University of Sacramento and Other Higher Education Information

[Majin]

Originally Posted by Ghost of Econgrad

Rocklin

I stopped reading here.

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Private colleges tackle bad economy by trimming tuition
jjohnson@sacbee.com
Published Friday, Jul. 03, 2009

As public colleges and universities respond to an economic downturn with tuition hikes and caps on admissions, private colleges and universities are trying a different approach.

Across the state – and the country – private schools responded with the smallest average increase in nearly 40 years, at 4.3 percent. And many officials – including those at two private schools in the region – report that they've admitted more students.

The modest increase represents a sea change in the way some private school officials are thinking about the bottom line.

"Even in a tight time when endowments are down, we made a conscientious decision to increase access and affordability," said Jonathan Brown, president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.

For the past 10 years, tuition has increased about 6 percent annually at private institutions. In contrast, University of California officials announced a whopping 9.3 percent increase this spring for undergraduate programs to compensate for state budget cuts.

Private schools know that the change won't make them more affordable overnight, but it's part of a long-range plan to bridge the tuition gap between private and public schools.

The University of the Pacific in Stockton pared its annual tuition increase to 4.5 percent, down from an average 5 percent increase for the past 10 years. It also waived its application fee and increased financial aid packages 5 percent.

"We read the tea leaves and implemented a more aggressive admissions strategy," said Robert Alexander, UOP associate provost for enrollment.

Without state funding, many private schools rely on tuition to meet budget. So they can't afford to decrease enrollment.

"As long as we have students, we are in very solid shape," Alexander said.

At least partially as a result of their efforts, applications have tripled this year.

Among the incoming freshman class is Brianna Juhrent, who graduated from Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs. Juhrend, 18, knew UOP was her top choice over several more affordable state schools where she was accepted. But she said her family didn't make the decision until they had secured enough scholarship funds to make the cost comparable to state schools.

"Up until we found out that she had that scholarship, we were looking at everything openly," said her mother, Lisa Juhrend.

Schools with the largest endowments are experiencing what association president Brown calls a "poverty of wealth." Stanford University, for example, saw its endowment dive 30 percent this year. The university raised its tuition a quarter of a percent, an exception to the trend, but it stood by its financial aid packages.

"If it was a year ago, we probably wouldn't have launched our new financial aid programs," said Karen Cooper, director of financial aid. "But I'm really proud of the university, we're holding fast to the announcements that were made."

Some of the most dramatic measures to keep enrollments up are being taken by the smallest schools.

William Jessup University in Rocklin is one of two colleges in the country known to have decreased tuition. Jessup, a Christian school that expects about 110 incoming freshmen this fall, dropped its tuition 2.5 percent this year.

"By making it more accessible to more students, more students can come," said Vance Pascqua, director of traditional undergraduate admissions. "The net difference ends up being in your favor."

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Drexel University in Sacramento Offers Free Graduate Education to Post 9/11 Military Veterans
Submitted by OBSNews.com on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 12:36

* Business

Center for Graduate Studies In Sacramento Participates "To The Max” In Special Yellow Ribbon Veterans Program

SACRAMENTO (OBSNews.com) – The Drexel University Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento announced today it will participate in the new GI Bill’s Yellow Ribbon Program, a tuition scholarship program benefitting veterans of the nation’s armed forces who have served since the terrorist attacks on our country on September 11, 2001.

The partnership between the federal government and Drexel means that eligible veterans will be able to take Drexel courses and receive Drexel degrees without paying any tuition or fees, while receiving a living stipend of approximately $1,700 per month.

Unlike many institutions participating in the new program, Drexel is among a small group of universities with no cap on the number of veterans who may enroll.

The University’s contribution allows veterans who meet government and University admissions requirements to receive a completely free education at the Graduate Center, located at One Capitol Mall in Sacramento, in any one of Drexel’s 10 master’s and one doctoral degree programs.

