California State University, Los Angeles (also
known as
Cal State L.A.,
CSULA,
or
CSLA) is a
public
university, part of the
California State University
system.
The campus is located in the eastern region of Los Angeles
, California
, United
States
, in the University Hills
district at the center of Los Angeles metropolitan area just five miles
(8 km) from Los Angeles civic and cultural center. It
is located next to two major
interstate highways:
Interstate 10 and
Interstate 710.
Overview
Serving approximately 21,000 students primarily from the
greater Los Angeles area, CSULA has
more than 190,000 alumni. CSULA operates year round on the quarter
system. Four quarters, each 11 weeks in duration. Cal State L.A. is
organized into six colleges that incorporate 50 academic
departments and divisions offering a variety of
majors. Six colleges offer nationally
recognized
science,
arts,
business,
criminal justice,
engineering,
nursing,
education and
humanities programs at Cal State LA. CSULA is
home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman
Jazz
Orchestra and to a unique university
center for
gifted students as young as
11.
The
hilltop campus core is home to the nation's first Charter College of Education, a NASA
-funded SPACE
program, a National Science
Foundation funded environmental research center and other
award-winning engineering programs. U.S. News has ranked CSULA's
undergraduate business program as one of the best in the nation.
The School of Nursing is considered to be one of the best in the
state of California.
The Charter College of Education has awarded more teaching
credentials in the state of California than any other public
institution, and includes an innovative program designed to train
teachers for the specific demands of urban schools. Cal State L.A.
also has the nation's largest early/pre-teen collegiate program,
and the only graduate Criminalistics program west of the
Mississippi River.
The Television, Film, and Media
Studies
program is one of the foremost film schools in the
CSU system, coordinating film and TV production experiences with the neighboring
Hollywood
film industry. The university awards more
bachelor's degrees to
Hispanics than any
other California
college or
university. It is also among the highest of any
college or university in the United States today.
It is also home to the
Los Angeles County
High School for the Arts, a prestigious arts high school,
notable for being the only arts high school in Los Angeles that
allows for students from any district within Los Angeles County to
attend. Classrooms are shared with Cal State L.A., however, LACHSA
activities tend to be separate from those of Cal State L.A's.
Notable LACHSA alumni include singer
Josh
Groban, actress
Jenna Elfman.
actor/singer
Corbin Bleu, and Los
Angeles
Clippers executive Ron "Country
Club" Kobata.
History
CSULA main walkway
The campus
is nestled among rolling hills on a site that once housed one of
California's 36 original adobes, built in 1776 by Franciscan missionaries and destroyed by fire in
1908. These lands once were part of a Spanish land
grant known as Rancho Rosa Castilla
, given to Juan Batista Batz, a Basque rancher from northern Spain
who settled
here in the 1850s. The inspiration for the name of the
rancho, according to local historians, were the wild roses that
once grew near the ranch home.
CSULA was founded in 1947 by an act of the California
legislature and opened for classes as the Los
Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences on the campus of
what is now
Los Angeles City
College. LACC's first president was P. Victor Peterson. The
shared-campus experiment proved to be unwieldy and the school moved
to its present location in 1955. In 1964 the school was renamed
California State College at Los Angeles (CSCLA) when it became part
of the California State College (CSC) system. In 1972, CSCLA was
awarded University status and was renamed California State
University, Los Angeles (CSULA).
CSULA established the nation’s first
Chicano Studies department in 1968.
The original mascot of the school was the Diablo. The theme was
extended to student facilities such as the student union and book
store, The Trident Shop. In 1980, new university President James
Rosser adopted a new mascot, Eddie the Golden Eagle, designed to be
more reflective of the campus' highly diverse community.
The
College-Ready
Math-Science School located in the southern end of Parking Lot
2 open for the 2008-2009 school year.
Campus life and cost of university
Cal State LA has one of the lowest tuition fees, even though
quarterly fees have nearly doubled since the 2001-02 academic year.
