HISTORY ADMINISTRTIVE OF THE COLLEGE OFFICERS
51 YEARS OF OPPORTUNITY & INNOVATION The History of College of the Canyons
Taking the helm of California’s newest community college was Dr. Robert Rockwell, who previously served as president of Santa Barbara City College. It took two years for Rockwell to build a team and create a college from the ground up. Ambitious ideas were forged into a workable plan, faculty and staff were hired, curriculum was developed, and preparations were made to open the college before it even had a campus to call its own. The College Debuts College of the Canyons debuted with the help of Hart High School, which contributed a modest, nondescript bungalow at its Newhall campus for the first year. That’s where the college held its first classes – around 150 of them – for the 735 students who enrolled in the inaugural year of 1969. The schedule was limited, hampered by the fact classes could not meet until late afternoon, when high school students had left for the day. As that first academic year came to a close, the college held its first and only commencement ceremony at Hart High to honor its first graduates – all 16 of them. Rockwell’s plan accelerated in 1970 with the purchase of 153 acres of prime property along the east side of Interstate 5, south of Valencia Boulevard. Here, in the first summer of the new decade, architects envisioned the future, earthmovers began reshaping the terrain, and an assortment of modular classrooms and offices was assembled to accommodate classes that fall.
Fast-Forward to Today Having just celebrated the college’s 50th anniversary, the contrast between then and now is striking. College of the Canyons now serves more than 33,000 students per year on two campuses – in Valencia and Canyon Country – and remains one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the nation. The college provides cuttingedge educational and training programs, and it is widely recognized as a model community college for enhancing
College of the Canyons
HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE
The first classes at College of the Canyons met in 1969, but our history actually began two years earlier. That’s when citizens of the Santa Clarita Valley decided it was time to have a college to call their own. On Nov. 21, 1967, local voters transformed the idea into reality. They also elected a five-member board of trustees to oversee their new public institution of higher learning. William G. Bonelli, Edward Muhl, Peter F. Huntsinger, Bruce Fortine and Sheila Dyer were chosen from a field of 41 candidates.
student access, success and equity. Recent recognition includes: • The prestigious 2021 Bellwether Award for its innovative approach to assessment and course sequence redesign in English and mathematics, which paved the way for groundbreaking legislation that benefited community college students statewide; • A Champion of Higher Education for significantly increasing the number of students earning Associate Degrees for Transfer in 2018 and 2019; • One of the nation’s Best Two-Year Colleges for Adult Learners, ranking No. 1 in Los Angeles County and No. 2 in Southern California in 2019; • One of the top community colleges in the nation for enrolling the largest number of Hispanic students in 2019, 2020 and 2021; • One of America’s Best Colleges for Student Voting in 2020 for inspiring students to vote and participate in community decisions; • Completion rates ranking among the highest in California, and one of the top transfer rates in Los Angeles County. The college has also established a reputation for bolstering economic development and offering innovative career technical education programs that put students on the path to success. College of the Canyons owes its success to an equally dynamic and historically supportive community, as well as the vision of college leadership to build the finest and most-innovative community college anywhere.
Exceeding Demands As the college embarks on its new master plan, much of the focus turns to the Canyon Country campus, where a 55,000-square-foot Science Center is getting ready to hold its first classes. To put the size of this building into perspective, its square footage eclipses the total available space at that campus today. The Science Center will be complemented by the Student Services & Learning Resources Center, a companion building now under construction on the other side of a central outdoor amphitheater.
Passage of the $230 million Measure E bond in 2016 is helping the college meet future needs, as well as leverage state resources for facilities at both campuses. The most recent project to be completed was a three-level parking structure that opened at the Valencia campus in 2019. It boasts 1,659 spaces, 53 of them with electric vehicle charging stations. These and future facilities not only address the urgent needs of today, they signify a longstanding commitment by college leadership and the Board of Trustees to create the infrastructure necessary to provide relevant, cuttingedge educational and training programs well into the future.
Leadership Matters The vast majority of the college’s growth has occurred under the leadership of Chancellor Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook, who was hired to lead the college in 1988. She has transformed the Valencia campus – and created an entirely new one in Canyon Country – to not only meet the community’s demands, but to anticipate the educational 7
