To get information out to students about different services that Pierce offers, the Student Service Fair was available Sept. 5 and 6 on the mall.
Unlike Club Rush, the Student Service Fair was there to introduce students to the different services provided by Pierce that gives Pierce students support while they work towards their academic goals.
Dr. Earic Dixon-Peters, vice president of student services, said, “We know the first two weeks are the most critical to a students life in college. After the first two weeks particularly in a month the students start to decline and drop out and we want to make sure that students know that we have the support services to help students stay on track.”
Dixon-Peters continued, “We have a student services team that all come together and really try to showcase what their office provides and they met and they prepared and asked questions about what the outcomes of the day would be and really tried to figure out what we can share that would make it easy for our students to understand and get engaged and get involved.”
Ngan Mork, a student services assistant in the Vice President’s office, helped coordinate the entire event by contacting all the student services departments and reaching out to faculty members to let them know about it.
“It is an annual event so we know that it happens so I usually start this process in July,” Mork said. “It has been going on five years that I know of. It is definitely to get the information out to the students, new students, returning students about services available on campus, completely new to them to basically help them to achieve their educational goals.”
In order to organize the event she looked at past events to see what was successful and how to represent all the programs available. There was also a need to provide shade and water.
During the fair students were given passports where they got a stamp for each table that they visited. The purpose was to motivate students to learn about what Pierce College can help them with during the semester.
“The passports are a way to encourage students to approach tables and ask questions. People go to events and just kind of walk by tables and just kind of pick off the free stuff on the table but this way it kind of encourages them to interact with the program representatives, Mork added.
Services such as ASO and UMOJA had students and faculty representing them.
Lauren Henderson, an UMOJA representative said, “From this event we want to just get more students more information about UMOJA so just getting the word out there that we are available to them, that you don’t need to be anything more than a Pierce student to take advantage of the resource.”
Henderson continued, “There is really good stuff coming out of this event that I am able to kind of get the word out and answer those questions that are going to make it more clear about what we are about and we get those students that take advantage of us that information so that they can take advantage of the opportunity and not just walk by and get a stamp but come by and better their college experience.”
At the fair Student Success Workshop pamphlets were handed out to give students a calendar of programs and workshops that can help them succeed. There was also snacks and water available.
A student, Kevin Sandoval said, “I saw a bunch of tents and thought this looks interesting, I just came by, I was just asking questions. I didn’t know about this career center I asked if they have part time jobs and I realized they help you with your resume,this is convenient. It was helpful.”
