The Marin County Civil Grand Jury is recommending the College of Marin move swiftly to come up with a plan for underutilized and empty buildings at its Indian Valley campus in Novato.
In a new report, the grand jury says the college’s Board of Trustees “should adopt an actionable comprehensive plan to bring the Indian Valley campus facilities and expenses in line with actual usage” no later than December. The grand jury adds that if no productive use can be found for the buildings, they should be demolished to avoid maintenance costs.
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Indian Valley is the designated site for College of Marin’s career and technical education, or CTE programs, which prepare students for careers that may require certifications but not baccalaureate degrees.
The grand jury also recommends that trustees “collect, analyze and report, to the maximum degree allowable within privacy laws, the student outcomes for individual CTE programs.”
The grand jury says that such data will allow students to assess the value of CTE programs and “may allow Indian Valley campus to attract students who would otherwise go elsewhere, adding to a virtuous cycle of increasing campus utilization and vitality.”
This is not a new issue. In fact, a 2007 grand jury report raised the question of whether the Indian Valley campus should remain open in the face of declining enrollment and underutilized facilities, but it concluded that a sufficient number of Marin taxpayers wanted the campus to stay open and had voted to pay for it.
The Indian Valley campus was designed to accommodate up to 5,000 students. Due to slower than expected population growth in the county and the creation of a Santa Rosa Junior College campus in Petaluma, enrollment has never come close to that number. According to the new report, spring 2015 enrollment was 1,142 and no significant increase is expected.
Public center
The 333-acre Indian Valley campus has 33 buildings constructed between 1975 and 1977. Some buildings are under-used, and others are not used at all. Nonetheless, all facilities require on-going maintenance, and some need major rehabilitation.
“I think the timing of their report is quite good because we have a lot of exciting initiatives underway,” said David Wain Coon, College of Marin’s president.
Chief among these, as noted in the grand jury report, is a collaboration with the Rotary Club of Novato to create a new community center in one of the unused Indian Valley campus buildings. The Rotary Club has signed a letter of intent to contribute $5 million for renovation.
“Now that our bond measure has passed, we’ll be able to match the Rotary’s investment in that,” Wain Coon said. “I personally think that is going to be a game changer.”
Measure B, the initiative he was referring to, will generate $265 million for the college over its 30-year life.
In addition, Wain Coon said, “We are in the final stages of negotiations that will lead to the offering of a bachelor’s degree at Indian Valley campus and a different bachelor’s degree at the Kentfield campus. We’re trying to diversify our offerings at Indian Valley and attract and retain more students.”
Trustee skeptical
According to the grand jury report, those negotiations are with Sonoma State University.
But Stephanie O’Brien, president of the college’s Board of Trustees, said she isn’t sure the college can meet the December deadline the grand jury has set for adopting an action plan. O’Brien said one complicating factor is the community’s interest in maintaining the Indian Valley campus.
“Sometimes we have to navigate their understanding of the related costs of maintaining certain facilities against what the long-term viability of those facilities are. It’s a complex process,” she said. “Whether or not we’re able to accomplish that in the next six months could be a little bit challenging.”
Long-time trustee Wanden Treanor said the December deadline is “extremely aggressive.”
O’Brien is also skeptical regarding the grand jury’s recommendation for more data collection to validate the efficacy of Indian Valley’s career and technical education programs.
O’Brien said, “When a community college creates a CTE program, it usually evolved out of specific business demand that comes out of our regional planning.”
Wain Coon said, “We believe some of the information that the grand jury referenced is actually on our website but not easy to find.”
He said for that reason the college will be moving to a new website this summer.
June 18, 2016
Marin Independent Journal
By Richard Halstead
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