Azusa Pacific University


Azusa Pacific University is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 1939. The university's seminary, the Graduate School of Theology, holds to a Wesleyan-Arminian doctrinal theology. APU offers more than 100 associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs on campus, online, and at seven regional locations across Southern California.
Azusa Pacific University is organized into three colleges and seven schools. The academics programs are available from the Honors College, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Music and the Arts, Leung School of Accounting, University College, School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Management, School of Education, School of Nursing, and School of Theology. APU is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.

History

Azusa Pacific University was established on March 3, 1899, in Whittier, California. Under the name Training School for Christian Workers, it was the first Bible college on the West Coast. Led by president Mary A. Hill, the school initially had a total enrollment of 12 students.
Early years saw the school relocate and change leadership several times. In 1939, Cornelius P. Haggard became the school's 13th president. In response to low enrollment and a lack of donations, Haggard launched a variety of fundraising efforts. Haggard served for the next 36 years.
Following mergers with three Southern California colleges, the university relocated in 1946 to the city of Azusa, where it resides today. In 1939 the Training School became Pacific Bible College, and four-year degrees were offered. In 1956, the name was changed to Azusa College. By 1965, Azusa College had become Azusa-Pacific College, and three years later, APC merged with Arlington College. Upon its achievement of university status in 1981, the college changed its name to Azusa Pacific University.
After Haggard's death, Paul E. Sago became president, serving until 1989. Sago encouraged the development and growth of off-site educational regional campuses throughout Southern California, and presided over the addition of master's degree programs and the development of schools within the university.
Richard E. Felix, became president in 1990, and initiated the university's first doctoral programs. He also introduced the university's "Four Cornerstones," Christ, Scholarship, Community, and Service, and oversaw the construction of seven new buildings, a doubling of student enrollment, and a quadrupling of graduate programs.
When nearby institution, Ambassador College closed in 1997, the Worldwide Church of God and Azusa Pacific University jointly established the Ambassador Center at Azusa Pacific University for the continuation of classes for former Ambassador College students.
In November 2000, then-Executive Vice President Jon R. Wallace, DBA, became president. In April 2018, Wallace announced his plan to retire and accepted his new role as president emeritus.
In 2017, a new independent economic study found that APU generates $1.25 billion in economic impact within California each year. Of that, APU contributes $37 million in state taxes each year and supports 7,260 jobs statewide. The report also found approximately 47,500 APU alumni reside within California, increasing the state's productivity and earning power. Of those, 10,600 APU alumni and 600 APU employees live in the San Gabriel Valley.
In 2018, two university board members resigned from the university, citing concerns over financial mismanagement and "theological drift." As of 2018, the credit rating agency Moody's had downgraded its credit rating of APU's bonds to BA1, just above junk status.
On April 10, 2019, APU named Paul W. Ferguson as its 17th president. He began his new role on June 3, 2019.

Religious affiliations

A small group of Quakers and a Methodist evangelist laid the foundation for the Training School for Christian Workers in 1899.
As faculty members began to embrace Evangelicalism and reject a growing liberal trend in the California Yearly Meeting of Friends, a campus church was established in 1933. This shift moved the "school church" from the local Huntington Park Friends Church to the on-campus worship gathering. The new campus church planted eight "tabernacles" throughout California which collectively became known as the Evangel Church denomination.
The series of college mergers and campus re-locations which followed helped to solidify the school's identity as an Evangelical institution.

Presidents

The university has had a total of 18 presidents since its founding.

Academics

Azusa Pacific University academic resources include the Writing Center, Accessibility Services, Testing Services, Tutoring Services, university libraries, Math Center, Academic Success Center, and the Graduate and Professional Registrar. Special programs include the Friends Center, Honors College, Sigma Theta Tau, and the Western Conservancy of Nursing History.

University libraries and special collections

The APU libraries include the William V. Marshburn Library, the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library, the Stamps Theological Library, and off-campus libraries supporting academic programs at the APU High Desert, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Murrieta locations.
A unified catalog identifies the more than 240,000 books, media items, and 1,900 periodical titles in the libraries' print collections. More than 703,000 microforms include the Library of American Civilization, Library of American Literature, The New York Times, and Educational Resources Information Center collections. The university network also provides access to more than 140 online databases, which include more than 46,000 electronic journals.
In the fall of 2009, Azusa Pacific University acquired a collection of antiquities, including five fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls and five first-edition prints of the King James Bible. These new acquisitions were displayed in an exhibit, Treasures of the Bible: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Beyond, in summer 2010.
Special collections of Azusa Pacific University are housed in the Thomas F. Andrews Room of the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library, located on APU's West Campus. The special collections consist of over 6,500 holdings ranging from presidential signatures to historical citrus crate labels.

Research

Azusa Pacific University is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". APU conducts its research through eight university research centers:
  • Center for Academic Service-Learning and Research
  • Center for Research on Ethics and Values
  • Center for Research in Science
  • El Centro Teológico Hispano
  • Friends Center
  • Center for Vocational Ministry
  • Office of Faith Integration
  • Noel Academy for Strengths-Based Leadership and Education
APU's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment provides resources, training, and consultations designed to help academic and student life departments successfully assess their educational effectiveness. The office also coordinates and facilitates the academic program review process.

Honors College

APU's Honors College was launched in 2013, with David L. Weeks as dean. An Oxford-style, writing-intensive program, the Honors College grants graduates a second major or minor in Honors Humanities and an honors scholar diploma designation. The program content replaces all general education courses. The Honors College describes its purpose as "liberally educat the next generation of intellectually-gifted Christian leaders." Students study classic literature including works by Aristotle, Shakespeare, and C.S. Lewis, and are given publication and regional/national presentation opportunities.

Campus

Azusa Pacific University's Azusa campus is situated in the San Gabriel Valley, located northeast of Los Angeles.
The university also maintains a Los Angeles Regional Site, a Monrovia Regional Site, and five additional off-site regional centers in Southern California:
  • Inland Empire Regional Center
  • Murrieta Regional Center
  • San Diego Regional Center
  • High Desert Regional Center
  • Orange County Regional Center

    Athletics

The Azusa Pacific athletic teams are called the Cougars. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, primarily competing in the Pacific West Conference for most of its sports since the 2012–13 academic year; while its women's swimming & diving team competes in the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference and its women's water polo team competes in the Golden Coast Conference. The Cougars previously competed in the Golden State Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1986–87 to 2011–12. On July 11, 2011 Azusa Pacific began the three-year transition process to becoming a member of the NCAA. Azusa Pacific University decided to end its football program in December 2020 due to financial restructuring.
Azusa Pacific competes in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo.
Azusa Pacific Athletics achieved eight consecutive wins of the Directors’ Cup from 2005 to 2012, with a total of 108 GSAC Championships and 36 NAIA National Championships. Since joining NCAA Division II, the program has added 31 PacWest Conference Championships and four GNAC championships in football.