A research institute on Latino issues has deepened its connection with California State University San Marcos by moving into the heart of campus.

The National Latino Research Center celebrated the move with a party yesterday in its new offices in the university's $44.5 million Kellogg Library.

Center officials say being on campus brings better involvement with the students and faculty in their research.

The center began in 1997 at San Diego State University and moved north two years later with its founder, Fernando Soriano, who was later tapped by the U.S. Census Bureau to serve on an advisory committee for Hispanic demographic issues.

Although the center was connected to the university, the staff worked in rented offices across the freeway in San Marcos City Hall.

The move to the campus, said center Associate Director Sonia Taddy, "demonstrates the university's commitment to the National Latino Research Center and to our growth."

The center has won more than $2 million in federal grants to finance its research and training aimed at better understanding the growing U.S. Latino population.

Its work ranges from studying demographics, health care, youth violence and education issues to research on foster care reform and Head Start teacher training. One project involved working with a regional asthma association to educate health care professionals on the problems of Hispanics with asthma.

Cultural issues are also part of the mix. The center is working on an oral history project about North County Latinos.

"We would hope that when people need information on the Latino population, they would think of us," Taddy said.