CO-OP Edʼs future may be bleak Cooperative education will not be o ered in the fall

Kevin Reynolds kreynolds.roundupnews@gmail.com

Due to massive cuts to the community college community in California, Pierce College has been forced to cancel many of its programs. But when the Cooperative Education website was taken down, some faculty members took it personal.

The website that was used by many students was created and copyrighted by Instructor of Business Administration Richard Skidmore. He, along with the Director of Cooperative Education Ronald Smetzer, believe that the website was taken down with malicious intent.

Earlier in the semester, the Pierce College Job Center was closed after 20 years of operation. The job center was run by Skidmore, and was a service provided to help students develop skills to find work. Skidmore also created and operated the website for the job center.

Before the center was closed, campus administration requested use of this copyrighted site for the Career and Transfer Center, according to Skidmore.

“When the Job Center closed, [college president] Kathleen BurkeKelly requested that Skidmore hand over the (job center) website,” Smetzer said. “Skidmore told them they could lease it.”

Shortly after this conversation, the Cooperative Education (Co Op Ed) website was taken down.

“They are angry because I copyright everything I do,” Skidmore said. “They are willing to burn students and faculty because of it.”

The Co Op Ed website was created by Skidmore to streamline the process