“We are proud to be able to give back to those who have served our country so well,” said Carl “Tobey” Oxholm III, Dean of Drexel’s Sacramento campus. “A graduate education at Drexel will help our veterans master the substantive knowledge and practical skills they need to succeed in careers that are at the heart of this region’s economic engine.”

This program also benefits veterans wishing to attend Drexel’s main campus in Philadelphia for undergraduate as well as graduate programs, as well as those who prefer to pursue their educations entirely on-line, where Drexel offers more than 70 different programs.

The Yellow Ribbon program was authorized by Congress under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 and becomes effective August 1, 2009. It is the most extensive educational assistance program authorized since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944.

The Department of Veterans Affairs expects 460,000 veterans to participate during the first year of the program. VA officials anticipate a 20 to 25 percent increase in the total number of applications for veteran’s educational programs.

According to the VA, veterans are eligible if they an aggregate period of active duty after Sept. 10, 2001, of at least 36 months or if they were honorably discharged from active duty for a service-connected disability and served 30 continuous days after Sept. 10, 2001.

For information on the new GI Bill and specific benefit questions, visit http://www.gibill.va.gov/ or contact the Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-888-GIBILL-1.

For more information about using military benefits to fund a Drexel education, visit www.drexel.edu/sacramento or call (916) 325-4600 or (888) 389-3781.

Drexel opened its doors to students in Sacramento on January 5, 2009 and is offering 10 master’s and one doctoral program in careers at the heart of Greater Sacramento’s growth and economic development initiatives – entrepreneurial business, knowledge management and information science, engineering, health care, and education.

The Center for Graduate Studies’ initial master’s programs include: Business Administration, Higher Education, Information Systems, and Library and Information Science.

In September 2009, the university will add six master’s programs in: Engineering Management; Nursing Education & Faculty Role; Nursing Leadership in Health Systems Management; Public Health; Science of Instruction; Human Resource Development; and a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Management.

Drexel holds Information Sessions at the Center every two weeks at 6 p.m. The next sessions are Wednesday, July 8 and Tuesday, July 21, at One Capitol Mall. To learn more about applying for fall programs in Sacramento, visit www.drexel.edu/sacramento or call (916) 325-4600 or (888) 389-3781.

OBSNews.com is a division of OnlineBroadcastingSystems, Inc.

[travis bickle]

Work continues behind the scenes on this with meetings scheduled between the developer and University/City scheduled for the week of August 10. Although the wheels grind slowly... they do grind away. University is trying to incorporate this effort into a required update of its master plan. Still many unknowns and no definitive plan has been generated. That won't come for months still. An RFQ by September (as originally hoped) seems impossible at this time, but the process continues and that's so important as all too often Sacramento has been a place where great ideas go to die. The current city and university teams seem determined not to let that happen here. The University and City will have another meeting on this in early September.

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Rocklin schools shine on STAR tests
Rocklin Unified sees score increases on standardized exam
By Lauren Weber, The Placer Herald
Kevin Brown, Rocklin Unified School District superintendent

At Rocklin Unified School District, students, teachers and staff have cause for celebration. The district’s Standardized Testing and Reporting program, or STAR, test results are showing score increases.

The California Department of Education released its 2009 STAR test results just in time for the start of the 2009-2010 school year. The test is required to be taken by students in grades 2-11 each year and is scored on a five-tiered scale: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic and far below basic.

Rocklin fourth-graders scored especially high this year, according to test results. A total of 82 percent of fourth-graders scored in the proficient and advanced levels in English. Only 79 percent of fourth-graders throughout Placer County scored in the proficient and advanced levels in English.

RUSD Superintendent Kevin Brown said much of the district’s success is due in part to the staff’s hard work.

“Overall, grade by grade and content area, we have once again seen continuous growth by our students,” he said.

