After months of planning, we are excited to announce that San Diego State University will be offering four-year degree programs at Southwestern College beginning this fall. Through a pilot of the SDSU microsite model, the university will offer bachelor’s degree completion programs in Business Administration and Criminal Justice.
As a college, we know that San Diego State is the public university of choice for many of our students, and with this new partnership, our students will have the opportunity to earn a four-year degree on the Chula Vista campus.
We will hold an information night for those interested in learning more on Tuesday, March 17 from 5 – 6 pm in room 18A-118 (near the bus stop). The timing for the information night coincides with the opening of San Diego State’s registration period.
The importance of offering these programs at Southwestern College cannot be understated. Business Administration, for example, is one of San Diego State’s most impacted programs and there is just no room to accept more students at the university campus. This partnership gives our community new access.
San Diego State University President Dr. Adela de la Torre has made a bold move in expanding offerings outside of the Mesa. As an educational leader, however, she understands that the students who want to attend the university are significantly different then in years past.
“Many of them work part-time or full-time,” De la Torre said in a recent press release.
“They need the flexibility that online or nights and weekend options provide. They also want to attend SDSU. This need compels us to become more innovative to meet the needs of our students, now and over a lifetime.”
The San Diego State partnership brings a second university option to Southwestern College students. Several years ago, Point Loma Nazarene University began offering four-year degrees in nursing, child development, organizational management and criminal justice on the Chula Vista campus.
Providing four-year degree options has been a priority of this community for decades. That is why Southwestern College has been working to build a University Center where a variety of universities can offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
To make way for the University Center, the college demolished the 300 buildings last fall. In their place we’ll build a new Instructional Technology complex. Once the IT building is complete, we can demolish the IT buildings to construct what we’re currently calling Instructional Building One. The Instructional Building will double as the new University Center where we will hold Southwestern College classes during the day and universities will offer upper division courses at night and on weekends.
The time is right to bring additional higher education opportunities to our community. The city of Chula Vista recently hosted consultants from the state and the California State University system on the benefits of bring a new CSU campus to the city. Our community deserves more options, and collectively we are prepared to deliver.
Kindred Murillo, Ed.D. is superintendent/president of Southwestern College.
