Enrollment crunches and impaction at San Diego State Universitymay be less of a problem in the future if students could take classeselsewhere, like an off-campus facility that’s closer to their house.

SDSU is looking to add a facility in Otay Mesa. Currently, SDSUhas two off-campus facilities — a higher education center inNational City and a satellite campus in the Imperial Valley.

More than 800 SDSU students go to most of their classes off-campusand get all of the same course credits they would at SDSU.

“It is easy for students to find parking, and most classes are nolarger than 40 students,” said Rob Carlson, academic coordinator ofSDSU programs at National City.

Carlson said off-campus classes help alleviate enrollmentincreases at SDSU.

Patricia Huckle, the University Senate chair, said the Senate hasbeen looking for possibilities for other off-campus facilities, onebeing in Otay Mesa, close to the Mexican border.

“There had been discussion in the Senate of expanding into theOtay Mesa campus site,” Huckle said. “But due to lack of funding,this is far off from happening.”

Bonnie Zimmerman, the Task Force on Off-Campus chair, said oneadvantage of a campus in Otay Mesa would be the culture it wouldprovide to students.

“Otay Mesa provides the opportunity to develop an international,multicultural, and bilingual curriculum,” she said.

The school in National City is called the Higher Education Center(HEC), and is co-run by Southwestern College and SDSU.

Carlson said that almost all of the students that attendoff-campus classes also take classes at SDSU, and attend for variousreasons.

“Some students come here to get classes that are too full toenroll in at SDSU, and some come because it is closer to where theylive,” he said.

However, there is talk within the University Senate of expansion.

Carlson said off-campus facilities provide both quality educationand a unique college experience.

“All seven classrooms (in National City) are ‘smart’ rooms, andthere is a computer lab with 35 computers for the students,” he said.

Carlson said most of the teachers at the off-campus facility inNational City also teach at SDSU. He also said that there are certainadvantages in going to a smaller school.

“There is a friendliness that comes with a small environment,”Carlson said. “The spirit of the campus is different than SDSU.Everyone knows one another and people enjoy that. Also, it is so easyto park and walk around for the students.”

However, there are certain incentives a large campus provides,Huckle said, who is also a professor in the department of women’sstudies. She said the SDSU campus is where students want to be.

“This is where the heart is,” she said. “When a student comes tocollege, he or she wants a college experience, and that means here atSDSU; not far away.”

Carlson said that even though there are some students that wouldlike to attend a larger campus, there are many that don’t care eitherway.

“There are students that don’t care as much as others if they goto a four-year college or not,” Carlson said. “For a lot of students,it is just important to get through school.”

Huckle said there are also some land problems with the originalsite that was chosen for the potential campus. She also said ifexpansion does take place, the faculty wants to make sure that thequality of education at Otay Mesa is as good as it is at SDSU.