The percentage of fifth-graders within RUSD that scored proficient or advanced in English, jumped 12 percentage points from 2008’s 66 percent to 78 percent. Fifth-grade scores within proficient or advanced scores in math also increased from 71 percent to 77 percent from 2008 to 2009.

Valley View Elementary had one of the highest averages among all grade levels of students that scored in the proficient or advanced categories. Up from 2008’s average of 78.42 percent, Valley View students averaged 85.9 percent for 2009 in English, with all grade level scores showing more than 80 percent of the students scored proficient or advanced in English as well.

“We’re very happy with it,” said Valley View Elementary Principal Chuck Kilbourne.

Kilbourne said the school’s high scores were a result of the dedication students and teachers show by attending class.

“This school has a really good attendance rate,” he said.

The strong attendance rae is not just among students, but also among teachers, showing the correlation between coming to school and learning.

Kilbourne said plans are underway to congratulate students for jobs well done with extra recess time.

“That hits them where it matters to them,” he said.

Valley View’s curriculum, along with the other schools throughout the district, have strongly been aligned to follow district and state standards closely, Kilbourne said.

“Rocklin schools really are all way above the norm,” he said.

One-hundred percent of seventh-graders across the district scored either proficient or advanced in Algebra 1. But Brown said high and low levels of achievement have a correlation to the number of students tested — only 75 students took Algebra 1 in seventh-grade. On the other side of the spectrum, only 41 percent of ninth-graders scored proficient or advanced in Algebra — representing a group of students who have struggled with the subject.

Rocklin Academy’s Turnstone campus placed high among Rocklin schools during this year’s testing. In math, 90.6 percent of Rocklin Academy students tested scored in the proficient or advanced categories. The English scores closely followed with 87.8 percent of students scoring in proficient or advanced categories.

“I think what works for Rocklin Academy is a deep, enriched curriculum in core knowledge, excellent teaching and dedicated parents,” said David Patterson, Rocklin Academy executive director.

But also part of the core knowledge curriculum is a strong focus on history and geography — subjects that are not tested through STAR tests.

“Test scores are important, but they don’t tell the whole story,” he said.

To see how a specific school scored, go to star.cde.ca.gov.

Schools in brief:

Rocklin high school students (grades 9-11) scoring proficient or advanced in English:

Rocklin: 74.6 percent

Whitney: 70.27 percent

Victory: 27 percent (for 11th-graders only)

Rocklin middle school students scoring

proficient or advanced in

English:

Granite Oaks: 84.99

percent

Spring View: 73.09

percent

Source: star.cde.ca.gov

[tronblue]

That is surprising with all the coke those rocklin kids do. Is coke the new gateway drug to education and literacy?

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Originally Posted by tronblue

That is surprising with all the coke those rocklin kids do. Is coke the new gateway drug to education and literacy?

How is implying that "all those kids" in Rocklin doing "coke" funny?

[tronblue]

Never said it was funny. Just think people up their should be honest.

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Originally Posted by tronblue

Never said it was funny. Just think people up their should be honest.

People up where? What are they being Dishonest about?

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Monday, August 10, 2009 | Modified: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
William Jessup opens new apartment complex
Sacramento Business Journal - by Kelly Johnson Staff writer

William Jessup University in Rocklin opened its new student apartment complex to students Monday, marking the completion of the first phase of the college’s $25 million expansion project announced a year ago.

The college’s apartment complex, which is Rocklin’s first five-story building, creates space for up to 192 additional students, doubling William Jessup’s current on-campus capacity.

The 192-bed apartment building contains 24 apartments, each with four furnished bedrooms and two baths. The eight-person suites are about 1,420 square feet.

The 35,517-square-foot complex was constructed in one year. Reeve-Knight Construction Inc. was the chief contractor for the project.

“One of the reasons that we moved from our small campus in San Jose to Rocklin was to be able to accommodate more students on campus,” William Jessup president Bryce Jessup said in a news release Monday. “These student apartments meet that goal, allowing us to enhance our students’ educational experience and have room for continued growth.”

