Arnavaz Fatemi
As many students count down the last days of the semester, several deans are counting the last days of their school faculty careers.Shelley Gerstl, dean of Admissions and Records, and Dorothy Rupert, dean of Academic Affairs, are staying until the end of the semester. Carole Delgado, dean of Academic Affairs, left April 1.”I feel very lucky to have worked in such an environment of learning and doing something for other people,” Gerstl said. “Much more fulfilling than I imagined the corporate world to be.”Even though Gerstl and Rupert are leaving Pierce College as staff, they are returning as students. Rupert plans to take several classes, including a literature class with professor Richard Follet, while Gerstl has already signed up for several ENCORE courses.Unlike her former coworkers, Delgado doesn’t plan to return to Pierce, but instead wants to explore Peru in August.While a permanent replacement for Gerstl has been found in Marco De La Garza, dean of Student Services, recruitment procedures are underway for Delgado’s and Rupert’s positions.The school will conclude advertising for Delgado’s seat at the end of this month and begin with Rupert’s soon after.Even though the Los Angeles Community College District put a regionwide freeze on hiring new staff, according to Tom Rosdahl, the district chancellor gave Pierce President Robert Garber approval to hire six new faculty members and two deans for the fall semester.With a combined 76 years of Pierce experience, Rupert doesn’t feel old at all.”In the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, you work until you were 65 and you were old,” she said.She said she is retiring young to go back to school and take classes she never got a chance to take, including computer literacy.As the deans leave Pierce, Rupert, Gerstl and Delgado all had last remarks.Rupert’s advice to students: “The two best investments one can make are real estate and yourself. Of course, all of the students are investing in themselves right now through their education.”The next thing Rupert wanted the students to know is that her daughter attended Pierce and graduated in June 2006. She transferred to UCLA and got her Bachelor’s Degree. “See, we can do it! We can transfer!”Gerstl said she remembers many students that have benefited from their offices and remembers the students’ faces.Delgado had a similar remark, stating she made lots of friends and met lots of people while at Pierce and still keeps in contact with the friends she has made. One thing she said she wouldn’t miss, however, is waking up every morning to go to work.She went on to say she spent many happy years here and said, regarding her retirement: “The second half, the better half.”