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The Woodbury Culture

The Woodbury Culture

 

MISSION STATEMENT

Core Purpose

Woodbury University transforms students into innovative professionals who will contribute responsibly to the global community. We achieve academic excellence by focusing on purposeful student engagement, establishing external partnerships, and ensuring that our processes, services, and environment enrich the student experience.

Our Contribution to Society

Successful Woodbury graduates are ambassadors for the University. They are visionary leaders who help individuals and communities flourish. They are known for being strong communicators, ethical thinkers, and creative problem solvers deeply committed to sustainability and social justice. They are knowledgeable in their disciplines and eager for collaboration and continuous learning. They integrate professional skills with global citizenship, entrepreneurial energy, and intellectual curiosity.

Woodbury graduates make a difference.

Vision

Woodbury University cultivates a personal, interactive learning environment that focuses on an innovative, practice-based professional and liberal arts education. We add distinct value with our focus on faculty-student interaction and support for student development and achievement. We focus on our Core Values and Strategic Principles to enable the success of our students, of employers who hire our graduates, and the community at large.

 Core Values

Excellence: Woodbury University is driven by standards of excellence in teaching, services, student well-being, community safety, and sustainable practices.

Ethics: Woodbury University sets the highest standards of academic and professional behavior to encourage social responsibility.

Aspiration: Woodbury University pursues ever-higher levels of competitiveness, distinctiveness, and service learning.

Community: Woodbury University builds a culture that values diversity and inclusion, open communication, collaboration, and engagement.

 

STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES

The members of the Woodbury community have identified four principles that articulate more precisely what is necessary for the University to achieve its mission. These principles embody hallmarks of a WU graduate. These hallmarks comprise the University Learning Outcomes we use to determine that the students graduating from Woodbury attain characteristics unique to a Woodbury University degree.

 

Design Thinking

Developing the ability, desire, and confidence to imagine new ideas to create impact and make a difference.

Hallmark 1: Creativity, Knowledge, Skills

  • ULO 1.1: Think critically (CC: CT)
  • ULO 1.2: Employ creative, innovative problem solving
  • ULO 1.3: Create, build, design, and/or develop projects relevant to discipline

Entrepreneurship

Fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, and opportunity.

Hallmark 2: Professional Behavior and Ethics

  • ULO 2.1: Take initiative personally and professionally
  • ULO 2.2: Apply ethical and/or professional principles relevant to discipline
  • ULO 2.3: Collaborate with members of diverse populations on projects and/or products
  • ULO 2.4: Communicate effectively (Core Competency: Written Communication, Oral Communication)

Transdisciplinarity

Harnessing the creative power of multiple disciplines and communities that broaden perspectives across academic boundaries.

Hallmark 3: Analysis, Synthesis

  • ULO 3.1: Select, analyze, and synthesize diverse information from reliable, scholarly, and appropriate sources (CC: IL)
  • ULO 3.2: Interpret and/or apply quantitative reasoning relevant to discipline (CC: QR)

Civic Engagement

Achieving civic fulfillment through the process of giving back.

Hallmark 4: Civic-Mindedness (Civic Engagement)

  • ULO 4.0: Engage responsibly in the community and beyond

Our History

In the late 19th century, Los Angeles was a rapidly growing town with a population of approximately 11,000. Many new business enterprises were being established and community leaders looked forward to expansion and growth driven by a sustained real estate boom.

In 1884, in response to the needs of the city’s growing business community, F.C. Woodbury, an educational entrepreneur, arrived from San Francisco and founded Woodbury Business College, as it was initially named, in the center of the local business community. From that storefront on North Main Street, the historic link between Woodbury and the economic infrastructure of Southern California was forged, and has been maintained throughout the history of the University.

For its first 103 years, the University occupied various locations in central Los Angeles, moving whenever necessary to accommodate the growth of its student body. In 1931, the Division of Professional Arts was established to focus on the fields of design that are closely allied with business. Woodbury then became a college of business administration and design. In 1937, despite a worldwide recession, legendary President R.H. “Pop” Whitten led the effort to build new facilities at 1027 Wilshire Boulevard. For 50 years, this location served as the University’s campus, welcoming the return of World War II and Korean War veterans, as well as thousands of other students who were the first in their families to attend college. In 1969, Woodbury introduced a graduate program leading to a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA). In 1972, Woodbury became a non-profit institution of higher education, and in 1974, Woodbury College became Woodbury University, and began its initial fundraising efforts among friends and alumni. In 1982, Computer Information Systems was added as a major, followed by Architecture in 1984. In 1985, under the leadership of then-president Dr. Wayne Miller, the University acquired its current location, a 22.4-acre campus in Burbank/Los Angeles. Classes began at these facilities in October 1987. In 1998, Woodbury established a campus in San Diego, offering a bachelor’s degree (BArch) and both professional and post-professional master’s degrees in architecture.

Our Faculty

Approximately 64 full-time and more than 145 adjunct faculty members constitute the dedicated group of educators who embody Woodbury University’s academic mission through intellectual pursuits, scholarly inquiries, creative works, and professional expertise. Their academic endeavors—specifically instruction and curriculum design—along with their professional practices, shape our students’ educational experiences. The teaching, mentoring, and advising that our faculty members provide help pave the way for our graduates to not only succeed professionally, but also become lifelong learners. Ultimately, our instructors honor the charge to “transform students into innovative professionals who will contribute responsibly to the global community,” accomplishing this by embedding the University’s four Strategic Principles—design thinking, entrepreneurship, transdisciplinarity, and civic engagement—into each student’s educational experience.

Our Students

For more than 135 years, Woodbury University has helped students of diverse genders, races, ethnicities, and economic classes achieve their dreams. Today, Woodbury’s student body consists of approximately 36% White non-Hispanic students, 39% Hispanic students, 10% Asian students, 7% international students, and 5% African-American students. The White, non-Hispanic students comprise diverse populations as well, including a large and growing number of students of Armenian heritage. Woodbury’s student population is 48% male and 52% female. Many students come from local communities with varied socio-economic and racial backgrounds, and are the first in their families to attend college. All Woodbury students have an earnest desire to learn, and a belief that through the attainment of professional and academic skills, they can improve their lives, their families’ lives, and their communities.

The Unique Characteristics of a Woodbury University Degree

In serving this group of students, and in striving to be innovative, dedicated, and socially responsible, Woodbury’s ambition is to provide intellectual and human capital to the region’s economic sectors, to offer opportunities to those who seek to contribute, to provide a world-class education to our students, and to sustain a socially responsible community that examines and tries to preserve the important ecologies of the region’s nature, society, and culture. Throughout its evolution, Woodbury has adhered to core principles that value ethical behavior, student empowerment, diversity, and a rigorous professional education grounded in the liberal arts. Some of the unique characteristics of a Woodbury degree include:

Transformation: We have historically provided access to a diverse group of students with different learning strategies and life experiences, and helped them to achieve their educational and professional goals.

Experiential Learning: We educate using innovative pedagogies in a project-based learning environment, and require students to serve internships before graduation.

Culture of Engagement: We create a culture of community engagement, social responsibility, ethical behavior, and institutional pride.

Student Success: We instill in our graduates our Core Values (Excellence, Ethics, Aspiration, community) along with the knowledge and skills required to succeed in a dynamic global economy.