April 26, 2022
The Honorable Darrell Issa
2300 Rayburn House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-0550
Dear Congressman Issa,
On behalf of California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), the City Council of the City of San Marcos write this letter to request your support in securing additional funds from the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee to support the construction and build out of the Integrated Sciences and Engineering Building at CSUSM.
As a leader in the CSUSM community, the City Council is grateful for recent news that CSUSM has moved up to #3 on the CSU project list, placing us as the #1 academic building on the list—the first academic building on CSUSM’s campus in nearly two decades and it has been over 30 years since the last university engineering program was established in San Diego County.
CSUSM launched its engineering program in 2019 with electrical and software engineering majors, and in Fall 2022 computer engineering will be introduced. Breaking ground soon, its new Integrated Sciences and Engineering Building will be a training ground for future engineers, scientists, inventors, computer programmers and tech-minded entrepreneurs. Notably, the building will allow CSUSM to deepen connections between industry partners and university faculty so that we may further equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in the careers of tomorrow. Notably, 8 in 10 CSUSM students remain in our region after graduation to work, live and give back.
In order to ensure that the building becomes a reality and fulfills CSUSM’s full vision, additional funding is needed to supplement the $60 million that the university will be allocated from the California State University system in the next budget cycle. CSUSM is also pursuing private, corporate and foundation philanthropic partnerships to bring the project to reality. It is our hope that through your advocacy and support, the university may secure another $40 million in federal funding to support its vision of admitting and training more students while expanding academic offerings to include industrial and systems engineering and mechanical engineering.
Notably, CSUSM’s future Integrated Sciences & Engineering Building dovetails in mission with the Congressional Smart Cities Caucus, which aims to share ideas about how communities can benefit from new forms of smart technology and innovation. The building will include several cutting-edge laboratories including a potential Smart City Technology Center that will train students to deploy, enable and protect the massive connectivity to machines and devices, sensors and infrastructure that are characteristic of smart cities. Thanks to distinguished CSUSM faculty whose research delves into sensor development, mobile technology, intelligent traffic management and transportation, and the Internet of Things for smart buildings, this is truly an exciting opportunity for the university to be an incubator of new ideas that benefits the entire Southern California region and beyond.
It is a pivotal and transformational time to integrate emerging technologies and engineering, build a diverse workforce pipeline and serve as a gateway for innovation in high tech, biotech and life-science industrial growth in North San Diego County and beyond. The San Marcos City Council is proud to support the Integrated Science and Engineering Building as well as other initiatives underway that support STEM career pipelines and smart city growth.
Thank you for your support of CSUSM and its new Integrated Sciences and Engineering Building.
Respectfully,
The San Marcos City Council
Mayor Rebecca R. Jones
Deputy Mayor Sharon Jenkins
Councilmember Ed Musgrove
Councilmember Maria Nunez
Councilmember Randy Walton
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