For years, San Fernando Valley students enrolled in UCLA Extension courses had to slog over the hill through rush hour to get to classes in Westwood or downtown Los Angeles.
No more. The University of California, Los Angeles will soon be offering its Extension programs at an office in Woodland Hills in spring 2017.
“They’re looking at how to serve communities that are underserved,” said David S. Honda, a Valley civic leader who serves on the UCLA Extension board. “Woodland Hills is a good start.
“Nobody wants to drive to Westwood — fight the traffic, look for parking — for Extension courses. They want to bring their classes to the people, rather than the people to the classes.”
The UCLA Extension programs now offer more than 150 certificates in professional development, degree credit and personal enrichment. New classes for the current term include arts, business and management and entertainment.
The Extension program also partners with UCLA professional schools to offer continuing education in public health, applied science, dentistry and other fields.
The new Woodland Hills campus was mentioned in the latest UCLA Extension catalogue and on its website. It said students could take classes from psychology to personal finance, from acting to art history, real estate, risk analysis and more.
Though it features a photo of Warner Center office towers, the location of the new office has not been announced. Someone close to the proceedings confirmed it will open in Warner Center.
Meanwhile, school officials had few details about the opening.
“I know there’s going to be a soft launch, and I know there’s going to be a hard launch,” said Helen Williams, spokeswoman for UCLA Extension, “but I have no dates.”
Wayne Smutz, dean of Continuing Education and UCLA Extension, was not immediately available.
Honda, who also has close ties to Cal State Northridge, said UCLA Extension officials were looking at opening “pop-up classrooms” in the northeast Valley communities of Pacoima and Lake View Terrace, which have been traditionally working class.
They were also looking at opening a potential campus in Lancaster, he said, where school officials had scoped out the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.
The UCLA Extension expansion coincides with a beefed up extended learning program and new building at Cal State Northridge.
This fall, the Tseng College for extended learning moved into a new 68,000-square-foot Extended University Commons on the west side of the Northridge campus.
The college, which outgrew its classrooms in the campus bookstore complex, now serves more than 4,000 mid-career professionals in fields ranging from business to public health administration.
“The extended university division has continued to grow year-over-year, serving local and international students,” said Jessie Revlin, spokeswoman for Tseng College: Graduate, International and Midcareer Education. “Our new building is great.
“It sets us up to better serve our students for the future.”