Introduction

In 2020, Foothill-De Anza district voters adopted Ballot Measure G, which authorized borrowing funds up to $898 million to upgrade, repair and build facilities, classrooms, labs, equipment and sites to deliver instructional services and support to students.

After almost half a decade of studying, planning and negotiating, the Board of Trustees and various shared governance groups involved in Measure G projects at De Anza College haven’t been able to come to a mutual agreement on how to move forward. The following article is part one of a series that will explore the past, present and future of projects related to the measure.

Breaking down the allocation of Measure G money

In a Board study session that took place on Nov. 2, 2020, $175 million was allocated toward De Anza projects and another $175 million was allocated toward Foothill projects. The remaining $548 million of the bond money was allocated toward projects under the jurisdiction of the Foothill-De Anza District. 

In the chart presented at the 2020 meeting (see image above), $74 million was allocated to the district project of building a new event center on the De Anza campus.

The District also put aside the $200 million for affordable housing as planned. However, during that same meeting, Susan Cheu, the vice chancellor of business services for the Foothill-De Anza district, said that building infrastructure to support affordable housing is not an allowed bond expense, so the district has decided to focus on partnering with outside companies to buy into existing developments.

After the bond passed, the De Anza administration proposed a Measure G-funded project: grouping student services together into a building to increase its accessibility. 

However, the administration’s decision to potentially relocate the arts quad and build this facility in its place – thus displacing thousands of students and faculty without a plan to house them in a permanent location – has been a continued source of controversy.  At this time, there is still no Measure G funding allocated toward building new facilities for the creative arts department. 

Chia Wen, a photo laboratory technician, explained his feelings on the lack of funding. 

Discussion regarding the art quad relocation dates back to the Facilities Master Plan 2016-2021 and the Facilities Master Plan 2021-2026. Daniel Smith, the Dean of Creative Arts, explained the differences between the two plans. 

“Dating back to the 2016-2021 Facilities Master plan, there was already a plan to move the Creative Arts area and build a new art complex,” said Smith.
“What changed in the 2021 plan was where the art quad would be.”

In February 2022, creative arts laboratory technicians recalled creating a written statement with their minimum requirements for a temporary swing space they would move into. Alyssa Vanzandt, a laboratory technician in the sculpture department, explained what she included.

“We compiled a list of basically all of our equipment power requirements and the square footage of our buildings in order to give an idea of what we would need only temporarily,” she said.

Site walks with the Creative Arts divisions were scheduled for April 8 and Oct. 14, 2022 by the De Anza administrators and the campus facilities team. Dean Daniel Smith and some laboratory technicians were invited to look at temporary locations for the arts quad but faculty members of this department were left out of communications regarding these plans.

Vanzandt said she was initially presented Options A and B (see below) by the facilities team and she rejected both of them because the spaces were incompatible with her program.

Option B suggested that the A-quad be relocated to L-quad because the two spaces were similar in character. Rocky Lewycky, a De Anza ceramics instructor, said that the space in Option B didn’t meet their requirements for a temporary space. 

“(My technician and I thought that) temporary means maybe we're there for a year or two while they're building something, so what we supplied was an absolute minimum,” Lewycky said. “But when the proposed footprint (for the new A-quad location) comes out, it turns out that our proposed footprint is considerably less than even our temporary space requirement, so that would be cutting us by about 30% (of what we currently have).”

On Nov. 7, 2022, De Anza administrators presented their Measure G project progress to the FHDA Board of Trustees, formally acknowledging that funding for the new art building was not identified in Measure G bond. Instead, it would only fund the construction of the new services for students building on the current art quad location and a new Event Center to replace Flint. 

Julie Hughes, the Department Chair of Visual Arts and Design, said she felt worried for the fate of the Creative Arts division at De Anza because at this time she didn’t know where the art buildings would be permanently located.

