To accommodate growing interest in Syracuse University’s Los Angeles semester, the program is centralizing itself to a satellite campus in Sherman Oaks — about a 15-minute drive north from its current location in West LA.

The 7,500-square-foot new facility will have at least six offices for SU staff already in LA, as well as classroom space, said Joan Adler, SU’s senior director of LA programs. The space will also serve as a local recruiting center for SU, which has seen a rise in applicants from the area.

The move is expected to be complete by June, Adler said.

The move was first discussed about six months ago, Adler said. She did not have information about the cost of the move, but said it would be cost-saving. In the past, SU had to rent out other areas for meetings and events. Facilities are currently located in offices on an executive floor.

The new space will have a modern feel to it and will serve multipurpose functions to accommodate the need for both conference space and gathering space for the smaller-sized classes, Adler said. Charles Merrihew, vice president of Engagement Initiatives, is responsible for the physical design. Merrihew could not be reached for comment.

Adler said she considers the first years of the program — aimed at students with an interest in working in the entertainment industry — as a success, given the increase in student interest. SU in LA began with 28 students in fall 2009; next fall the program is expected to have 50 students, Adler said. There have also been many internship opportunities and strong involvement from area alumni, Adler said.

Mary Gregory, a sophomore television, radio and film major attending the program next spring, said the LA semester is something she felt she needed to do. 

‘They are always talking about how a lot of the industry is in LA, and that’s where I want to be,’ Gregory said.

Gregory plans to attend an internship while she is there, which will require driving ‘all over LA,’ she said. Since the program focuses on involving students in the LA community, they are required to have a car — and to deal with LA traffic. The new SU location will be closer to Interstates 405 and 101, both major freeways, and to where students are housed, Alder said.

Kelsie Testa, a junior television, radio and film major, is currently studying in LA. She has to drive an hour to get to her internship at a website company and said it would be helpful if her housing and class space were closer.

‘It’s frustrating that everything is in a different direction,’ Testa said. 

Stephanie Alperin, a sophomore advertising major, said she heard many good things about the program, but also many complaints about driving through LA traffic. She will attend the program next spring and was glad to hear it may be easier for her to travel between an internship and nighttime classes, she said.

There are still some changes Alperin said she would like to see, such as a larger variety of classes, because the program is bringing in more students from majors outside the television, radio and film department. The Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the College of Arts and Sciences also have students in the SU LA program. 

Testa, the junior currently in LA, said she is happy she joined the program. Still, she said she was jealous she would not be there next year when the changes are implemented.

‘I’m envious of the students who will have the future building,’ Testa said.

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

Published on March 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride