Special Services under new leadership

Michaia Hernandez, Eduardo Razo / Roundup

When a family member was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Stephanie Schleicher decided that she didn't want to go back to working in the field of business.

"I found a new interest in special education," she said.

Schleicher spent the last four years working as a learning disabilities specialist in California State University (Cal State), Long Beach, where she helped develop specialized programs to support adults with ASD.

Schleicher, who is the new dean of special services, utilizes her education and experience in order to better serve the Pierce College Department of Special Services.

"I felt like I needed to grow a little bit more," she said. "It was also a good promotional opportunity for me."

Schleicher, who has been working here since the beginning of August, says that her biggest challenge as the Department of Special Services' new dean is to balance the budget allocated to the department.

"We're looking at not cutting services to students but looking at how we can do things more efficiently," she said. "We're also looking at how we can staff accordingly to serve the students in the best way possible under [budget] constraints."

The department has had to go through significant budget reductions this semester, according to Schleicher.

She also said that since the Department of Special Services cannot deny services to anybody, the college has had to help subsidize the cost of providing their services for students in need.

In addition to taking over the post for dean of academic services, Schleicher is also a member of the Student Success Committee.

She also hopes to start a club at Pierce that would bring in peer mentors for students “on spectrum.” This idea originated from her years working at Cal State Long Beach.

“It’s going to be something of a buddy program for students with social anxiety issues,” Schleicher said.

Another thing she plans on doing is expanding the kinds of courses offered through the special services program.

“I’d like to incorporate new technology to the program,” she said.

Schleicher likes to take an active role with running the department.

“The best part is observing processes and [knowing] what’s working well for the students,” she said.

Margaret Figueroa, who had been working in the department for a total of 33 years, also enjoys working with the program.

“I like the interacton with students, and being able to provide asistance when they’re needed,” she said.