The Sacramento City College Davis Center at UC Davis West Village opens it doors to more than 2,000 students tomorrow (Jan. 14). The opening comes three days after a dedication ceremony for the center — the first community college extension to be built on a UC campus.

While in recent years a nationwide trend had seen universities offering courses leading to bachelor’s degrees on community college campuses, this project marks a new direction for collaboration between higher education institutions in California. Last fall, about 160 students transferred from SCC to UC Davis.

UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, who participated in the dedication ceremony, said the new center is emblematic of the ways UC Davis is working to make it easier for California community college students to transfer to UC Davis. "We want to build bridges," she said. "I know this center will become that bridge for more and more students."

SCC President Kathryn Jeffery said of the transfer possibilities for SCC students: “Our new center enhances educational opportunities for SCC students and creates a stronger likelihood that they will move more seamlessly into UC Davis or another four-year university.”

Phase 1 of the SCC Davis Center spans 20,000 square feet and includes a learning resource center, computer lab, classrooms, and administrative and student services spaces. Future phases are to include additional classrooms, a bookstore and laboratory spaces.

Katehi said the center's place on campus "also underscores the strong spirit of partnership that helped create West Village as a model of sustainability and innovation."

UC Davis West Village is the largest planned zero net energy community in the country, designed to generate as much energy as it consumes in the course of a year. The community includes housing for students, faculty and staff; a recreation center; and commercial space.

“West Village offers a unique environment for students: close to the student culture and activities at UC Davis, close to the many exciting projects of the Energy Efficiency Center, and in the midst of a neighborhood that is itself a living laboratory,” said Don Palm, dean of the SCC Davis Center.

In addition to high-tech, sustainable spaces and flexibility for future programs, the SCC Davis Center is designed to LEED Silver certification standards. LEED certified facilities are designed, constructed and operated using a more sustainable approach.

Construction for the $7.4 million center is funded by the Los Rios Community College District with Measure A bond proceeds, as approved by district voters in 2002.

The center’s strategic presence on the UC Davis campus comes as a timely homage to the California Master Plan for Higher Education, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The 1960 document provided a framework for the concerted growth of community colleges as well as UC and California State University campuses.