by Matt Paulson
Editor in Chief
Throughout the 113 years the University of La Verne has served her students, she has aged. It’s about time for a facelift.
Headed up by Provost Dick McDowell, the Strategic Plan for 2002-2008, which was approved in January of 2003, is designed to analyze existing programs and give the University the push it needs to improve the quality of education and environment it offers.
This year, national accreditation for all major ULV programs is a main goal.
“We’re trying to improve across the board,” McDowell said.
ULV, which has improved from 182nd to 168th in the national ranking, is attempting to achieve national accreditation from 11 major programs by 2008.
The College of Law is one program that is the closest to accreditation.
Scheduled in the strategic plan to be accredited by 2004, the College of Law is scheduled to host a seven-person site evaluation team on Oct. 26 that will report back to the American Bar Association.
“We are as prepared for them as we can possibly be,” said Donald Dunn, dean of the College of Law.
If received, national accreditation will allow graduates of the College of Law to take the bar in any state.
“(Accreditation) enables us to recruit a higher quality student body,” Dunn said.
However, one of the challenges to receiving such widespread accreditation, according to the Plan, is finding “the means to achieve these accreditation standards.”
According to McDowell, the means are achievable without the need for an intense fundraising effort.
“Not everything requires new assets but using existing assets more effectively,” he said.
One example of this is selling property that is owned by the University but is not efficiently used.
The recent renovation of the Arts and Communications Building and the Hoover Building were done without fundraising, McDowell said.
Grants are also available to the departments.
As a result of the efforts of Jay Jones in the Science Department.
However, without fundraising, the University can only do so much. The funds needed to achieve everything in the Strategic Plan remain an “ongoing issue,” McDowell said.
Another way to increase revenue is to increase the student body to enrollment capacity.
Right now, the University is at around 1,400 traditional undergraduate students. McDowell said he would like this number to increase to 1,450-1,475. Additionally, the College of Law is only at around 200 students.
This has the potential to increase to 400-450, McDowell said.
This also includes examining off-campus locations and intensifying the programs offered there.
The ultimate goal is to offer everything at our off-campus locations that we do at the main campus, McDowell said.
Improving the University’s reputation “among peer institutions within California and especially the Inland Empire” is also a main point in this period’s Strategic Plan.
Charles Bentley, public relations director, has helped spread word about ULV and its happenings.
“(Bentley) has been instrumental in getting more information out about events and people at ULV,” McDowell said.
The University, as of now, is not interested in being recognized nationally.
“Rather than spreading ourselves thin as a small institution, we’d rather focus on Southern California, particularly the area directly served by (ULV),” McDowell said.
The Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley is a rapidly growing economic region, and the University has the opportunity to be a part of that growth, McDowell said.
Physical renovations to ULV are also in the works.
The Supertents will become mainly an athletic building, and all the non-athletic functions presently housed by the Supertents will be moved into a new Campus Center building to be constructed between the Supertents and the old gym.
The new building will have a newer, larger cafe that will open up to outdoor seating in “The Plaza,” a newly renovated, leveled plaza area designed to host concerts and theater performances, according to Loretta Rahmani, dean of student affairs and one of the key players in the campus renovation.
“(The Student Center) is one of the major pieces of campus planning,” McDowell said. “The planning is pretty well underway, and the fundraising is beginning.”
Some programs, however, must be cut back for the University to prosper.
The Plan states that it is a goal to “eliminate marginal programs.”
“From time to time, we need to look at things from scratch: Are all these things necessary? Is there a more efficient way to do this?” McDowell said.
The elimination of one Law School was an example of the elimination of a marginal program.
ULV is also winding down the Alaska campus due to the geographical and financial challenges it presents.
Other goals in this period’s Strategic Plan are the expansion of Banner to include “all administrative services for students, faculty and staff;” construction of a new residence hall and a new academic building; expansion of library services to include a 24/7 reference service, and increased use of Blackboard and online registration.