William Jessup University, which moved to Rocklin in 2004, held a ribbon cutting Monday for the new student housing. Participating were Bryce Jessup, whose father is the namesake of the university, and his granddaughter Samantha, who is a senior at the campus.

The fall semester starts Aug. 26 with the university’s largest incoming freshman class — 130 students.

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 9:50am PDT
William Jessup University plans career fair
Sacramento Business Journal - by Kelly Johnson Staff writer

William Jessup University in Rocklin will hold a career and graduate school fair for students that’s open to the public on Sept. 22.

The career fair, which will be held from 9 a.m. to noon, is expected to include the following employers and graduate schools: Bank of America, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, California Highway Patrol, Lionheart Assurance Solutions, San Francisco Police Department, insurance brokerage Warren G. Bender Co., USDA Forest Service, Transportation Security Administration, Primerica Financial Service, Hertz, Capital Autism Services, Aflac, Wave Broadband, Sacramento Children’s Home, Gap, Chapman University, Western Seminary, University of Phoenix and McGeorge School of Law.

More information is available by visiting William Jessup’s Web site at jessup.edu, or by calling 916.577.2253.

[202_Cyclist]

Free bike program liberates Sacramento State students from their cars
By Li Lou
Sacramento Bee
Wednesday, Sep. 02, 2009

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/stor...Our%2520Region

Catherine Kampling, a sophomore at California State University, Sacramento, knows how tough it is to commute to the campus.

"You always have to deal with the bad traffic and look for parking spaces," said Kampling, who drove from her home in Roseville for her freshman year.



So this school year, after she moved into an apartment close to campus, she decided to use a bike to get around. A free bike.

The University's "Go Green, Get Gold" program is providing 75 bikes to students who live in the Upper Eastside Lofts, the university-affiliated housing on 65th Street Expressway and Folsom Boulevard.

Dawn Carlson is program manager for Power Inn Alliance, which sponsored the program with a grant from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.

Fifty bikes were given out Sunday, and organizers expect the rest to go soon. To receive a bike, students must sign a commitment to use their bicycle or public transportation to get around the city. Students also must agree not to park a vehicle on campus or in the housing parking lot. They also need to participate in at least one of the three bicycle safety and maintenance seminars organized by the program.

Kampling rode her new bike to the first day of classes on Monday and to see her father at work on J Street.

"It is a great bike. I love it," she said. "With it, it is quite convenient to go to school and to grocery stores."

Carlson said two students who signed up for bikes on Sunday had never learned to ride.

"The two girls went up to our safety instructors and said, 'Can you please teach me how to ride a bike?' And the instructors did. Right around the parking lot. It was really cute," Carlson said.

Carlson said the goal of the program is to reduce the number of drive-alone commuters on campus. "Second," she said, "We want to get students while they are young. Change their attitude while they are young, while they can be shaped. It is easier to change the mind of an 18-year old than a 40-year-old, who is used to driving."

Nancy Fox, senior director of University Transportation and Parking Services at CSUS, said a 2007 study found that there were 26,386 vehicles being driven onto campus within a 24-hour period.

Kevan Shafizadeh, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, conducted a campuswide survey in the spring about how people get to the university.

The results showed that 69 percent drove alone.

Chelsea Henderson, a 17-year-old freshman, drove to the campus when she moved to Sacramento from Silicon Valley. She got a bicycle at the Sunday event and said she'll send the car back home.

"Now I don't feel I need a car," she said.

[tronblue]

Some info on ARC's master plan for parking and transportation if anyone is interested.

http://inside.arc.losrios.edu/parking/#docs

Some key components include major restructuring of roadways in the area (Auburn and Madison etc) for bike and pedestrian use, parking structure, bus drop-off.

