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DECADE NINE

The dawn of the new millennium has been a time of great success, growth, and positive changes for SRJC. In the College’s ninth decade, SRJC nursing and dental students consistently rank first in state for their high passing rate in state examinations. Student athletes typically maintain strong academic performance, and state championships are frequently won by Men’s Soccer, Women’s Swimming, and Baseball programs, with the Men’s Soccer team winning the national championship in 2001.

In 2000 and 2001, SRJC was named one of the “most wired” community colleges in the country, according to Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine, ranking 14th out of 1,132 institutions nationally and second in the state for two-year colleges.

As one of the largest employers in Sonoma County, with more than 3,500 staff, SRJC is one of the largest consumers of energy locally. SRJC was one of the first colleges in California to institute a broad conservation program aimed at energy efficiency—a focus that started in 1983. All new buildings are built with sustainable, green energy features to maximize energy cost reductions and minimize the College’s carbon footprint.

In January 2008, California Governor Schwarzenegger released a proposed budget for 2008-09 that included proposed budget cuts for most state programs, which hits education particularly hard. In preparation for the cuts, SRJC’s administration immediately began to reduce current year spending to save funds and buffer revenue reductions. The College has thrived, through lean years and through boom times, by watching enrollment trends, listening to students and the community, showing sound fiscal judgment, and by carefully planning growth to meet the ever-changing needs of the College and the District.

At commencement on May 28, 2011, five former students who were enrolled at SRJC during World War II - or their surviving family members - were recognized with honorary college degrees. See the slideshow of images on the Nisei site. These honorees were among 10 SRJC students of Japanese ancestry who were affected by the U.S. Executive Order 9066 in 1942 that forced them to leave their college studies and relocate to internment camps during the course of the war. SRJC is proud to be part of the “California Nisei College Diploma Project,” which estimated that 2,500 students across the CSU, UC, and CCC systems were eligible to receive such honorary college degrees.