Chapman Student walking in front of Memorial Hall
Chapman University Strategic Plan

» Optimizing the Campus Footprint

Chapman’s campus footprint now encompasses two vibrant campuses – the Orange campus, which is currently home to all undergraduate and some graduate programs, and the Rinker Health Sciences campus in Irvine. We plan to expand and improve our campus infrastructure through four major initiatives.

  • Student housing. As the student population has grown, so has the need for university-owned student residences. We have established a goal of housing 50%of our undergraduate students in Chapman-owned residence facilities. We plan to achieve this goal during this next five-year plan. The recently purchased Chapman Grand apartment complex in Anaheim will open in the fall of 2018 and will be a very desirable residence for sophomores, juniors and seniors. Construction will begin on the VPO West Residential Village in the spring of 2018 and is expected to be complete by the fall of 2019. Together, these two residence facilities will add 1,303 beds to Chapman-owned residences.
  • Engineering facilities. The Keck Center for Science and Engineering is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018. The building will contain state-of-the-art facilities supporting the Schmid College of Science and Technology. However, in the original budget, the north wing of the building was intentionally left as an unfinished shell available for future growth in the sciences. Now it has been designated for the Fowler School of Engineering, and therefore needs to be completed.
  • Expand services and facilities at the Rinker campus. The Rinker Health Sciences campus is currently home to the School of Pharmacy and several graduate professional programs in the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences. Plans for the Rinker Campus include the opening of the Brain Institute, expansion of research facilities including a planned expansion of the existing vivarium, and possibly adding or moving other graduate programs to the campus in Irvine. As existing programs have grown and future plans come to fruition, the need for student services at the Rinker Campus has become acute. Engineering the Future includes plans to add several staff positions for support services and security. The building at the corner of Alton Parkway and Hughes Street (14725 Alton) will be remodeled and designated as the home of the Brain Institute as well as offices for various service. The plans also include dining and recreation facilities, which have been identified as a high priority by students.
  • Main campus expansion and renewal. We will continue our efforts to modernize and expand the existing Orange campus facilities. These plans include the renovation of Smith Hall (beginning in 2018), the second floor of Wilkinson Hall, and Hashinger Science Center. In addition, we plan to build new studios for the Dance program in the VPO packing plant and use the current dance facilities to expand the space committed to the Hilbert Museum. Finally, we will begin construction of a new parking structure, which is necessary before any further expansion of the Orange campus academic facilities can be considered.