What a boon a satellite campus of San Jose State University
would be for South Valley. We encourage area officials and county
officials to do whatever it takes to smooth the way for the
four-year college, a part of the California State University
system, to find a second home in the region.
What a boon a satellite campus of San Jose State University would be for South Valley. We encourage area officials and county officials to do whatever it takes to smooth the way for the four-year college, a part of the California State University system, to find a second home in the region.
Elected officials and city administrators in the area communities need to roll out the red carpet to convince San Jose State University to open a satellite campus in South Valley.
The proposal – still in its infancy – looks like a win-win for the university and South Valley. For San Jose State, a satellite campus would provide the landlocked university more room to serve the nearly 32,000 enrolled in the college. South Valley is eager for the services SJSU provides.
A SJSU satellite campus would help students enrolled at Gavilan Community College make a seamless transition to the four-year university that most of them choose to attend after completing their junior college coursework.
It could boost Gavilan College’s recruitment efforts. A satellite campus would ease traffic congestion – and its accompanying noise, smog and increased frustration levels – on U.S. 101, as thousands of South Valley students might take their classes close to home, rather than traveling on to San Jose.
The prospect of students from points south – the Central Coast and Central Valley, for example – attending classes in South Valley means they’ll likely spend money in our region’s stores and restaurants. And so will the teachers and other support personnel a university would require.
Finally, there’s the prestige having a Cal State campus in the region would bring to South Valley.
“It always raises the prestige level of the community to have a university system campus in the community,” Gilroy’s Economic Development Director Bill Lindsteadt said.
From local school districts to Gavilan, let’s work together to make sure this opportunity isn’t missed. Let’s do everything we can to help San Jose State officials come to the conclusion that South Valley is the place for a satellite campus.
To respond to this editorial or comment on this issue, please send or bring letters to Editor, Hollister Free Lance, 350 Sixth St., Hollister, Calif. 95023 or fax to 637-4104 or e-mail to [email protected].
