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2016-2022 EDUCATIONAL AND FACILITIES MASTER PLAN
              HISTORY                                                                                                         CHAPTER 1 – BACKGROUND


              nonexistent college chose Dr. Robert C.  Rock-
              well as Superintendent/President, and he was
              charged with putting the wheels in motion.
              With hundreds of prospective students eagerly
              awaiting their new college, temporary quarters
              were arranged at Hart High School. It was there
              that COC officially started classes on September
              22, 1969, after preliminary approval to conduct
              classes was granted predicated on formal accredi-
              tation, which was received in 1972.

              The Hart High campus filled an urgent need but
              it was ill-suited to accommodate college students
              for long. COC classes began in the afternoon
              after the high school students had departed. In
              1970, voters approved a $4 million construc-
              tion bond to create a permanent home for the
              College, and the District purchased 153.4 acres                                College of the Canyons in 1980
              of land.
                                                             •   the 926-seat Performing Arts Center        funding; in November 2006 they supported a
              Within a year, temporary classroom buildings   •   the Library and TLC expansion              general obligation bond measure that provided
              were erected and construction of a permanent   •   the Media Arts Building                    $160 million for the College’s most recent wave
              campus began. A second construction bond for   •   the Family Studies & Early Childhood       of expansion and modernization projects.
              $8 million was approved in 1973 to complete the    Education Center                           The funds allowed SCCCD to add more class-
              core campus, including the Bonelli, Seco, and   •   the Music/Dance Building                  rooms and labs, upgrade technology to expand
              Boykin buildings, a student center, Towsley Hall,   •   a new science lecture building        instruction in public safety and other high-
              and the East and West P.E. buildings.          •   an expansion of the science laboratory     demand professions, and improve earthquake,
                                                                 building,                                  security and fire safety.
              Driven by planning, the Valencia Campus is still   •   a new high-tech classroom building, and
              evolving as the community continues to grow.   •   an entirely new campus in Canyon Country.  College of the Canyons has been transformed
              When new Superintendent-President Dr. Dianne                                                  from a small community college serving several
              G. Van Hook arrived in 1988, she spearheaded   The newest addition to the Valencia Campus in   hundred students into one of the nation’s fastest-
              a major update of the College’s master plan. The   2009 was the Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook Uni-   growing community colleges among those with
              result was a seemingly non-stop series of con-  versity Center, which houses advanced degree   10,000 or more students. The Board of Trustees
              struction that dramatically changed the College’s   programs offered by four-year institutions.  has been stable over the years, with little turn-
              face and character.                                                                           over; one of the current trustees was a member of
                                                             COMMUNITY SUPPORT                              the original Board when the District was formed.
              The College was housed in eight major buildings   The historically supportive and generous com-  Chancellor Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook, who has
              in 1988, including Cougar Stadium; by 2008,    munity has always helped meet student needs.   provided leadership for almost 27 years, is only
              another ten major structures had been built or   District voters have approved all five of the   the fifth CEO in the District’s 47-year history.
              were nearing completion, including:            College’s requests for capital construction project


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