Make Yourself at Home

Long Beach State officials announced in the Summer of 2007 that a new dormitory would be purchased off-campus to help provide housing for an already overcrowded university. The new dormitory is different from the other on-campus dorms however, this dorm will be filled with students and faculty. According to the LBpost, many Long Beach State faculty do not even refer to the Residential Learning College(RLC) as a dormitory, but rather a learning community.

Students will be living and learning alongside faculty in the RLC and studies have shown that innovations like this help to raise GPA's and graduation rates on college campuses. "Increasing student living and learning opportunities is an important priority for our campus," said CSULB President F. King Alexander.

The RLC is located one mile away from campus where Brooks College used to hold classes. This new living arrangement is meant to accommodate 134 Long Beach State students and includes a dining area, study rooms and a pool. The purchase of this property cost $11.1 million with another $15 million in renovations expected.

Other ideas are in the works about opening up more off-campus housing as well, according to CSULB Vice President for Administration and Finance Mary Stephens. "Discussions are ongoing but no such project has been identified,” said Stephens.

Grants for the Arts

The Carpenter Performing Arts Center's (CPAC) project plan about the history of censorship in Southern California has advanced to the semi-finals of the 2010 Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program and been given $7,000 to continue its work.

The project plan, titled "Banned, Blacklisted and Boycotted" advanced with 30 other groups, out of 150 original participants, that are seeking to become one of 10 groups that will receive a one-to-two year grant ranging from $100,000 to $200,000. According to the CSULB website, the grants are awarded to projects that go beyond conventional practice and perspectives on collaboration and learning. Beginning in 2006, grants have been given out by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

This grant will help promote ideas by students at Long Beach State to create new collaborations that will explore diverse and unconventional topics. “One of our goals at the Carpenter Center is to provide more avenues for performing artists to participate with and integrate into the academic departments of Cal State Long Beach and our larger Long Beach community,” said Michele Roberge, CPAC’s executive director.

The 10 winning projects will be announced in August 2010.