This paper describes the process leading to the establishment of Cal State Monterey Bay in four stages:5
These four stages overlap. Generally, however, "Opportunity Development" includes the decision to vacate the base and the events that immediately attended it, including initial community efforts to organize against base closure and reactions to the official closure announcement. Chronologically, this period was brief, spanning the period between early 1990 and June 1991. (See the appendix for a chronology of important events.) The "Recognition of Opportunity" phase was also compressed, encompassing the period that commenced when officials at San Jose State University took an exploratory look at the possibilities of moving their Salinas off-campus center to Fort Ord. Also during this phase, the California Postsecondary Education Commission was formally notified of what soon became CSU interest in acquiring a portion of Fort Ord.
"Selection, Modification and Adoption of the Preferred Alternative" composes the lengthiest stage of the decision process, culminating in the transfer of ownership and the selection of the new president. This period lasted from January 1992 to December 1994.
In many respects, although students have arrived on campus and classes are under way, the "Implementation and Monitoring" stage is still continuing. In terms of what has been accomplished thus far, this most crucial part, making the campus operational, was abbreviated--at least in comparison with many other such planning efforts.6 It involved the processes of faculty hiring, curriculum planning and establishment, and student admission that commenced with the arrival of the campus president in January 1995.7