The concept allows promising high school students to attend high school and college concurrently. The college also oversees the University Center, a collection of public and private universities that offer advanced degree programs on the college’s campus, eliminating the need for residents to commute long distances to earn their degrees. Also operating at the college are the Center for Applied Competitive Technology and the Employee Training Institute, both of which have helped local businesses become more efficient and train employees in the latest emerging fields.

External links

★ Official webpage

★ Exclusive Q&A with Dr. Dianne Van Hook, Superintendent-President, College of the Canyons (Part 1 of 3)

★ Exclusive Q&A with Dr. Dianne Van Hook, Superintendent-President, College of the Canyons (Part 2 of 3)

★ Exclusive Q&A with Dr. Dianne Van Hook, Superintendent-President, College of the Canyons (Part 3 of 3)