“All the site walks conducted were to look at temporary swing spaces and they (the facility planning team and the school administrators) had no plan for permanent spaces for us,” Hughes said. “The thing that's been difficult for art instructors and art students is that there is a feeling of insecurity around our spaces and around our worth at De Anza.”

The tension peaked on Dec. 5, 2022 at a Board meeting. Tim Shively, a De Anza English instructor and the FHDA Faculty Association President, said De Anza students and faculty came to address their concerns regarding the Art quad relocation. 

“The meeting was harsh because our students were sharp,” Shively said. “A lot of students showed up. Even the ones from previous years came back, criticized the institutional gentrification and asked (the board) to build the new art facilities before making any other decision.”

This movement made such a huge impact on the Board of Trustees that they decided to go back and revise the original plan as well as pay an extra $19,400 to LPAS Architecture & Design firm to further the evaluation of alternate locations for affected art programs.

Pam Grey, Vice President of College Operations, said that the Board’s decision was important because it shows that the plan was a work in progress.

“This was working with architects to see what was possible, and (incorporating) the ideas that the architects and the dean of the area had  to see what was feasible,” Grey said. “I think we were talking about it temporarily until something was built.” 

The result was put together on Feb. 3 , 2023 and presented to shared governance groups and students by President Lloyd Holmes and the senior administrators on Feb. 26 at a student forum hosted by DASG. 

There were six new options named C through J that were added on to the original plans. As of this time, decisions are pending but the administrators are leaning toward option J, which relocates the Arts quad to the L4 buildings. 

Hughes said that she doesn’t think option J works because all the classrooms in L4 buildings will have to be moved. 

“It's like this domino effect,” Hughes said. “If they're leaning toward relocating most of the creative arts to the L4, they are displacing all sorts of other classrooms  as well, such as the village space that just opened, (Journalism classrooms) and English classrooms.” 

Lewycky said that if every shared constituent had better communication they would solve the problems easier. 

“There was zero communication in terms of what we actually needed and that's the first major breakdown,” Lewycky said. “It's my belief that architects working with major institutions (typically) go to each program of the institution and get into the basics of what the program needs before they start assimilating that into a general footprint. But that step still hasn't happened, (and) it needs to happen in order for us to feel comfortable moving to a new and realistic space.”

There has also been a conversation around whether a student services building needs to be built in place of the A quad. 

Amy Huang, 24, a business tri-major and the current DASG President, said that she understands many offices on campus need new renovated spaces but she disagrees that the creative art division has to be torn down for that purpose. 

Originally, the campus facilities team formed student focus groups to survey 26 students about the types of spaces they would like to see developed on campus. The results showed a need to improve visibility and access to student support services.

Yuetong Zhang, a De Anza alumna who participated in the student focus group, said that the survey result doesn’t actually reflect what students need. 

“My experience with the campus facilities and the consultants they bring in is that they do these focus groups to be able to say ‘Yes, we had these focus groups to listen to what students want to say, but this is what we have decided to move forward with instead,’” Zhang said. “Despite how many times we keep telling them this, it's just their priorities are all wrong.”

On May 3, 2021, Jennifer Mahato, the De Anza Director of College Operations, said at the Board meeting that the purpose of a new Services for Students building for De Anza College would be to create a more welcoming entry point to the campus and bring all the student services programs together. 

Hughes said that she disagrees with the idea of demolishing A-quad for the new Services for Students building because the arts are also important to De Anza.

“It doesn't have to be this brand new facility that annihilates part of the fabric of what De Anza is,” Hughes said. “The student services center doesn’t have to be there (on the existing Art quad location). There's lots of places it could go, but they want this entrance.” 

Marco Marquez, a graphic design instructor, said that he regrets supporting Measure G because the funds are not being used to improve the Art department. 

“I spoke positively about Measure G with my neighbors and other members. of the community because I was told that the funds would be used to improve our educational spaces,” Marquez said.  “Now (it appears) that it may not be the case, specifically for the art department.”