I was hoping they would add real bike paths through the core of the college, but they are not included. A cyclist would still have to walk their bike into the core. Also, this statistics of only counting 33 students riding bikes during high traffic times is a little off. They point out how random and troublesome it is to cycle into the college as an issue, but this same issue is what troubled their math on this i think. I should know I've been cycling there every day since 1998. Bike use to the college is up in incredible amounts. Its hard for me in the mornings to find a place on the new racks to lock up. Granted this is do to the influx of students the first few weeks and i have trouble rolling out of bed these days, but I've never seen it like this. I left ARC today at 1pm and there were still over 20 bikes just on the two new racks out front. This never happens on a friday ever. Not sure what faculty input will be on this. They don't ride their bikes. I swear the only faculty member that rides their bike is this dude from Geography.

Anyways some interesting studies that were conducted this year. When I get unlazy I will post pics of the new buildings going on at ARC.

[Ghost of Econgrad]

College district plans for $8.3 million in cuts
Budget blow 'worst thing that has ever happened' to Sierra College
By David Mirhadi
Staff Writer,
The Sierra Community College District will cut $2.7 million from its $96 million budget this year, and another $5.6 million from the 2010-11 budget because of declining state revenues.

Nancy Palmer, who has represented Nevada County on the board of trustees for 15 years, called the budget situation “the worst thing that has ever happened to Sierra College in its history.”

The community college district voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt the provisions for the next two years.

The college would have had to cut an additional $5.6 million for this fiscal year, but is using $5.6 million in reserves to lessen the impact.

The move still leaves the community college district with just over 8 percent of its budget in reserve.

“We had to do this. We have no choice,” Palmer said.

The district, which serves about 20,000 students in campuses in Grass Valley, Truckee, Roseville and the main campus in Rocklin, will essentially begin the 2010-11 budget with a $5.6 million hole, Nevada County-area trustee Aaron Klein said.

Thus, most of the cuts will come then, he said.

“The best way to implement these cuts will be ways that still protect our students,” he said.

The cuts for the current year, he said, will come at the department and division level and will affect support staff and materials in those areas.

While core services such as classes are likely to remain, other areas will be trimmed.

“There will be slower response times for services,” Klein said. “And there already is far more demand than we have resources for. We'll have to make do with what we have.”

The cuts come as per-unit community college fees have risen this fall and enrollment at the Nevada County campus is up slightly.

Sierra College president Leo Chavez has said that cuts to the Nevada County and Truckee campuses may not be as severe because those campuses are growing.

New and remodeling construction began this fall at the Nevada County campus, with the money coming from a bond passed a few years ago.

“We'll probably have some minor cuts, but it will not be as bad as Rocklin,” Palmer said.

The fact that the next year begins with a deficit is of great concern to trustees, Klein said.

“My concern with this budget, which I expressed strongly (Tuesday) night at the meeting, was that our institution is choosing to push most of the pain of these cuts to next year. As a result, we'll have to get the budget back into balance next year, and closing a $5.6 million gap in a single year will be one of the most painful and challenging experiences Sierra College has ever experienced,” Klein wrote in his blog, aaronklein.com.

“We will spend today until June 2010 figuring out how to do that in a way that protects students as much as possible,” Klein said Wednesday.


http://www.theunion.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart

[singlecell]

Originally Posted by tronblue

Some info on ARC's master plan for parking and transportation if anyone is interested.

http://inside.arc.losrios.edu/parking/#docs

Some key components include major restructuring of roadways in the area (Auburn and Madison etc) for bike and pedestrian use, parking structure, bus drop-off.

I, for one, would love an extension of light rail down Auburn to ARC (mentioned in the brief). The bike ride from Auburn to the Watt station is pretty dicey!

[tronblue]

You are correct, I've been hit twice riding that way. All bets are off for me riding my bike there. Plus, I avoid the RT there because to get downtown it only takes me about 10-15 more mins just riding my bike. But it is the long way around via river bike trial.

