William Jessup University plans $25 million expansion

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http://www.sacbee.com/240/story/1452880.html

Jessup University plans $25 million expansion in Rocklin
By Bob Walter
bwalter@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Dec. 06, 2008 | Page 4B
With Placer County poised to embrace a plan to lure a private university from 3,000 miles away, it is easy to overlook the only traditional private university already based in the capital region.

Welcome to William Jessup University, a Christian college that has about 550 students at its west Rocklin campus, which opened in 2004. The small university, housed in an architectural icon designed by the legendary Frank Gehry, has big plans.

A $25 million expansion project under way would let the campus accommodate 1,300 students. A more immediate goal is to boost enrollment to 800 to 1,000 students within five years, which today would put Jessup in the top 40 of the state's traditional, residential universities.

As a private university, Jessup also is ready to take advantage of the drastic budget cuts looming for public colleges and universities, said Jonathan Brown, president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.

"The last thing we are going to do is cut enrollment," Brown said.

Jessup's expansion includes Rocklin's first five-story building, which will house parking and student apartments. The college also will add a gymnasium, a dining hall for more than 700 and a music facility.

Next up: baseball, softball and soccer stadiums.

The school already fields teams in basketball, soccer, track and field, golf and volleyball. Baseball and softball will start in 2010.

Cordova High graduate and local baseball icon Jerry Manuel is lined up to coach Jessup's team – at some point after he finishes his current job, manager of the New York Mets.

Manuel's wife, Renette, leads fundraising to build Jessup's sports stadiums.

Jessup hasn't generated a lot of headlines, compared to the fanfare over Placer's effort – expected to be approved Tuesday by county supervisors – to persuade Drexel University of Philadelphia to build a campus here.

The plan would give Drexel five years to accept donated farmland west of Roseville and begin a process that could result in a 6,000-student university there.

"I understand it's a big story that they may be coming," said Joe Womack, a Jessup vice president who describes his university as often overlooked or misunderstood.

"Just the other day, my neighbor … said 'I thought you were like a Christian (University of) Phoenix.' "

University President Bryce Jessup said Drexel would be good for the region and his institution.

"It's a little like fast-food places," he said Friday. "When one goes in, another half-dozen go in nearby and they all help each other."

The university offers degrees in 13 disciplines, including business administration, liberal studies, pastoral ministries, history, music and public policy. It also offers an evening degree-completion program.

About 190 students live on campus, and most of the students come from within 100 miles of Sacramento.

Others, such as junior Ricky Ward, hail from places such as Cottonwood, Ariz. Ward was recruited by a friend from his home church and received a soccer scholarship to Jessup.

Tuition at Jessup costs $20,480 a year; room and board runs $7,470. Like most private institutions, Jessup offers more financial aid than public schools.

In just a few years, Jessup has become a valued partner and economic engine for Rocklin, City Manager Carlos Urritia said.

"They are great neighbors," he said. "Their students, administration and professors have become important members of our community. I am impressed with their growth."

The president's father, William Jessup, founded San Jose Bible College in 1939. The original 14 students were taught in rooms attached to the family home in downtown San Jose.

The name later was changed to San Jose Christian College and became William Jessup in 2004, when the university moved to 128 acres just east of Highway 65 in Rocklin.

The campus is a marvel.

Designed by Gehry in 1998 for the Herman Miller furniture company, it consisted of three mammoth warehouses with walls clad in galvanized iron and copper.

At the campus' center is a small, domed building – once a showroom and now a prayer chapel with a cross atop the dome.

The complex initially was crowned with a towering 75-foot steel and burnt-copper trellis. But the trellis, which leaked, was torn down in 1998, three years before Jessup bought the furniture plant and acreage for $18 million.

It cost $27 million more to turn the plant into a campus, said Jim Jessup, director of alumni and church relations and grandson of the founder.

"The first time I came here, all I could see was some big empty warehouses," he said. "But our architect … had a vision for the buildings. And we knew how to do a university."

Changes enabled nearly the entire campus to function inside the former warehouses.

Sections of the ceiling were removed from the old manufacturing warehouse to create student dorm/suites, a student center and bookstore.

The old assembly warehouse has classrooms, the library and administration offices.

The vast 130,000-square-foot storage warehouse holds basketball courts, other athletic facilities – including an indoor pole-vault pit – music rooms and offices.

The building also will accommodate a new gymnasium/arena seating 1,500 spectators. It's planned for the next phase of expansion, which may begin shortly after the first of the year.

"That's our dream," Jim Jessup said.