Kat Mabry / Roundup
The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has an obligation to ensure students succeed and obtain their degree, according to LACCD Chancellor Daniel LaVista who met 80 faculty members invited to the monthly union luncheon in the Great Hall Thursday.
The challenge is finding new sources of revenue to achieve the chancellor’s commitment to student’s success.
Dr. LaVista was appointed LACCD Chancellor in August.
“One of the greatest things about my job – I’ve come to realize that I can add to the full potential [of the district],” said LaVista, who comes to the LACCD from Virginia where he spent the past six years in the State Council for Higher Education.
LaVista announced his four priorities, “the bed rock” for this academic year to further the success of students making up the nine colleges in the LACCD.
LaVista included quality enhancement on his list of to do’s. Some colleges are having difficulty meting their accreditation requirements, according to the chancellor. He doesn’t include Pierce on that list of campuses he’s concerned with.
The chancellor discussed the need to manage and find new money in today’s economy and increased student population.
Meanwhile, the district’s procurement and buying power is huge, according to LaVista.
The completing piece to LaVista’s plan has to do with a broad area of accountability which will include the advisors to strive for innovation and unique teaching practices inside their classrooms.
“We have an accountability to the voters who gave us six billion dollars to build these gorgeous buildings and they’re counting on us to ensure that those dollars that they voted on are being used wisely and [being used] well,” LaVista said.
Several Pierce faculty members, including Melody Cooper, chairperson of the Work Environment Committee (WEC) at Pierce, had positive suggestions to add to the campus and student success.
“Our mission is to develop policy, recommendations to promote a clean healthy and safe work environment to teach and to learn in,” said Cooper, instructor of art and chair of the W.E.C.
Cooper is working with the sheriffs department on campus to enforce the non-smoking policy.
Joy McCaslin was recognized by Don Sparks, the union’s chapter president for originally implementing the ban while she was college president.
The W.E.C. is also working along side administration to make Brahma Way and Pierce Lane a four- way intersection to help the flow of traffic.
Kathleen Burke-Kelly, Pierce College president enjoyed the speech the chancellor delivered and agreed with his list of priorities.
“Student’s success is very high on my agenda as well and doing whatever we can to see that student’s matriculate,” said Burke-Kelly. “Whatever it is – a certificate, degree, or a transfer.”
LaVista was apart of the selection process when Pierce was filling its president’s chair before the fall semester began.
“I think it’s [Pierce College’s] future is very bright,” said LaVista. “What compromises it is its level of resources available to fund the creativity and the excellence that’s here.”
He believes that with Kathleen Burke-Kelly leading an excellent team with good leadership, Pierce will have little problems seeing its students successful.
“You’ve got a very strong president, and a very capable president,” said LaVista. “She’ll find a way.” The next faculty luncheon will be held next month.
*additional reporting by Coburn Palmer http://www.laccd.edu/our_colleges/
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