San Diego Mesa College

San Diego Mesa College
Motto A key force in our community to educate our students to shape the future.
Type Public community college
Established 1963
President Pamela Luster
Academic staff
 795
Administrative staff
 526
Undergraduates 31,614 [2014][1]
Location San Diego, California, United States
Campus Suburban, 104 acres (42 ha)
Colors Navy Blue, White and Gold
Mascot Olympians
Website www.sdmesa.edu

San Diego Mesa College is a public, two year community college located in the community of Clairemont Mesa in the City of San Diego, California in the United States. It is the largest community college in the city of San Diego[2] and part of the San Diego Community College District along with San Diego City College, San Diego Miramar College and San Diego Continuing Education. The college is known informally as Mesa College or Mesa.

Mesa College is one of the 112 California Community Colleges and the 16th largest community college in the state.

History

South facade of the Learning Resource Center.

Community college education in San Diego began in 1914 when the Board of Education of the San Diego City Schools authorized post secondary classes for San Diego high school students. Classes opened with four faculty members serving 35 students.

San Diego Mesa College first opened in 1964. Initially offering education to 1,800 students, it has grown to become one of the largest community colleges in California.

Between 1965 and 1968 the college newspaper, The Olympian, was produced by the journalism students. During the academic year, 1967–68, the newspaper became The Daily Olympian, producing four 4-page issues each week and noted at that time as the only junior college daily newspaper in the nation. The journalism students in the same period produced four issues of a monthly magazine, The Dyonisian, drawing the name from the Greek heritage of the college. At the beginning of the 1968 academic year, the paper returned to weekly publication. The Olympian won a First Class Honor Rating award from the Associated Collegiate Press for the issues published during the Spring 1970 semester. In the Spring of 1971, the paper changed its name to "The School Paper." The publication's name is "The Mesa Press."

In the mid-1990s, Mesa College began to construct on its campus the Learning Resource Center (LRC). This opened on April 20, 1998. It serves as the campus library (employing the Library of Congress Classification system) and offers study areas and computer labs. It was constructed at a cost of $20 million and has four stories occupying 107,000 square feet (9,900 m²). Two bond measures, Prop N and Prop S,[3] passed by San Diego voters in 2002 and another in 2006 will allow construction of additional facilities on campus.

Administration

The College is administered by the San Diego Community College District. Mesa is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Academics

Courses are provided in general education, lower-division transfer programs, occupational and developmental education. Mesa has transfer agreements in place with most University of California and California State University schools.

The college newspaper, The Mesa Press, is run by journalism students and covers Mesa-related news.

The Mesa College Foundation offers scholarships to Mesa students. It awarded over $120,000 in scholarships to Mesa students in 2004.[4]

Degrees

Bachelors Degree

Bachelor's degree

Health Information Management

Associate Degrees

The following are associate degrees available at the college:[5]

  • Anthropology
  • Art
  • Biology
  • History
  • Business
  • Administration
  • Communication Studies
  • English
  • Geography
  • Geology
  • History
  • Journalism
  • Kinesiology
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Spanish
  • Studio Arts
  • Theatre Arts

Sports

The Merrill Douglas Stadium provides a venue for the Olympians Football team. It is located to the east of the campus. The baseball field is located next to the stadium. South of the stadium, there is a swimming pool for aquatic sports. It is adjacent to the Tecolote Canyon Natural Park.[6]

The college mascot is the Olympians. The football team has competed in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (CCCAA) since 1982 in every sport except for football where they have competed under the American Mountain Conference in the Southern California Football Association since 2008.[7]

Campus

Almost all of the buildings at Mesa College have been renovated or rebuilt. Some parts of the campus are still under construction. The campus is generally divided into an upper and lower level with the Learning Resource Center overlooking the lower level.

Notable Alumni

References

  1. ↑ "California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office - Data Mart". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Profile on communitycollege.net
  3. ↑ http://public.sdccdprops-n.com/Pages/Home.aspx
  4. ↑ Mesa Foundation
  5. ↑ "Academic Programs". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Tecolote Canyon Natural Park and Nature Center
  7. ↑ "2011 SCFA STANDINGS".

Coordinates: 32°48′16″N 117°10′13″W / 32.80444°N 117.17028°W / 32.80444; -117.17028

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