Students, staff and faculty came back from spring break only to find that their community college is now a four-year college—kind of.
At the Pierce College Academic Senate meeting on April 8, Pierce Interim President Ara Aguiar provided updates on the first bachelor’s degree offered at Pierce.
“At 1:22 p.m. today, I received a letter approving the baccalaureate in biomanufacturing,” Aguiar said. “A big milestone for this campus. We will, for now and forever, be a four-year institution.”
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman helped secure about $2 million to get the equipment necessary for the program, according to Aguiar.
“His office called the district, and he wants to help us again,” Aguiar said. “And so I’m currently in discussions with the district lobbyists in D.C., and awaiting when the House is going to be approving this next time around, which he feels very strongly that we might be able to get additional funding. But it depends on the project and how we position it.”
Aguiar also introduced Imee Perius, who started her first day of work as director of Marketing. Perius was previously with the Chino Valley Unified School District as a director of Marketing and with the LA County Department of Mental Health as director of Communications and Marketing.
“I look forward to learning everything about the college and helping to do everything I can in marketing, communications, public relations to boost enrollment, get the word out and share all positive success stories,” Perius said.
Distance Education Coordinator Wendy Bass provided advice for professors starting eight-week courses, which began April 8.
“You can open it early, but no work should ever be required until a couple days into a term,” Bass said. “Also, don’t drop a student if they couldn’t log on today. Many students struggle with logging in, so we don’t want to drop them the day of.”
Brandon Harrell contributed to this story.
