Picking up the PACE

The program has had a steady increase in enrollment with more students than ever

Lorries Reyes / Roundup

The Program for Accelerated College Education’s (PACE) number of available class sections has dropped from approximately 42 sections in Fall 2008 to 31 sections this semester at Pierce College.

According to PACE Director Art Gillis, this is the main reason PACE class sizes have risen steadily.

The number of students enrolled in the PACE program and PACE Bridge classes in Fall 2009 has increased to 1,780 students from 1,561 students in one year.

The decrease in the number of sections and the increase of students in PACE can be attributed to the continuous budget cuts that the Los Angeles Community College District had to impose on the nine colleges in the district, including Pierce.

“The increase is not dramatic,” Gillis said, “but it appears so because we have so few classes.”

The Pierce PACE program is aimed toward working adults who are busy with full-time jobs and/ or families and are specifically designed to help students graduate or transfer to four-year university. Students attend designated courses that meet one evening a week and five Saturdays in an eight-week period.

The largest challenge for professors is the preparation for their lectures. Some PACE professors are currently teaching their largest classes to date, ranging from 80 students to almost 140 students during Saturday sessions.

“Your lectures have to be more precise and concise in the delivery of lectures, and therefore that makes it more challenging,” said PACE professor Edward Gika, who is currently teaching Humanities 31. Although the number of students is rising in PACE classrooms, both professors and students are aware of the situation and are trying to embrace the increase.

“[The class size] doesn’t matter. It actually feels like a university class and it’s something you have to get used to,” said Joseph Demby, 24, first-time PACE student.

The PACE program has picked up more attention than from just students. California State University, Northridge also has a program akin to PACE. Although CSUN has cut its General Studies cohort after Fall 2009, it plans on building upon its existing Business PACE program. Despite the prospect of crowded classrooms, students remain, which is what is most important to Gillis and other PACE instructors. The students who want an educa-

tion should have it,” Gillis said. “We will offer as many seats as possible.”

With the PACE transfer and graduation rate almost double that of a traditional student’s rate, Gillis might need more seats to offer.