[singlecell]

Originally Posted by tronblue

You are correct, I've been hit twice riding that way. All bets are off for me riding my bike there. Plus, I avoid the RT there because to get downtown it only takes me about 10-15 more mins just riding my bike. But it is the long way around via river bike trial.

Not to get too off-topic, but what's your route from ARC to downtown via bike?

[Ghost of Econgrad]

William Jessup Blanks Oregon Tech 3-0

ROSEVILLE, CA (September 22, 2009) - With the temperature on Mahany Field at 111 degrees at the start of the game, William Jessup came out of the blocks on fire and scored less the one minute into the game and never looked back handing Tech its first loss of the season 3-0. Oregon Tech falls to 7-1 on the season with William Jessup upping its record to 2-3-1.

California Pacific Conference Player of the Week Jordan Kramer (Chico, CA), scored on a pass from Chelsie Nakasone (Lincoln, CA) in the first minute of play to put the Warriors up 1-0. Sandy Hanania (Bethlehem, Palestine) then worked her way through the Tech defense to hit a shot into the upper left of the Tech goal to put William Jessup up 2-0 with 9 minutes left in the first half. Jordan Kramer then set up team mate Hekla Goodman (Colvis, CA) who put Oregon Tech away 3-0 at the 56 minute mark.

The William Jessup defense only allowed the Owls one shot for the entire game with no shots on goal. For the game the Warriors out-shot Tech 12-1 and had a 8-0 advantage in shots on goal.

Oregon Tech Goalie Megan Ross (Medford, OR) was credited with 4 saves as she picked up only her first loss of the year.

Oregon Tech will try and bounce back this Friday, September 25, when they travel to Ashland, Oregon to kick off Cascade Collegiate Conference play when they take on Southern Oregon University at 1:00 pm.

http://www.oit.edu/Default.aspx?DN=a...c-9c3900a32eff

[Ghost of Econgrad]

CSU hopes to join the Smart Grid
By: Gina Cruz
Posted: 9/30/09
The California State University system is continuously looking for ways to save money and the environment at the same time. The newest proposal is a plan to implement the Smart Grid technology system.

The CSU Board of Trustees proposed a plan to implement Smart Grid technology in 934 buildings on all 23 CSU campuses using a $77.5 million federal grant. The US Department of Energy will vote on the proposal on Nov. 3.

Smart Grid technology, invented to find and eliminate energy inefficiencies, is part of the Energy IQ demonstration project. It is predicted to cut CSU utility expenses by 15 to 20 percent.

This advanced system will use digital technology to give staff and system operators an accurate look at exactly how much energy is being used on each campus.

When the energy source is targeted, the system evaluates where and how much energy can be reduced or eliminated. This process is how the system will ultimately reduce energy costs.

"Tighter budgets and the availability of state funds to pay for energy efficiency initiatives in lieu of other vital non-energy repairs, like life safety, roads and roof repairs, are an example of the difficult, if not impossible, choices campuses have to make," said Len Pettis, CSU chief of plant, energy and utilities.

The federal grant money will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Matching funds would come from local agencies.

"The aim of this grant is to demonstrate the great advances in Smart Grid technologies, build a Smart Grid home on the Sacramento State campus and conduct research in support of Smart Grid and the energy and utility companies in California," said Emir Macari, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences.

The Smart Grid Center at Sac State is used as a demonstration site for the system. It is responsible for demonstrating and evaluating how the system works and will determine the benefits of Smart Grid technology.

Once the benefits are determined by the Smart Grid Center, the information is sent to SMUD and is used to solicit customers' support for the technology. Although SMUD is primarily an investor in this project, it will have staff members assist in the evaluation process of the Smart Grid technology as well.

There were two separate proposals sent to the Department of Energy in August. Macari was the principal investigator for the second proposal, "Funding Opportunity Announcement 36." It was submitted on Aug. 26 and focused directly on Sacramento State as a Smart Grid demonstration site.

