Welcome

Letter from the President

In 2001, the University engaged in an internal examination of its condition and its future.We asked ourselves dozens of questions about such topics as the ideal size of the University and its numerous individual programs.We explored the growth potential of our programs, our position in the marketplace for quality students, the demographics of our service areas and the role we could play in the rapidly growing Inland Empire, the East San Gabriel Valley and other areas of California that we have successfully served.We looked at expansion opportunities and even explored the possibility of moving our La Verne Campus to a new location.

In the course of this review, it became evident that the lack of competitive facilities coupled with the limitations imposed by the small size of our campus footprint pose significant challenges to our future. In addition, community concerns over the competition for campus -- adjacent parking and property acquisitions -- limit our growth potential.

In response to these concerns and realities, we propose to move in a direction that emphasizes improvement of the quality of our campus rather than expansion of capacity.We believe this will enable the University to attract a stable population of undergraduate students while pricing our degree programs at a level that allows us to build our quality and reputation. The facilities master plan that follows attempts to meld the needs of the La Verne Lordsburg neighborhood with the University's need to strengthen its competitive edge.We believe it is in the best interests of both the community and the University to build such an institution. As we reviewed our options, new opportunities were presented by the acquisition of property on the northwest corner of 2nd and E streets and the former AAIC Building at the corner of 2nd and D streets. In addition, the donation of 20 acres of land southwest of our current campus and the recent joint University/City of La Verne purchase of land from MWD contiguous to the Brown Property has opened up exciting new possibilities.

With these property acquisitions, cooperation with the community, and with careful facilities planning, the University believes that our current location in the City of La Verne can serve us well.This master plan represents our effort to identify our immediate future needs while planning for future phases of campus development. It attempts to meld the common interests of the residents and merchants of the Lordsburg Area with the University's need to gain recognition and stature in the marketplace.We are pleased to share this plan with the entire community and we look forward to your input as we continue to move into our future.

Stephen Morgan
President