CLU's adult degree program marks 25th anniversary

Kathy Martin got married at 18, started working and had children. She always meant to get her bachelor's degree but never quite did. Now, just before she turns 56, Martin is about to earn a degree in organizational management from an evening program at California Lutheran University that caters to adults.

"It was always sort of a background noise for me," said Martin, who lives in Newbury Park and is a benefits planner. "It was always something I wanted to do."

Martin is earning her degree from the Adult Degree Evening Program at the Thousand Oaks campus. Students take classes at night, usually one or two classes a term.

Like Martin, who had her associate degree before she started, most students in the program have taken some college classes, sometimes at several different places, but they've never finished their degrees.

"It's more of a degree-completion program," said director Bruce Gillies.

This year, the adult degree program is celebrating its 25th anniversary. When it started, it offered two or three majors and had about 55 students. Now it offers seven majors and has about 260 students enrolled this term. It's also providing classes online. Classes cost $2,200 each.

The program has grown enough that next fall it will expand into Woodland Hills, where CLU has a satellite campus offering graduate classes. That site will start out with three majors: business management, accounting and organizational leadership.

The site is expected to attract students who have been shut out of public universities because of enrollment caps, said Assistant Director Vanessa Chacon. It also allows students to transfer from Pierce College into a nearby four-year university.

Adult students have different needs, so the program's instructors have to tailor their teaching to them, Gillies said. Students want to know why they're learning something, its practical use, how it applies to them, and how it's connected to something they've already learned.

That was part of the appeal for Michael James, who works in human resources and had already earned a degree in business from a small online college when he enrolled in the program to earn a degree in organizational leadership.

"I had business and general schooling in the past but didn't feel it was relevant to where I was now," said James, 38, a Simi Valley resident. "I felt this was relevant education I could take to the work place."

Since he earned the degree last fall, he has moved into a better job, he said.

Rudy Gonzales, 52, now a regional manager for Southern California Edison, also joined the program for practical reasons. He wanted to move into management.

Gonzales had earned his associate degree from Oxnard College but could not afford to continue at a four-year university, so he figured he'd work a year or two, then go back to school. Seventeen years later, he finally did. Gonzales, who lives in Thousand Oaks, was the first in his family to pursue a bachelor's degree.

"I felt like something was lacking from my résumé," he said. "When you apply for a management position, they always look at your education."

--- Published in the Ventura County Star on April 24, 2010