The first proposal, submitted on Aug. 6, FOA 58, requested the funds to purchase Smart Grid equipment. This investment funding request would allow SMUD to install Smart Meters in almost every residence in Sacramento. SMUD predicts between 2009 and 2011, they will install more than 600,000 advanced two-way meters in the homes of their customers.

FOA 58 has already passed through the administrative evaluation process where the application is evaluated on its completeness. Now it is on its way to be technically evaluated for specifics, said Jim Parks, SMUD program director of Energy Efficiency and Customer Research and Development Group. There is no word yet on the status of FOA 36.

The awareness to the benefits of smart grid technology has steadily increased in the past few years. It has gained more support from different organizations in the energy industry. The CSU has multiple Energy IQ partners for this project including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Energy Network Operations Center, the California public and private utilities and Galvin Power, which are all leading companies in the energy industry.

According to a press release from the CSU, once fully operational, the smart grids are estimated to save system wide energy use by 90,000 megawatts per year and save the CSU $20 million annually. The CSU also predicts the generation of more than 60 megawatts of power from ultra-clean or renewable sources by 2011.

"Our world-class faculty will be developing new course curricula for students to support the new clean-green economy," Pettis said.

"This grant would allow us to hire many undergraduate and graduate students to help us with this research and their work would count for their thesis projects or senior design and independent research projects," Macari said.

Last year, under the direction of Macari, the California Smart Grid Center was created at Sac State.

Gina Cruz can be reached at gcruz@statehornet.com. © Copyright 2009 The State Hornet

[wburg]

Here's a bit from the Shallit column about the Sac State mixed-use cluster...Travis, this is your baby, right?
http://www.sacbee.com/shallit/story/2233427.html

Bob Shallit: CSUS's urban village gets push

By Bob Shallit

Published: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Last Modified: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 - 8:52 am

Plans for a Harvard Square-type urban village at Sac State are finally moving forward - spurred by the university's new business development chief.

Jim Reinhart, who last month became executive director of California State University, Sacramento's University Enterprises Inc., tells us he's focusing on the urban village idea proposed a year ago by Clark Realty Capital of Arlington, Va.

Reinhart says he's invited Clark officials to visit Sacramento later this month and discuss their proposal for a privately financed, $500 million on-campus complex of housing, retail, restaurants and offices to be built near the university's south entrance.

He's also pushing to issue a "Request For Qualifications" by year's end to see if other development companies are interested in the project.

William Hamilton, the Clark development executive who proposed the Sacramento project, calls the progress "outstanding."

Issuing an RFQ would show the university is committed to the urban village project, he says, and it would allow Clark to hire architects, engineers and money crunchers to see whether the project is feasible in the current environment.

"This will be difficult to pull off even if we get (selected as developer)," Hamilton says. "But we have the vision and the financial capacity to move it as far forward as anyone."

Under the proposal, the developer would lease 6 to 18 acres of campus land and share the project's revenues with Sac State.

Reinhart says Sac State's consideration of the Clark proposal was slowed by the state's budget crisis and by management changes at UEI, the nonprofit entity that handles retail and development issues for Sac State. Reinhart's post has been filled on an interim basis for the past year.

"I intend to be here for the long term," he says, "and I'm (now) in a position to move forward" with the project.

One commenter seems a bit skeptical, but lists several notable urban features of the actual Harvard Square:

how could anything in that part of the CSUS campus even be made into something that could be called a "Harvard Square-type" development? HS has two flippin' major streets ("major" meaning heavily traveled, not necessarily wide) running right in it's heart, with a hospital, bookstores, cafes, coffee shops and newspaper stands...and those are just the buildings, it also draws people in from all over because it's a stop on the Red line of the Metro which help gives the place a "heartbeat" from the rush of people into and out of the subway...it also has a population of people who aren't just students because HS isn't actually on campus, it's in the midst of campus (university administrative-type buildings are contained to the campus itself, which is walled)