Jason Lemery / Roundup
The Pierce College Academic Senate agreed to create a committee for overseeing grant writing.
The decision was made at Monday’s Academic Senate Meeting.
In the past, it seemed the grant writing process had been somewhat haphazard.
“There is not one policy on Pierce’s books that addresses grants and grant writing,” said Patrick Salazar, grant writer and coordinator for Pierce College.
Currently, there is no oversight, and any faculty member and write a grant.
“Other colleges have one, and we don’t,” said Tom Rosdahl, the president of Academic Senate and an instructor of Automotive Service Technology.
In some cases in the past, grants have apparently been approved without anyone reading them.
“[Oversight] is a necessary part of doing business. Realistically, you need some sort of control over grant writing,” said Rosdahl.
After some heated debate, the committee voted 22-3 (no abstains) to create an oversight committee.
One of the naysayers was Dale Fields, an assistant professor of Astronomy.
“My objection was based on a very fundamental reason: the founders of this country wrote the Constitution, then they formed the government; not the other way around,” said Fields.
Another Senator with an objection was Beth Abels, an instructor of Arts, but her issue was more procedural: that is, the procedures for grant writing (and how the oversight committee would manage them) were not clearly laid out.
Rosdahl said that she might be on the committee, though, which means that she could get her chance to craft those procedures.
The committee would feature four faculty positions and two administrative positions, which will open up for applicants soon, according to Rosdahl.
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