College of the Desert focused on sharing future growth across campus in its annual State of the College “COD Rising” address Wednesday.
Principal/Chancellor Martha Garcia, Ph.D. of Education, shared details of the College’s upcoming projects, including the Palm Springs Development Project, Cathedral City’s Roadrunner Motors, and the expansion of the Indio campus.
“In terms of expansion, these projects take time,” said Garcia. “Create projects that are committed to creation and provide additional educational access to students living in those communities.”
The project includes the Palm Springs Campus, the Roadrunner Motors facility in Cathedral City, the Indio Campus Expansion and the Child Development Center.
“This community uses the money they entrust to us, so it’s important to take responsibility when planning accordingly,” Garcia said.
COD has announced that these are the latest completion dates for the project.
- Indio Child Development Center to be completed by summer 2023
- Indio campus expansion expected to be completed by summer 2024
- Roadrunner Motors facility to be completed by Spring 2026
- Palm Springs campus to be completed by end of 2026
A detailed overview and timeline of COD’s expansion project can be found at https://codbond.wpengine.com/.
District 4 COD Board Director said: , Aurora Wilson.
Wilson said the university is still working to recover from the low levels of the pandemic.
“The pandemic has changed us. So how do we take these lessons and move forward?” Wilson said.
Some of the achievements the university highlighted at the event are:
- Enrollments increased by more than 1,000 during last year after decline during pandemic
- COD has partnered with California Indian Nations College to improve access to higher education for Indigenous students.
- COD ranked second in the state for the number of transfer associate degrees earned by full-time students.
- COD is one of the top 12 community colleges out of 116 colleges, with at least 65% of Latinx students earning an associate’s degree for transfer while improving their academic performance.
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