College of the Canyons

Coordinates: 34°24′15.89″N 118°34′04.45″W / 34.4044139°N 118.5679028°W / 34.4044139; -118.5679028

College of the Canyons
Motto	Start here. Go anywhere.
Established	1969
Type	Public, Community College
Students	16,504 (as of Fall '05)
Location	Santa Clarita, CA,, USA
Campus	Suburban - 153.4 acres (62.1 ha)
Colors	Blue and Gold
Nickname	Cougars
Affiliations	Santa Clarita Community College District; Western State Conference; Phi Rho Pi National Speech & Debate Honor Society
Website	www.canyons.edu

College of the Canyons is a public two-year community college that operates within the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is located on 153.4 acres (62.1 ha) of rolling, tree-dotted hills in the incorporated city of Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles County, California. The college’s address is: 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook is president of the college and chancellor of the Santa Clarita Community College District. She has headed the college and district since 1988.

College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the nation. Enrollment has grown from 15,053 in fall 2003 to 23,662 in fall 2009, an increase of 57 percent. Enrollment is projected to grow to approximately 37,000 by 2018. With 191 full-time faculty members (as of fall 2009), the college offers Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees in 69 academic programs, as well as credentials in 82 certificate programs. Programs include Audio/Radio Production, Biotechnology, Child Development, Dance, Film/Video Production, Fire Control Technology, Industrial Manufacturing, Music, Nursing, Paralegal Studies, Television Production, Theatre Arts and Video Game Animation. Recent additions to the curricula include programs in insurance, web development, ESL, hotel-restaurant entrepreneurship, human services-gerontology and medical laboratory technician.

College Formation

Local voters approved the formation of the college in 1967. It officially opened in 1969, operating in temporary quarters on the campus of William S. Hart High School in Newhall. In 1970, the college purchased a permanent campus site along the east side of Interstate 5, south of Valencia Boulevard and north of McBean Parkway. The college relocated to a collection of modular buildings on the site in 1970 as permanent facilities were being built. Over the years, educational facilities have been built to ensure that they blend with the natural attributes of the location, creating a relaxed and comfortable physical environment.

College of the Canyons Today

Recent additions to the campus include a 926-seat performing arts center, built in partnership with the city of Santa Clarita, that offers academic, community and professional productions. The facility, which also holds a smaller experimental theater, opened in late 2004. A new Music/Dance Building opened adjacent to the performing arts center in 2005. As of early 2006, construction was under way on a new High-Tech Classroom Building (34,000 square feet) and a major expansion of the Laboratory Building. Also under way was site preparation for the Canyon Country Educational Center, a full-service educational facility that the college plans to open in the eastern Santa Clarita Valley in the 2006-07 academic year. The college competes in the Western State Conference in twelve sports: football, soccer (men's and women's) women's volleyball, cross country running, golf (men's and women's), softball, baseball, swimming, track and field and men's and women's basketball. The men's golf team has won 5 state championships 1991 and 4 since 2000 (2000, 2002, 2006 and again in 2008) women's golf won the state championship in fall of 2001 and again in 2007. This is the second time that the Women's and Men's team have won back to back state championships in the same academic year (Fall 2001, Spring 2002 and Fall 2007, Spring 2008) The men's football team won the national championship in 2004. The men's ice hockey club won the ACHA Division III National Title in 2011.

In 2007 the college opened its Canyon Country campus on a 70-acre (28 ha) site located at 17200 Sierra Hwy., Santa Clarita, CA 91351. The campus had an enrollment of 3,845 in fall 2009. Its first permanent building, the Applied Technology Education Center, will open in 2011 to provide education and training in a variety of high-demand "green" technology fields. The campus is composed primarily of modular buildings that are situated to best accommodate planned permanent buildings as they are built in the years to come. The campus has an outdoor venue, the Carl A. Rasmussen Amphitheater, that has hosted a variety of campus and community events such as the popular Star Party.

Since 1994, the COC Speech Team has been recognized nationally at six consecutive Phi Rho Pi National Tournaments for all three major areas of speech competition.

Outside Partnerships

The college also is a participant in several innovative partnerships that have redefined the traditional role of community colleges. Academy of the Canyons, a middle college high school operated by the William S. Hart Union High School District, opened on the College of the Canyons campus in 2002. The concept allows promising high school students to attend high school and college concurrently. The college also oversees the University Center, a collection of public and private universities that offer advanced degree programs on the college’s campus, eliminating the need for residents to commute long distances to earn their degrees. Also operating at the college are the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies and the Employee Training Institute, both of which have helped local businesses become more efficient and train employees in the latest emerging fields. The Small Business Development Center and the i3 Advanced Technology Center, hosted by the college, leverages college resources and provides addition support and seminars to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners.

T.V. Shows and Movies Filmed at College of the Canyons

• Weeds (Used as the site of Doug's office, Shane's school, and the local community college)^[1]

• Disney Channel Games

• The Girl Next Door (Used as the site of the main characters High School) ^[2]

• [[NCIS {TV series) |NCIS]] {Called Weatherly University} ^[3]

References

1. ^ http://filming.90210locations.info/tv-locations/weeds/
2. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265208/locations
3. ^ http://filmlocations.awardspace.com/ncis.html

External links

	Greater Los Angeles portal
	University portal

• Official webpage
• Official athletics webpage
• Exclusive Q&A with Dr. Dianne Van Hook, Superintendent-President, College of the Canyons (Part 1 of 3)
• Exclusive Q&A with Dr. Dianne Van Hook, Superintendent-President, College of the Canyons (Part 2 of 3)
• Exclusive Q&A with Dr. Dianne Van Hook, Superintendent-President, College of the Canyons (Part 3 of 3)