The Roundup has already published multiple articles declaring what we expected from our soon-to-be president before he was selected, just to remind the candidates of the responsibility that would be placed on their shoulders.
Now that Robert Garber, a former Pierce College employee himself, has been chosen as president, our new leader has much to do to earn the good will of his constituents.
As a 19-year employee of Pierce, there is a greater weight put on Garber to have an understanding of the workings of the campus and there will likely be less leeway in terms of how long he has to fully accustom into the position.
One of the dilemmas any newly installed leader must deal with is discerning which aspects of the organization deserve preservation and which are in need of renovation. Pierce has many areas that could stand to receive a makeover and we also understand this is an issue being addressed now with plans for future development. What we would like is for our president to keep in mind that this is a constant search for improvement.
Pierce still has three marquees that need replacing, technology-based classes in need of new computers and an inadequately housed library that can use a facelift.
Conversely, we would also like for our president to remember the roots of the college. Pierce is an agricultural school and always has been. We hope our new president will maintain the ideals set forth by the founders of our college when faced with the draw of urban development.
Pierce should be leading by example in our community by having a positive impact on its citizens.
The biggest challenges facing Garber now are funding, enrollment and what to do with the $300 million in capital construction bond money that Pierce controls.
For someone who described himself as an “innovator” in previous interviews, we expect our president to work toward an expedient resolution to the issue of more construction being warranted than the bond money can accommodate.
As such, we also expect that our president is indeed in this for the long haul as he has said, and will not compromise the integrity of Pierce in the process of making it thrive financially.
On that same token of handling the big issues, the students at Pierce still need their president to be a man of the people, one who always has an open ear to the voices of students, staff and faculty alike.
Last semester, The Roundup stated that we believed the presidential selection committee should continue their search for a better candidate.
After his selection, Garber said he hoped to change our opinion of him.
To that, we would just like to be clear in saying that our respect is earned, but not impossible to come by.
We are most definitely not above having our opinions changed.
In fact, we welcome it.