The mission of the Annual Environmental Report is to inform students and the community of diversity enhancements and the teaching and learning of basic skills that will lead to a proficient future.

With a quickly declining budget and many cutbacks in classes and activities, Mesa’s environmental report shows how Mesa College manages to “do more with less.” The intentions of the community report were to promote sustainability and solidity in an unstable time.

The new Allied Health Education and Training Facility provides environmentally friendly features such as natural lighting, linoleum flooring and high-performance glass to reduce the amount of UV light and solar heat infiltrating the building which will make heating and cooling costs less.

The parking structure contains drought-tolerant plants and an efficient irrigation system.

President of the U.S. Partnership for Education Sustainable Development, Debra Rowe, said education for a sustainable society “enables people to develop knowledge, values and skills to participate in decisions.that will improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future.”

The report also features a month-to-month view of Mesa College events, as well as student profiles, sports achievements, and academic awards and scholarships.

One of the featured student profiles is of Mesa student Kelvin Crosby, who was among one of the five young adults greeted by President Barack Obama at the Oval Office in commemoration of Helen Keller Deaf-Blind
Awareness Week.

Another page is dedicated to the Mesa College Women’s Soccer team, who made history for the San Diego Community College District soccer programs by advancing to the State Final Four in the fall of 2008. They finished third in the state and fifth in the nation.

Following the highlights and achievements, the report wraps up with scholarship information and a background on the San Diego Mesa College Foundation: a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for Mesa.

Rita M. Cepeda, Ed.D., President of San Diego Mesa College, leaves students and the community with “The Mesa College 2008-2009 annual report is dedicated to the year that was and the future that will be ours.”