New leadership brings renewed optimism to College of the Desert West Valley projects
About 50 people, including residents and city council members from Palm Springs and Cathedral City, gathered at the Hilton Palm Springs Wednesday evening to hear from a pair of new COD leaders.
New members of the College of the Desert (COD) administration brought renewed optimism to a community event held here Wednesday evening.
About 50 people, including residents and city council members from Palm Springs and Cathedral City, gathered at the Hilton Palm Springs to hear from Ron Oden, a newly appointed member of the COD Board of Trustees representing parts of the West Valley.
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In May, Oden was sworn into the role to fill the vacancy left by Fred Jandt, who resigned earlier this year due to health concerns. Another new face joined him: Laura Hope, serving as COD’s interim president after Dr. Martha Garcia resigned in April after nearly two years on the job.
With two significant roles in flux, COD leadership assured the West Valley community that both the Palm Springs campus and the Cathedral City automotive education center will still be built.
With the schematic design phase process complete, the Palm Springs campus is now in the design development phase, which the administration said would be finished by November.
Even though progress on the campus is inching along, there are still no shovels in the ground nearly 20 years since initial talks about the project began.
Dr. Scott Adkins, who serves as COD’s director of the education centers in the West Valley, laid out the schedule in more detail, saying the college plans to move into the campus by late 2026, with classes beginning in spring 2027.
“That means sometime next year, we’ll start seeing things being moved around on that campus,” he said. “It won’t just be a vacant lot anymore.”
Beyond the more detailed opening schedule, the administration spent the remainder of the event speaking broadly about short and long-term goals for the college as a whole, laying out possible plans for partnerships with local businesses, hospitals, and even major events like Modernism Week or the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Dennis Woods, a former member of the Palm Springs City Council, closed out the evening with the final comment during the question and answer period.
Summing up the feelings of much of the West Valley, he said, “I hope that with you [Oden] on the board, we can change the discussion from politics to serving the lifelong learners in our community.”
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