22 new faculty will be hired for fall

Besides the beautiful orange colored leaves the fall season will bring along new teachers at Pierce College.

 

With so many teachers retiring, Pierce will be hiring 22 new faculty members for Fall 2010.

 

Potential candidates have already begun to turn in their applications, but there are deadlines for when they can apply.

 

The applications will go through a process in order to choose and hire the new teachers.

 

The applications will first go through human resources and they will check for the minimum qualifications which, according to Diane Levine, chair of anthropological and geographical science, are a master’s degree and experience in the field they are applying to.

 

“Education and experience is critical,” said Donna-Mae Villanueva, dean of academic affairs. “We can’t ignore these elements,” she said.

 

If applicants don’t have the qualifications they can’t even be considered as possible candidates for the job, according to Villanueva.

 

After human resources the applicants will then go on to hiring committee to be interviewed. The hiring committee will choose three people that that they like according to Levine.

 

The hiring committee will be different for each department. Each department will have a chairperson, dean, compliance officer and a faculty member of that particular department according to Crystal Kiekel, associate dean of student success and basic skills.

 

According to Sylvia Silva, the Pierce compliance officer, third and fourth year probationary faculty can also be able to participate in the hiring committee.

 

Once the hiring committee has chosen three applicants they will move on to Pierce’s president and vice president to be interviewed again. They will make their final decision according to Levine.

 

According to Villanueva, some committees began to meet in February to interview applicants in March and other committees will interview people between May to August.

 

 “We will be hiring through the summer,” said Kiekel. When Fall semester begins the new teachers will be hired and begin working at Pierce.

 

In the process of hiring the new teachers each department will not only look for the minimum qualifications they will also look for desirable qualifications and it will vary for every department, according to Kiekel.

 

For example the desirable qualifications for the Biology department are applicants who have an ability to make biology fun for non-major students.

 

The mathematics department will be searching for something completely different. They will be looking for people who know how to use technology to examine mathematical concepts in class, according to the laccd.edu website.

 

The new teachers’ salary will depend on how much of education and how many years of experience they have had.

 

For a 10 month academic year the salary can range from $47,600 to $74,110 per year and for a 12 month position it ranges from $57,120 to $88,932, according to Silva.

 

According to Sylvia Silva and the Pierce College website, the departments that are hiring are: