詹妮弗·k·森田著

2024年2月1日

萨克拉门托 State’s plan to open a new off-campus center that will serve thousands of students in one of California’s fastest-growing regions has just taken a major step forward.

The CSU Board of Trustees on Jan. 31 approved plans for 萨克拉门托州立砂矿中心, which will engage the region through potential joint facilities with community partners, including a library, forensic science lab, conference center, and performing arts building.

Located on 301 acres donated by philanthropist and businessman Eli Broad’s Placer Ranch, 公司。, the center is part of a 2,213-acre master-planned community along Highway 65 known as Placer One. Taylor Builders， LLC于2022年10月破土动工。

During the meeting, trustees unanimously approved the center’s master plan and a conceptual partnership with Placer County for the forensic science lab, and certified the environmental impact report.

“We are really excited about the support that we have from our Placer County partners, Sierra College, and the unwavering commitment from our CSU Board of Trustees,” Senior Associate Vice President for Placer Center Vajra Watson and Campus Architect Tania Nunez said in a statement following the meeting. “We are ready to start building so that we can best support an innovative model for student success.”

“萨克拉门托 State and the greater 萨克拉门托 region are becoming increasingly diverse, and the Placer Center will be a welcoming and inclusive place where students and faculty thrive and the community and individuals will be provided with equitable access." ——萨克州立大学校长卢克·伍德

在最初的七年里，Placer中心将为1500名全日制学生提供服务，在其初始阶段将包括一座学术大楼、图书馆和法医科学实验室。

该中心将在25年的时间里分4个阶段进行开发，届时将增加到1.2万名全日制学生，并设有会议中心和表演艺术中心。

“萨克拉门托 State and the greater 萨克拉门托 region are becoming increasingly diverse, and the Placer Center will be a welcoming and inclusive place where students and faculty thrive and the community and individuals will be provided with equitable access,” 囊状态 President Luke Wood said at the meeting.

Demographics are a driving force behind the University’s efforts to open an off-campus center in Placer County, which is the second fastest-growing county in California, and the only one with an increasing elementary school population.

The county is also home to one of 囊状态’s largest feeder schools. 塞拉学院（Sierra College）校长邓肯（Willy Duncan）说，他的学生中有40%（每年600-1,000名学生）转学到Sac州立大学，使其成为罗克林社区学院的第一选择。

邓肯补充说，据估计，每年有3000到5000名学生从普莱塞县到萨克州立大学通勤，这要花费他们额外的时间和金钱。

“To me, this is really about access to public higher education in the community. It’s a fantastic opportunity from that standpoint,” he said.

萨克森州立大学和塞拉学院的官员正在开展一项同步招生试点项目，该项目最早可能于2025年秋季启动，重点关注受影响最大的专业，沃森说，他是一位全国公认的学者，致力于建立公平的教育途径，支持学生接受高等教育。

“Faculty are excited to be doing something a bit more innovative, creative, and interdisciplinary to map out new ways of thinking about higher education that provides more opportunities and impact,” Watson said. 

“If we do this right, we can create pathways from community college to doctoral degrees with paid academic internships along the way, all at the Placer Center. That is truly an equity game changer.”

Placer Center计划的一部分是一个独特的模式，大学和Sierra学院将共同承担学生服务的责任，如经济援助、入学和记录、辅导和咨询。 伍德在1月31日的会议上告诉校董们，我们的目标是为学生们提供一种综合的体验。

“Engaging with students early in their educational journey will enable us to create a seamless transition from one institution to another, eliminating barriers many students encounter as they transition into a four-year institution,” said Wood, who also serves as president of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges.

“Our goal is that students will not know whether they’re taking a class at Sierra College or 囊状态 because we have an integrated, seamless experience for them.”

One of the University’s first buildings on the new campus will be the Placer County Forensic Sciences Laboratory, where students will be able to take classes as well as participate in paid internships.

该建筑的目标是在2028年之前完成，它将为大学提供教室和行政空间。 沃森说，该设施的资金将主要来自普莱塞县。

“It would be so great to be in a classroom and say, ‘Let’s walk across the hall to the lab where real work is happening in real time,’ ” Watson said. “To me, as an educator, having a living lab for experiential learning and internships is the type of partnership that is my dream pedagogy.”

“If we do this right, we can create pathways from community college to doctoral degrees with paid academic internships along the way, all at the Placer Center. That is truly an equity game changer.” ——Vajra Watson， Placer Center高级副总裁

该大学还希望该实验室包含法医遗传谱系成分，以帮助识别失踪的印第安人。

“囊状态 is being attentive in terms of CalNAGPRA and strengthening our relationships with the tribal nations,” Watson said. “Missing Native women, men and children is a national crisis.

“We can pivot to using a forensics lab for all those traditional ways, but also with a more justice-oriented, equity lens to serve a disenfranchised community in a way that is really tied to the core ethics of who we are as a University.”

Academic concentrations for Placer Center’s first phase will include:

• 跨学科法医学
• 环境健康，可持续发展与循环经济
• 公共卫生、公共安全与老年学
• 城市规划，酒店和社区发展
• 民族研究、教育公平与全球教育

其他潜在的社区合作伙伴包括西部砂矿废物管理局（WPWMA），该管理局在砂矿中心附近运营一个材料回收设施和垃圾填埋场。 The WPWMA already collaborates with the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at 囊状态 for the 循环经济创新大赛.

“The WPWMA is No. 1 for sustainability in California, and No. 6 in the nation when it comes to advanced recycling,” Watson said. “If we can get students thinking about how we can do this even better, then 囊状态 gets to be part of a solution to the global issue of waste.

“If we’re learning and growing together with industry, then our students are going to get the best of both worlds and solve global problems along the way.”

更新：2月13日，Placer县监事会批准了与大学在Placer中心建立法医实验室的协议。