Interim President Ara Aguiar spoke about the recent sanctioning of the Pierce College women’s basketball team during Monday’s Academic Senate meeting in Building 600. Due to a sanction by the California Community College Athletic Association, the team cannot compete for two years.
“We need to determine a game plan for the players,” Aguiar said. “The students have to be provided with an opportunity to manage their needs. We want to work with other institutions, so the students can continue to play basketball.”
Aguiar said the reasons behind the sanction are confidential, but she and athletics department personnel will continue to update the Pierce community about the women’s basketball situation. Aguiar said she hopes to partner with a nearby college until the sanction period is over, in order for the women’s basketball team to continue playing and to have the opportunity to facilitate potential four-year university transfers.
During the April 22 meeting, the Academic Senate also discussed the looming statewide budget deficit, and Pierce’s efforts to minimize excess spending.
Academic Senate Treasurer Kalynda McLean, who is also an Umoja coordinator and counselor, spoke about Pierce’s Financial Intervention Team (FIT), which was “established as a precautionary measure to evaluate our financial situation.”
“The FIT team will come up with recommendations so that we do not end up having financial challenges,” McLean said. “We are forecasting a challenge and this task force comes into play with that.”
Distance Education and Instructional Technologies Committee Chair Clay Gediman updated the Senate about the ongoing problem of fraudulent bot accounts enrolling in online classes.
“The bots are posing challenges, and some of the problems are AI submissions,” Gediman said. “There are actual students who use AI on their initial discussion posts. It creates a complex problem for faculty to make sure these are students.”
The Academic Senate also unanimously voted to approve seven new courses. These offerings will include four Native American studies classes, one English class and two history classes.
Transfer Center Director Sunday Salter spoke about the support available to students as they receive transfer admission decisions. The Transfer Center is planning to host a Transfer Celebration on May 15 on the Mall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Students are hearing from their campuses and it’s a stressful time,” Salter said. “If they need support, send them over to the Transfer Center. We have a giant bell for them to ring if they got accepted, but we also have several resources for them if they got denied.”
