Extension facility to open in heart of Westwood Village.

UCLA Extension will open its newest metropolitan center in the heart of Westwood Village this fall. The new facility, on the southeast corner of Lindbrook and Gayley avenues, is located in a two-story brick faced building. Occupying the first and second floors, Extension's new 18,500 sq. ft. facility will include 18 classrooms. Most classrooms will accommodate 20-25 students. A few executive-style classrooms will have operable walls, to allow expansion for larger groups and receptions. Total capacity of the Lindbrook Center will be approximately 425 people.

UCLA Extension Dean Robert Lapinet said that the new site fulfills many pressing needs of the university's continuing education program that enrolls more than 100,000 students annually in 4,500 classes. "The Lindbrook Center represents UCLA Extension's investment in the vitality of the [Westwood] Village," Lapiner said. "It brings clients into the very heart of things, so that they can boost the economy with the local merchants." This facility is in a lively part of the Village, with several coffeehouses, restaurants and theaters nearby, as well as UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum, with ample parking close by, he added.

During the day, the Lindbrook Center will have an international flavor as it will have a projected 250-300 students from more than 30 countries enrolled in ESL classes, offered through UCLA Extension's American Language Center, the primary daytime tenant of the facility.

David Menninger, associate dean of UCLA Extension who worked closely with Lapinet in securing the location, said that Extension is retooling its programming at all of Extension's metropolitan sites to best serve its geographically and ethnically diverse student audience. "For example," he said, "we have known for some time that Extension's international students and those coming for intensive high-level short courses - like to be in close proximity to the UCLA campus. The new Lindbrook Center will better meet their need to feel more connected to campus life at UCLA, to interact with other students, faculty and staff and to be close to the bookstore, research library and recreational facilities," Menninger added.

In the evening and on weekends, the Center will be used by all of Extension's program departments with a special focus on courses focusing on business and job retraining. Programs will reflect the student composition and their specific professional needs as well as their cultural interests.

With the opening of the Lindbrook Center, UCLA Extension's educational focus at the World Trade Center will change. UCLA Extension will now be able to free up classroom space during the day at the World Trade Center to expand its daytime offerings to the professional communities of downtown, including contract programs, according to Menninger. For many years, corporations have utilized UCLA Extension's custom programs in such areas as Total Quality Management, accounting, legal programs and other business fields for downtown-based industry, law firms and government agencies. Lack of space, however, limited the number of programs that could be offered at the World Trade Center site.

"We are evaluating present and future courses that would best meet the needs of a downtown audience," Menninger said. Plans are being considered to open an additional computer lab classroom at the WTC. For the longer term, Lapinet has committed Extension to undertake comprehensive market research that should identify sectors for which new curricula may need to be developed.

UCLA Extension's other metropolitan sites include Universal CityWalk - located in the hub of the major film/television/recording studios and production houses - that has served those working in the entertainment industry since the early part of the decade. In five years, most of UCLA Extension's Entertainment Studies courses have moved primarily from the West side to Universal CityWalk and at other locations in the southeast San Fernando Valley. UCLA Extension on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica has served as the primary venue of the professional programs offered through the fully accredited Architecture, Interior and Environmental Design Program.

"The new Center will help anchor the importance of international students to the totality of our activities," Lapiner said, "and provide a handsome environment for executive level contract programs in all fields. We can all take pride too in how much the presence of our adult learners and full-time international students will contribute to the economic and cultural revitalization of Westwood Village."

Richard A. Macales is a Public: Information Officer for UCLA Extension.