SRJC Petaluma celebrates 20 years, looks to expand

Twenty years after opening a branch on Sonoma Mountain Parkway, Santa Rosa Junior College’s Petaluma campus is thriving and looking toward future expansion in facilities and course offerings, according to Jane Saldana-Talley, vice president and head of the Petaluma campus.

After the passage of a $410 million bond measure in November, college officials are planning for more investment in the Petaluma campus, which has long been thought of as the younger sibling to the larger Santa Rosa branch but has recently developed its own identity.

“The trick is for the Petaluma campus to step out of the shadow of its older sibling and be what it was perfectly designed to be,” Saldana-Talley told an auditorium of more than 200 Petaluma leaders last week.

Santa Rosa Junior College President Frank Chong said that facility master planning is underway and will take a year. Additions and renovations identified for the Petaluma campus include a new science, technology, engineering and math building and an upgraded student center.

Chong said the college this year will renew its focus on adult learners. In Petaluma, that effort will involve reaching out to local businesses to identify workers who can benefit from additional education.

“I hear all the time, ‘We need qualified workers. Where are we going to get them?’” he said. “You are going to get them here.”

Chong touted a proposal that President Barack Obama has put forth to universally subsidize community college education. He cited statistics that it costs taxpayers $100,000 annually to incarcerate a criminal compared with the $3,800 cost for community college.

“You do the math,” he said.

A trio of students - Kim Baptista, Jamar Minor and Adriana Lopez Torres - spoke about how the SRJC Petaluma campus has set them off on paths to successful careers. Baptista, a full-time student and parent, said that the Petaluma campus lacks the childcare service that the Santa Rosa campus has.

Minor, an Air Force veteran, said that the campus is more intimate than Santa Rosa’s.

“One of the things I love about the Petaluma campus is that it is a microcosm of the town itself,” he said. “Being here in Petaluma is very special.”

Lopez Torres, who was born in Mexico and came to the United States at the age of three, spoke about the unique challenges of navigating the education system as an immigrant.

“At the Petaluma campus, the resources could not be better,” she said. “Everyone on this campus accepted me with open arms. Nobody turned me down because of my legal status.”

Saldana-Talley said that the recession hit the campus hard, but the school has been able to weather tough financial times and is now back to full strength. The campus offers nearly 20 majors and employs an all-time high of 40 full-time faculty.

“SRJC Petaluma has emerged as a student success powerhouse,” she said.

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @MattBrownAC.)