The following email was sent to the CCA campus community on behalf of Lorna Meyer Calas, chair, Board of Trustees; Stephen Beal, president; and Tammy Rae Carland, provost on November 5, 2021.

Dear CCA Faculty, Staff, and Students,

It’s been wonderful to see our community coming back in person this fall, with students making, studying, and living on our campus. Although we won’t be back to a fully in-person schedule until spring 2022, having a full cohort of residential students in Founders Hall and seeing our community gather daily in Makers Cafe are heartening signs that our goal of a unified, residential campus in San Francisco has continued to progress despite the significant disruption of the pandemic.

The construction of Double Ground, which will be the centerpiece of our unified San Francisco campus, is central to the full realization of this goal. As we refine a new timeline for construction—which we expect to announce by the end of the year, following approval by the Board of Trustees—we have continued planning for the transition of academic programs and facilities from Oakland to San Francisco. Following are several updates about this process, and information about what you can expect in the coming weeks and months.

We will return to a fully in-person class schedule for spring 2022

We have seen a successful return to teaching, learning, and working on campus in a hybrid manner this fall, and it’s exciting to know our academic program will be fully in person again in the spring for the first time since March 2020. It’s also an ideal time to relaunch the expansion of our San Francisco campus, a project that has always been about bringing us all together.

All academic programs will be located in San Francisco by fall 2022

As we’ve shared previously, staff and faculty have been working on plans to transition all academic programs that remain in Oakland to San Francisco by the beginning of the fall 2022 semester. 

• Some Oakland-based programs, including the First Year Program, have already moved to San Francisco and relocation of others will take place over the summer. 
• Meetings between campus planning and the academic and administrative units impacted by the move have begun. These meetings will continue over the next several weeks to discuss location, process, and explore options and opportunities.
• Renovation of space in San Francisco for several programs will begin in the spring and progress through the summer. Construction will be limited to spaces not currently in use, and the Operations team is prioritizing the student experience and putting forth enormous effort to minimize disruption.
• Some programs will move directly into their long-term homes on the San Francisco campus. Others will relocate temporarily while we build Double Ground. Details are being shared as early as possible with affected programs, and we will share a timeline with our full community as work progresses.

Plans for the future of the Oakland campus continue on schedule

The Oakland Campus Legacy Committee (OCLC), Alumni Engagement, and others are planning many events and activities to celebrate the history and legacy of CCA’s Oakland campus during this final academic year in Oakland and throughout unification.

• Homecoming and the annual Holiday Art & Craft Fair will be held on the Oakland campus for the final time on Saturday, November 20.
• The Legacy Print Project is a collaboration with alum and faculty emeritus Thomas Wojak and ten faculty artists. OCLC is producing an edition of ten prints, each representing a decade of CCA’s 100 years on the Oakland campus. The project will launch with a special exhibition featuring the first three prints alongside ephemera from the CCA/C archives.
• We’re looking forward to sharing information about additional opportunities to celebrate CCA’s legacy, including a special closing ceremony, in the spring.

While the pandemic has delayed construction on Double Ground, planning for the sale and development of the Oakland campus continues on schedule. Equity Community Builders and Emerald Fund (ECB/Emerald) are continuing to move through the planning process for development of the campus, with a goal of adding much-needed housing to the Bay Area while preserving key historic campus buildings and creating publicly accessible outdoor gathering space. See their plans here and find more information here.

What you can expect next

As we enter the next phase of CCA’s unification in San Francisco, projects that have been in planning mode for years will become more visible as we begin construction and programs relocate. To ensure our community is in the know about what is happening and what to expect next, we will communicate and offer opportunities for questions and feedback through a variety of channels.

• The Campus Planning section of Portal is currently being refreshed and will become an active information hub, with regular updates posted to ensure any new information is available to our community. This will include timelines for changes that will impact the fall 2022 semester, as well as a full timeline working toward the opening of Double Ground as soon as it is adopted by the Board.
• In addition to information posted to Portal, ongoing updates to the community will be provided through a series of regularly scheduled emails.
• CCA has been discussing the impacts of unification with faculty governance and our union bargaining teams, and will continue to involve them closely in these discussions.
• If you have questions or comments, send them to campusplanning@cca.edu. This inbox is monitored by the Communications department; if they don’t know the answer, they’ll find someone who does. 
• As soon as we have a date set, we’ll share information about a “ground-raising”  ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on Double Ground, which will enable us all to come together and celebrate this exciting moment for the future of CCA. 

The unification of our campuses has been in the works for many years, and has involved input and hard work from hundreds of faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees, and other members of our community. After an unexpected delay during the pandemic, it’s thrilling to see plans coming together to realize this transformative step for CCA that will serve our students and community for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Lorna Meyer Calas, Chair, Board of Trustees
Stephen Beal, President
Tammy Rae Carland, Provost