Students Look to New Center in Moorpark

MOORPARK —  Space is so cramped at Moorpark College’s student center that campus groups are at times forced to meet in a converted janitor’s closet. And the center’s cafeteria is more like that of a correctional institution, students say, than of an academic one.

The place is so uninviting that most students leave campus once their classes conclude rather than partake in that basic college pastime: hanging out at the student union.

The center, built in 1967 to accommodate a student enrollment of 5,000, sorely needs a face-lift and more room to accommodate today’s enrollment of 13,000.

But the campus cannot look to Sacramento to foot the bill, because tight budgets have led the state to limit college construction funding to classrooms, according to administrators.

So the students, taking advantage of a state law that permits them to pass the costs onto themselves, set out to raise the funds by proposing a $1-per-unit fee hike. More than 2,700 students turned out for the weeklong election that concluded Friday, and more than 80% voted yes, student governing board member Chris Valenzano said.

Students agreeing to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for new or expanded student unions is a growing trend at community colleges across the state, even though most of those voting for the surcharges will have transferred or graduated before facilities are built.

Oxnard College’s student body overwhelmingly approved an increase in fees three years ago for a 32,000-square-foot complex that is slated to begin construction this summer.

*

Oxnard students now share a 15-year-old portable building with a counseling office. The well-worn trailer offers little space for meetings or studying, officials said.

“Students like to hang out and drape themselves over sofas and study or talk,” said student activities director Merri Ann Harbert, who helped coordinate the successful campaign for the new center.

“Students need a place ‘to be,’ and they don’t have that right now.”

Harbert said she was not surprised that students voted to add the $1 surcharge to their previous fees of $11 per unit even though many of them will have moved on and not reap its benefits.

“Our students are very generous even though they don’t have a lot of money, “ she said. “They’re willing to support what was needed.”

And besides, Harbert said, “They have families that will enjoy it--their sisters, brothers, uncles and aunts. We have three generations going here.”

Moorpark student government leaders say the success of the building campaign was aided by students’ affection for their campus, which holds one of the highest university transfer rates in the state.

But students say they also want to leave a legacy that will transform the 33-year-old institution. They say the campus’ current 11,000-square-foot center feels too much like a public high school cafeteria and not enough like a college facility.

The center has no student lounge, and meeting space is so limited that if the one conference room is occupied student clubs meet in a converted janitorial storeroom.

With its bare walls, hard plastic chairs and Formica tables, Valenzano likened the cafeteria to a dining area in a jail.

“Four-year universities have these great student centers,” said Valenzano, 21, director of external affairs for the campus’ Associated Students. “Part of education is to have a center where students can engage in a robust exchange of ideas.”

*

The proposed expansion calls for a second-floor addition--doubling the size of the center--and adding a lounge, art gallery, meeting rooms and a cyber cafe.

“We want the students to feel welcome and experience what college is really like,” said Valenzano, who is transferring to UCLA in the fall. “Why shouldn’t we offer that environment to [community college] students?”

Sophomore Valerie Starkgraf said without a more inviting cafeteria students have no incentive to stay on campus.

She said the college often feels deserted after 1 p.m. when students leave to eat lunch off campus or go home.

“We need a place to hang out and study,” said Starkgraf, 19.

College President Jim Walker agreed the campus needs a new student center. “There’s no question about it.”

Walker said he was impressed with the student organizing effort, which has been in the works for more than two years.

“I think it’s great that they care enough to go to all this work and trouble,” he said. “And they are not the ones who are going to benefit from it.”

The surcharge is subject to approval by the county community college district’s board of trustees. Approval is expected. The $1.8-million renovation project would be completed in about five years, said Ruth Hemming, vice president of college services.

State law requires that 20% of the college’s students vote in the election and that two-thirds of those voting approve the fee hike. Once implemented, students face a $1-per-unit surcharge, up to a maximum of $10 per school year, Associated Student President Carmen Garcia said.

Because the new fee is estimated to generate only about $120,000 annually, students are hoping to get additional funding from the college’s foundation, a private nonprofit fund-raising group. A spokesman for the foundation could not be reached for comment.

*

But college spokeswoman Jeanne Bailey said the foundation usually raises at least $50,000 a year and often highlights a particular project it would like to see built. Money raised by the organization has been used to help build the campus observatory and sports stadium.

To get its $5-million student center, Oxnard College has arranged a partnership with the county’s Human Services Agency. A job and career center serving the young, the unemployed, displaced workers as well as welfare-to-work participants also would be housed inside the proposed complex.

The county has agreed to negotiate a long-term, $2-million lease, which will be used to make mortgage payments on the building, said Randy Feltman, director of business and employment services with the agency.

“Since everything is built together, it will be less expensive than having two facilities,” Feltman said.

Nearly $2.3 million in additional funding would also come from the college district and from a private organization serving foreign-language students that will also lease space, Oxnard College spokeswoman Cathy Garnica said.

Harbert, Moorpark College’s student activities director, said the new student union would be bright and spacious, and include a fireplace and sofas for study and socializing.

“It’s a place that will be theirs,” she said.