Many of the policies, regulations and recommendations that govern our campus are taken to vote in the College Services Building’s Conference Room.
Wait. The what? Where?
Exactly.
Some policies have been approved during the semester that highly affect students. For example, the district fundraising policy that is now being enforced and the new parking permit policy that is preventing students that have not paid their dues from purchasing permits.
Per the Brown Act of 1953, the minutes and agendas for these meetings are posted online, but they’re hidden deep within Pierce College’s unorganized website.
Discussions about governing procedures, regulations and policies that affect our campus and community are held during Academic Senate and Pierce College Council meetings, which are open to the public, also per the Brown Act.
While the meetings are open to the pulic, the cramped room they’re held, tucked in an easily-overlooked nook next to the Business Office, isn’t exactly inviting.
These meetings were moved from their original location in the Great Hall for the sake of convenience. Though this is understandable, it is not practical.
Public meetings should be held in a public place. The AS and PCC should return to the Great Hall: a readily visible, well-known campus landmark with room enough for all of Pierce’s voices.
This might create scheduling conflicts with the Associated Student Organization’s meetings, but, considering that the ASO should be at these meetings anyway, this might be less of a problem and more of a solution.
By combining these meetings, the ASO could learn from the faculty and staff meeting’s well-honed structure, and perhaps both parties could engender stronger communication that could benefit the entire school.
Combining these meetings could ensure the ASO would learn a thing or two about how they should be conducting their meetings, or vice versa.
To encourage shared governance, the space in which governance is taken should be shared.