College of the Desert invites community partners to weigh in on new ‘Strategic Master Plan’

College of the Desert is trying to build support with community partners while facing a lawsuit from the City of Palm Springs over the school's West Valley Campus expansion plans.

The college is in the drafting phase of their 'Strategic Master Plan' that'll be implemented for the next five years.

Students and internal stakeholders also had the chance to attend visioning meetings, but today's sessions focused on connecting with community partners.

Jessica Enders, Director of Education Centers for the East Valley Campuses says, "We want to engage with our partners and see what are the opportunities that we have, to make College of the Desert better for future generations of Roadrunners."

Representatives with 'Visit Greater Palm Springs' attended today's session.

Senior Director of Community Engagement with Visit Greater Palm Springs, Davis Meyer says, "We want to make sure that we understand the needs of the college and where we can help support, where we can help students get more experience in the tourism and hospitality industry."

Enders says she received valuable feedback from organizations that attended.

“We had some individuals from Coachella Valley Water District and we were talking about how can we let our students know about your job opportunities? How can we help develop pathways and pipelines to get students into those career fields," says Enders.

The college also presented data reflecting their demographic and enrollment rates.

All of this information helping them outline their mission and values for the next five years.

"We we want to make sure that we're expanding our programming, we want to make sure that we're offering pathways that are leading to livable wages, we want to make sure that students feel a place here that they can continue to stay, and not leave the Coachella Valley after they've received their degree," says Enders.

College of the Desert officials say the 'Strategic Master Plan' applies to all campuses.

Specific curriculum and courses for each campus will be determined through their 'Educational Master Plan.'

The College of the Desert will present a draft for its 'Strategic Master Plan' at the December Board of Trustees Meeting.

We've been following the ongoing lawsuit between the City of Palm Springs and College of the Desert.

Read the latest here.