New Sacramento City College facility debuts at UC Davis hsangree@sacbee.com

Published Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012

A Sacramento City College center in Davis that is the first community college on a University of California campus is set to open its doors to students on Saturday.

College officials held an opening celebration Wednesday for the center's angular, modern building, with its two-story walls of glass and 20,000 square feet of sleek, sunlit interiors.

The college moved from its former quarters – a low, dark office complex in south Davis less than half the size – to a new area of the UC Davis campus called West Village, on the west side of Highway 113.

The complex of student apartments and faculty housing surrounded by farmland is the largest zero-net-energy neighborhood in the United States. Planners say it will use no more energy than it produces through a combination of solar power and energy-saving design.

While community college officials are proud of their inclusion in the ultra-green neighborhood, they say the bigger point is that the satellite campus is located in the midst of a major research university.

The proximity will expose students to their peers and faculty at UC Davis and gives them chances to observe and get involved, said Donald Palm, dean of the Davis Center of Sacramento City College, part of the Los Rios Community College District.

"By being here on campus, in a world of people engaged in UC Davis activities, it will give our students a better understanding of the array of hurdles and opportunities before them," Palm said.

The center's 2,000 students mainly grew up within driving distance of campus, he said. Their hometowns include Davis, Dixon, Vacaville and West Sacramento.

Low cost – about $1,000 a year for full-time tuition – along with small classes and dedicated teachers are among the benefits of the small college, he said.

The goal, the dean said, is to prepare students, many of whom are still struggling to find their way in higher education, for transfer to a four-year institution.

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"One of our biggest roles is helping our students understand they can get ahead," Palm said. The new facility should help.

It boasts large airy classrooms that can be reconfigured to hold an art history class in the morning and a physical education class in the afternoon. There's a shop with an automotive bay and an art classroom with two stories of glass facing a northern exposure, with its cool even light.

A Los Rios Community College District bond approved by voters in 2002 paid for the center's $7.4 million construction costs.

A free bus takes students to the nearby main campus. For a nominal fee, the community college students can use the UC Davis gym and library. They can sit in on research presentations, and a plan is being worked out to allow the students to work with the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, which will be headquartered in West Village, the dean said.

"We've already immersed them in the atmosphere of UC Davis," Palm said. "Being in the culture will ease their transition and tickle their imaginations."

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