California State University's Palm Desert campus celebrated the award of $79 million in state funds for the construction of a new student center, with state and local officials on hand to show their support at a recent check presentation ceremony.
“The new Student Center building will be life changing for students at the campus by providing increased access to critical services our students deserve. It will help expand higher education opportunities in the Coachella Valley, and we are grateful to everyone who helped make this dream a reality,” Tomás Morales, president of California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), said in a news release.
The state funding will construct Phase I of CSUSB Palm Desert Campus' Student Services building, a project designed to accommodate up to 4,000 students, the release said.
Applause for this long-awaited milestone came from numerous state and local officials, who spoke on the good news at the Oct. 19 check presentation ceremony. Among those addressing the gathering were state Assembly members Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) and Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage) as well as Palm Desert Mayor Jan Harnik and Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez. The funding was made possible by Mayes, Garcia and Coachella Valley residents who worked for years to make it happen, the release said.
When the news was first announced, Morales said, "This is a big day for the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus and the Coachella Valley community! The new Student Center Building will be life changing for students at the campus by providing increased access to critical services our students deserve."
Since Palm Desert students often have to visit other campuses to get the services they need, this Student Center will fill a void on the local campus.
"It will help expand higher education opportunities in the Coachella Valley, and we are grateful to everyone who helped make this dream a reality," Morales said.
The new 23,700-square-foot student center will include an advising/tutoring center, career center, an expanded campus library, group study spaces, a cross cultural center, campus bookstore, food services, a student health center and a recreation and wellness center, according to CSUSB. A 10,200-square-foot portion of the building will occupy existing space in the campus' Mary Stuart Rogers Gateway Building, Indian Wells Center for Educational Excellence and Palm Desert Health Sciences Building. This space will be re-purposed for an expansion of academic programs offered on campus, which include additional faculty offices and classrooms.
Desert Sun reports this is the first major state investment into CSUSB infrastructure as previous funds came from private donations and local government allocations. Construction plans for the student center project call for its completion by 2026 or 2027. This will be the first physical campus expansion since 2008, a time when CSUSB Palm Desert had fewer than 850 enrolled students, compared to more than 2,200 students today.
According to Desert Sun, students at the Palm Desert campus have to commute to the San Bernardino campus to have access to many of the student services that will eventually be provided at the new building. For instance, CSUSB Palm Desert doesn't have a gym or food services, and some classes required for degrees are only offered in San Bernardino.