Tuition and fees for in-state is $4,035 and $11,171 for
out-of-state. There are different places inside the campus where
they serve food and
coffee. In addition the
university food court owned by
Pepsi-Co,
offers a selection of fast food chain restaurants that include
El Pollo Loco,
Carl's Jr., Rice Garden, Juice It Up, and Kikka
Sushi. Construction on a $30 million
University-Student Union (U-SU) building has recently been
completed, the facility offers a place for students and faculty to
congregate and interact before or after class. It replaces the 1975
U-SU building that was closed down in 2004, due to seismic
concerns. This new facility houses additional selection of fast
food that include
Sbarro and
Starbucks as well major conference centers, and a
bridged to the Golden Eagle building contening the university food
court. A
Barnes and Noble-operated
bookstore is located at the center heart of the campus. See
wireless coverag map here.
Associated Students
Associated Students Incorporated (A.S.I.) is the student government
of California State University, Los Angeles. Joaquin Beltran is the
President and Chief Executive Officer of the non profit corporation
which represents the interests of the student body. A.S.I. is
governed by a student Board of Directors who is elected each year
by the student body of Cal State L.A. A.S.I. represents the
interest of the student body and act as the officially recognized
voice of the students. In addition, A.S.I. sponsors a number of
campus events and activities using mandatory student fees.
A.S.I. Official
Website
Eagle Advocates aka Lobby Corps
Eagle Advocates, or A.S.I.'s Lobby Corps, is the sole student
advocacy group representing the entire student body of the school.
Each CSU campus has a Lobby Corps and is open to all students.
Students are trained in advocacy and lobbying throughout the school
year. A focus is aimed at the State Legislature although local and
federal issues are followed as well.
A.S.I. Lobby
Corps Website
Student Housing
First on-campus housing was opened on June 1984 and three years
later second residential life complex was opened. CSULA has a
student housing complex where students can rent a house at double
occupancy for $655.00 per month (as of November 2009).
During 1984 Summer Olympics that took place in
Los
Angeles CSULA student houses were upgraded and expanded
because it housed the athletics of the 1984 Summer
Olympics.
Parking and Public Transportation
Cal State LA has ample parking spaces for its students and staff.
Student permits for parking at Cal State LA cost about $90 (as of
Summer 2008) for a one quarter parking permit.
Cal State LA is uniquely commuter friendly. There are several large
parking structures, and surface lots for automobiles. In addition,
the school is home to the first commuter rail station on a college
campus, the
CSULA
station on
Metrolink's San Bernardino Line, which
opened in October 1994.
Southern California’s only campus Metrolink
station, second only to Union Station
as L.A.’s busiest. The school is also
accessible from the
California
State University, Los Angeles station on the
El Monte Busway; both stations are located
at the south end of the campus.
Metro
Local lines 665, 71, and 256, as well as neighborhood shuttles
serve the school.
University Times
The
University Times is a student-run newspaper. The first
student newspaper, at that time called
The College Times,
was published in June 1948 for the first time. In 1965
The
College Times was named the best newspaper by California
Intercollegiate Press. On
October 2,
1972 The College Times changed its
name to
University Times, in accordance with the change in
university status.
In January 2007,
The University Times changed its
publication schedule from a twice weekly paper to a weekly paper,
publishing on Tuesdays. The format change to a style similar to the
alternative newspaper,
LA Weekly, allowed
for a greater number of pages to run and allow more in-depth
coverage of news stories relevant to the student body and
surrounding community.
During the Summer of 2007, the University Times underwent a
transition period as the paper started a merger process with its
new online presence,
Cool State . The paper scaled back production to four
issues at the end of the Summer quarter and began to gear up for a
formal re-launching with the start of the Fall Quarter. The paper
is currently published once a week on Thursday.
The "Solar Eagle" and "Super Eagle" Competitions
The college of Engineering,
Computer
Science, and
Technology has achieved
international recognition with its advanced vehicles.
Team Solar Eagle has built three
cars that competed in solar car races in the United States and
Australia, winning a national championship
at the
American Solar
Challenge in 1997. The 1997 champion
Solar Eagle III was the first
solar and only
Hot Wheels (r)
reproduction of a student-built vehicle. The
Solar Eagle II is on display at
the
California Science
Center in Los Angeles.
