Vanderbilt University as we speak introduced plans to establish an academic campus in San Francisco starting in 2027, topic to mandatory regulatory approvals. This is a major enlargement of the college’s nationwide presence and reinforces its dedication to progressive training, interdisciplinary collaboration and international engagement.
Vanderbilt’s deliberate San Francisco campus expects to serve about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate college students and help sustained school, employees and academic exercise. It represents the following step in Vanderbilt’s strategic progress and builds on the college’s current expansions in New York City and West Palm Beach by extending Vanderbilt’s distinctive academic mannequin into one of many world’s main facilities of creativity, expertise and entrepreneurship.
Vanderbilt and the California College of the Arts have agreed for Vanderbilt to purchase the campus of CCA after the wind-down of CCA’s operations in 2027, topic to regulatory and transactional necessities. This path allows the situation to be a middle for academic innovation after CCA closes, and for Vanderbilt to honor CCA’s century-long legacy in the Bay Area in quite a few methods—together with plans to function a California College of the Arts Institute at Vanderbilt, which can embrace the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts. Vanderbilt additionally will help exhibitions and displays on modern artwork and different matters that honor CCA’s historic significance, will preserve the faculty’s archival supplies, and can function a automobile for alumni engagement. Investment in the positioning’s current infrastructure will help Vanderbilt’s academic choices, together with interdisciplinary packages that foster innovation and creativity.
“San Francisco offers an extraordinary environment for learning at the intersection of innovation, creativity and technology, and it provides an unparalleled setting for Vanderbilt to shape the future of higher education,” Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier stated. “By establishing a significant full-time presence here, Vanderbilt is expanding the ways our students and faculty engage with the world’s most innovative cities and advancing our core mission of education and discovery. We are grateful to Mayor Lurie for his leadership and support, and we look forward to being a long-term partner in San Francisco as Vanderbilt continues to grow its reach and impact. At the same time, we recognize the enduring contributions of the California College of the Arts and are committed to honoring and celebrating the creative legacy the CCA community has built over more than a century.”
“Vanderbilt’s decision to invest in our city is a powerful testament to the fact that San Francisco is on the rise,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated. “My administration is building a thriving city core where people live, work, play and learn, and now we’re welcoming another institution that will invest for the long term. As Vanderbilt establishes its presence, they will carry forward CCA’s legacy and continue the work of educating the next generation of creative leaders in our city.”
Vanderbilt plans to apply for all mandatory approvals to function in California. The San Francisco campus will mirror Vanderbilt’s emphasis on academic excellence, interdisciplinary studying and real-world engagement, and it’ll contribute to the potential of one of many world’s most artistic and progressive cities, the place expertise and artwork proceed to thrive.
Building on San Francisco’s long-standing function as a middle for innovation and entrepreneurship and creativity, Vanderbilt’s interdisciplinary mannequin will combine engineering, entrepreneurship and design with a robust basis in the humanities, humanities, social sciences and pure sciences—mixing creativity and evaluation in ways in which ignite breakthroughs and permit innovation to thrive. In San Francisco, Vanderbilt will outline a brand new method to innovation in increased training, cultivating visionary creators and creative thinkers who’re ready to make a distinction in the Bay Area and past. The new campus additionally will educate artists, makers and designers whose work bridges artistic expression and technological innovation, making ready graduates to translate concepts into cultural, civic and real-world influence. Students will achieve immersive studying experiences rooted in one of many world’s most dynamic city environments. Academic programming is in improvement and can bear the suitable accrediting our bodies’ evaluation and approval processes.
“Vanderbilt is a top-tier research university with a global faculty base and the ability to sustain long-term research and teaching investments in a way few other educational institutions can,” stated Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “Kudos to Mayor Lurie and his team for attracting this kind of educational partnership for San Francisco. I know there’s a lot of excitement about this announcement in the Showplace Square area and adjacent District 6 neighborhoods. This is a generational investment that offers some incredible opportunities for collaboration in technology, design, life sciences and more.”
The San Francisco initiative builds on Vanderbilt’s increasing nationwide footprint. As Vanderbilt extends its attain past its house campus and group in Nashville, new facilities of studying and collaboration are taking form in New York City and West Palm Beach.
Vanderbilt is dedicated to supporting the California College of the Arts because it winds down its actions. The school intends to proceed instruction and operations by the 2026–27 academic 12 months, permitting college students to progress in and/or full their packages. Vanderbilt anticipates opening its San Francisco campus for college kids in the 2027–28 academic 12 months, pending mandatory approvals by regulatory our bodies and different processes. Additional details about California College of the Arts as an establishment shall be communicated straight by CCA.
“On behalf of CCA’s Board of Trustees, I want to acknowledge both the challenge of this moment, as well as the opportunity,” stated Dr. Calvin Wheeler, CCA Board Chair. “For nearly 120 years, CCA has been providing an innovative arts and design education to students from the San Francisco Bay Area, across California and around the world. CCA’s impact is demonstrated through our global alumni of artists and creative professionals. At the same time, given our financial challenges, we recognize that this agreement with Vanderbilt is the best opportunity to carry forward this legacy, and we are grateful to Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Mayor Daniel Lurie for supporting our work during this time.”
Details about timing, amenities, school participation and academic programming shall be introduced as Vanderbilt advances planning and works with the town of San Francisco on the following steps.
Faculty engagement and shared governance shall be central to the event of Vanderbilt’s San Francisco campus. A college advisory committee, chaired by Jonathan Metzl of the College of Arts and Science, is working carefully with college management to assist form the academic imaginative and prescient, guiding rules and pathways for academic programming. Consistent with Vanderbilt’s shared governance processes, all academic packages will bear acceptable school evaluation and approval, in addition to evaluation by related accrediting and regulatory our bodies.
The committee members are:
- Maria Magdalena “Magda” Campos-Pons, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Art, College of Arts and Science
- Kevin Galloway, Research Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering
- Major Jackson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English, Director of Creative Writing, College of Arts and Science
- Shaul Kelner, Professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology, Associate Professor of Culture, Advocacy and Leadership and German, Russian and East European Studies, College of Arts and Science
- Jonathan Metzl, Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, College of Arts and Science, committee chair
- Vesna Pavlović, Paul E. Schwab Professor in Fine Arts, Chair of the Department of Art, College of Arts and Science
- Nilanjan Sarkar, Senior Associate Dean and Vice Dean of the School of Engineering, David Ok. Wilson Professor of Engineering, Professor of Computer Science, School of Engineering and College of Connected Computing
- Julian Wuerth, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Associate Professor of Philosophy, College of Arts and Science
- Catherine Loss (ex officio), Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of the Practice of Leadership, Policy and Organizations, Peabody College
- Tiffiny Tung (ex officio), Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Ingram Professor in Anthropology, College of Arts and Science
- Duane Watson (ex officio), Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Frank W. Mayborn Professor in Cognitive Science and professor of psychology and human improvement, Peabody College