A new Educational Service Center will open the end of October in Temecula’s Promenade Mall as part of CBU’s Online and Professional Studies Division. The date is yet to be determined.
The OPS program primarily services adult students, and Dr. David Poole, OPS vice president, said the benefits of the program are its rigor and quality within a flexible schedule. This year, the program anticipates enrolling 1,200 students.
The program has “collaborative engagement tools to enhance the learning expe- rience,” said Dr. Tran Hong, OPS associate vice president of technology.
He said the video technology allows conversation between students and professors, as well as students and their classmates.
“The technology, and how we utilize it in a very unique way, differentiates us and adds value,” Hong said. “We’ve been asked to present at various conferences on how we do that.”
The strategy in opening a new location in Temecula, Poole said, is to “reach a broader community of peo- ple to be able to assist them with their educational goals.”
OPS looked at the demographics and educational needs of the community to see which areas needed their services.
Poole said what is special about the Temecula location is that it is a “prototype” with a 3,000 square-foot facility and a “Starbucks feel.”
Most OPS students are typically within a 30- to 50- mile radius of a campus, Poole said, adding that “because we are growing down in the (Temecula) area, we now have a place for an on- line student to get together with (other) students for a place to study.”
The current OPS locations include Riverside, Clovis, Menifee and Silicon Valley. Each Educational Service Center has Student Accounts and Financial Aid offices.
As the Temecula center opens, students will be welcome to come and study, talk to Student Accounts or Financial Aid officials, meet with study groups and get help with assignments. Courses will be offered in the spring 2013 semester.