Watch video here
Image:SEITeamAust.jpg|World Solar Challenge
Darwin AustraliaImage:SEIIAustFinish.jpg|World Solar Challenge
Adelaide, AustraliaImage:SEIIQual.jpg|Solar Eagle
IIImage:SEIIITeam800H.jpg|Solar Eagle III
National Champions
The ultra-high gas mileage car
ECST Super Eagle won the
American
Society of
Automotive Engineers' 2004 mileage competition with a tested
fuel consumption of 1,615 miles per gallon. The faculty team
advisor, James Ettaro, was honored by the
SAE.
The
Solar Eagle and
Super Eagle are the latest in
a long line of solar-powered cars and other super-efficient vehicle
technologies.
Programs
Early Entrance Program
The
Early Entrance
Program (EEP) is an
early college entrance
program for gifted individuals of middle-school and high school
ages at California State University, Los Angeles. The program
allows participants to skip normal schooling and become full-time,
degree-seeking college students.
Forensic Sciences
CSULA
The school has had a growing
forensic
science program, which has been a part of the school curriculum
since the founding of the school. The university’s Department of
Criminal Justice and
Criminalistics is located in the new Los
Angeles Regional
Crime Lab. The new
Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, which was dedicated on
May 11,
2007, jointly
house the
LAPD’s
Scientific Investigation Division, the
L.A. County Sheriff's
Department Scientific Services Bureau and the California
Forensic Science Institute at CSULA.
Sea Floor Engineering
CSULA also has a comprehensive seafloor engineering program.
Research is conducted at the
Naval Facilities
Engineering Service Center in Port Hueneme, California. In
2003, Civil engineering professor Mark Tufenkjian led CSULA to
receive over half a million dollars in grant money. The award of
$594,253 is the largest grant ever received by CSULA's Department
of Civil Engineering.
Future developments
CSULA Physical Sciences Building
The University has several construction projects slated for the
next five years. Classes are underway in La Kretz Hall; the first
wing of the Wallis Annenberg Integrated Sciences Complex,
constructed on the site of the university's former tennis and
basketball courts. Construction has begun on the second wing of the
Complex, which will add another 94,000 gross-square-feet of lab
space, instructional space and the Dean’s Suite.
A two-story single building, 30,000 gross-square-feet Corporate
Yard to house Shipping and Receiving, Materials Management, Campus
Stores, Facilities Planning and Construction, Environmental Health
and Safety, and Facilities Services is planned to replace existing
aging facilities at the south entrance of the campus. A space
assignment plan and schedule is being prepared to handle interim
operations during construction.
The fence surrounding the north-end parking lot close to the
Welcome Center contains the footprint for a 16,000
gross-square-foot, single-story Public Safety building. This
improved location will enable Public Safety and Parking Services to
better serve the campus' and visitors’ needs. The current home of
Public Safety is one of the “temporary” bungalows constructed 50
years ago.
Los Angeles
County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) design for its future
home — a 45,000-square-foot, three-story building - is being
reviewed for final approval. This facility on the north side of
campus will serve the 600 LACHSA students as well as benefit CSULA,
as a shared-use facility.
Fundraising is underway to match the award of $2.2 million from the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) to support the construction
of a Hydrogen Fueling Station on campus. The station will operate
as a teaching resource for classes on alternative energy and fuel
systems, as well as a public accommodation selling and dispensing
hydrogen to those driving fuel cell vehicles. CSULA is one of only
three organizations in the state to be awarded CARB funding for
such a facility.
Greek Life
Excluding the Greek Council and Order of Omega, as of Fall 2005,
the CSULA Campus is home to fourteen “social” fraternal
organizations, seven fraternities and seven sororities. Within that
population there are three IFC fraternities, two NPHC fraternities,
one statewide Latino fraternity, one International Latino
Fraternity, one Armenian fraternity, two NPC sororities, two NALFO
sororities, two (2) local sororities, Alpha Theta Pi, Delta Phi
Sigma, and one statewide Asian sorority. The representative
governing body of the Greek system is the CSULA Greek Council. It
is advised and regulated by the university through the Center for
Student Involvement, a division of CSULA’s University-Student
Union. This division is under the auspices of both the
University-Student Union and the Department of Student of Affairs.
