UCLA Extension Means Business At Downtown Site

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UCLA Extension, the university’s continuing education branch, has opened a facility near the heart of downtown that will offer a slew of classes and boost its enrollment among area businesspeople.

The facility, at the Figueroa Courtyard office project near Third Street, will offer night and weekend courses on topics such as accounting, urban planning and business strategies, said Cathy Sandeen, UCLA Extension dean.

UCLA Extension has had a presence in downtown since the 1960s, and for the past five years has rented classroom space in the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo.

But the new building will be more convenient, Sandeen said. “This is really bringing our programs to the people.”

It also represents an upgrade. At the Little Tokyo location, UCLA Extension offered 66 courses to about 1,300 students.

The new site will eventually offer more than 200 classes and enrollment of more than 3,200 students in the first year, said Brian Bell, spokesman for UCLA Extension.

UCLA Extension leased the new building at 261 S. Figueroa St. last year, and has since set up 13 classrooms. It opened this summer and currently serves about 380 students, Bell said.

After the facility’s formal opening next month, officials plan a slate of more than 60 courses. Subjects include recruitment and interviewing, personal finance, real estate appraisal and risk analysis.

Sandeen said that most of the classes are targeted at midcareer professionals looking for an extra boost to their resumes. It’s also common to find promising employees sent to classes by their employers, she added.

In addition, people can pursue their personal interests. Classes on the menu for the fall quarter include urban photography, screenwriting and container gardening.

To help decide which courses to offer, Sandeen spent a year and a half surveying downtown business groups, non-profit organizations and government agencies.

The findings became part of the curriculum.

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