La Verne’s Chip West Honored With ACUI Award

Chip West thinks about function, space and building community in much of what he does at the University of La Verne.

The Vice President of Capital Planning Facilities and Space Management was at the forefront of designing the Campus Center. And in his former role as Assistant Dean of Students, he helped reshape the roles of students in campus life with the creation of the Campus Activities Board and the rebranding of the Associated Students of the University of La Verne.

It is his work at La Verne and with the Association of College Unions International that earned him ACUI’s Don and Noel Hinde Distinguished Service Award in November.

“It was a real honor,” West said. “It was a complete surprise. The people who typically win this are much older than I am.”

Clive Houston Brown, Vice President for Facilities & Technology & Chief Information Officer, applauded West on his win.

“This is a great and well-deserved honor and reflects the effort, dedication and leadership Chip provides to ACUI,” Houston Brown said.

ACUI, an Indiana-based organization dedicated to building campus community, includes more than 500 2-year and 4-year member institutions, more than 3,200 professional members as well as faculty and students.

West joined the group more than 20 years ago as a means of professional development in his early higher education career. He now serves as director of Region I, which encompasses California, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Guam and Australia. La Verne became a member institution a year after West came to La Verne in 2004 from Cal State Fullerton.

ACUI played a big role in what was included in the Campus Center. Members of ACUI who work at area colleges and universities came to La Verne to assist in its design and function. West says he fought to keep a lounge space, gaming space and a student staff in the plans, in addition to conference space.

“We wanted this to be the front door of the campus community and all of this came from ACUI,” he said.

He also successfully brought ACUI’s annual conference to La Verne in November. The conference had not previously been hosted by a small private university, he said.

The organization’s guidance will remain a part of his formula in future projects.

“I still keep that idea of place-making involved in every project I do,” he said. “Whether it’s a lounge or a lab, I think about the function of the space and how it can create community for that department or the program its serving.”