CSULA’s Greek System began with the establishment of the
Alpha Theta Pi Sorority on
November 15,
1948. It has
grown into a vast social network of collegiate men and women
composed of chapters that are local, statewide, national, and
international.
Sigma Nu,
Phi
Sigma Kappa, and
Sigma Alpha
Epsilon are the nationally and internationally based social
fraternities of the CSULA Greek System, otherwise known as the
IFC Fraternities. The parent organizations of Sigma Nu,
Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and
Sigma Lambda Beta are members of the
North-American
Interfraternity Conference.
Delta
Zeta and
Alpha Sigma Tau are the
sorority equivalencies of the IFC fraternities, otherwise known as
NPC Sororities. Their parent organizations are members of
the
National Panhellenic
Conference, a governing body for 26 women's national and
international sororities.
CSULA is host to five Latino Greek-lettered organizations:
Sigma Lambda Beta,
Lambda Theta Nu,
Lambda Theta Alpha and
Gamma Zeta Alpha who are all
NALFO
organizations or those whose parent organizations are members
of the
National
Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations. Though
Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity
Inc. has co-membership with NALFO and NIC. Additionally, CSULA is
also home to
Beta Gamma Nu a local
fraternity. Recently with the continuing growth of Latino
organizations on campus, CSULA has become the home for
Delta Sigma Chi co-ed
Fraternity Inc. The only Latino Co-Ed social fraternity at
California State University,Los Angeles.
Alpha Phi Alpha and
Phi Beta Sigma are the Black Greek-letter
fraternities on the CSULA campus, also known as NPHC fraternities.
Delta Sigma Theta and
Zeta Phi Beta are the Black Greek Sororities
on CSULA, also known as NPHC sororities. Their parent organizations
are members of the
National Pan-Hellenic Council.
It promotes interaction through forums, meetings and other mediums
for the exchange of information and engages in cooperative
programming and initiatives through various activities and
functions.
Additionally, CSULA is home to one statewide Asian Greek-letter
sorority,
Kappa Zeta Phi, and one
statewide Armenian Greek-letter fraternity,
Alpha Epsilon Omega and Asian fraternity
and sorority from Philippines
Kappa Rho
Kappa.
Athletics
The
Golden Eagles are member of the
California Collegiate
Athletic Association and compete on the
Division II level of the
NCAA. The
university fields eleven intercollegiate teams for men or women in
Baseball,
Basketball,
Cross Country,
Soccer,
Tennis,
Volleyball,
Indoor
Track, and outdoor
Track and
Field. CSULA also had a
Football program which was disbanded in
1978.
The Eagles Nest is home to the Cal State L.A. basketball and
volleyball teams. The arena seats just over 3,200 fans at full
capacity. In 1984, the Eagles Nest hosted the Summer Olympics
judo competition.
CSULA Men's Basketball
Fight Song
New Fight Song
Golden Eagles!
We're behind you all the way.
Golden Eagles!
Black and Gold is here to stay.
Golden Eagles!
Now it's on to win the day.
We will fight, fight, fight.
Fight with all our might for Cal State LA!
- Revision by Fran Baxter in 2008
|
Old Fight Song
Go, Diablos!
We're behind you all the way.
Go, Diablos!
Black and Gold is here to stay.
Go, Diablos!
Now it's on to victory.
We will fight, fight, fight.
Fight will all our might for LASC!
- Composed by Fran Baxter in 1951
|
Notable alumni
Entertainment alumni
2 term ASI Student Body President of Cal State LA 1994 - 1996
Political alumni
Sports alumni
Notable professors
Trustee Professor
Gallery
Image:CSULA_Welcome_Board.jpg|CSULA's Welcome
BoardImage:CSULA GOLDEN EAGLE.jpg|Bronze sculpture of CSULA's
Golden Eagle mascot
(Eddie)Image:CSULA_WELCOME_CENTER.jpg|CSULA's Welcome
CenterImage:CSULA CAFE.jpg|Cafe Dolcini located neer King
Hall
References
External links
to the
United States
House of Representatives
- Longest-running news
anchor in the history of American television.
.
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