Academic Senate address facility malfunction Members talk about the main pool being unavailable

BY MAXINE CHAYKOVSKIY Reporter

The Academic Senate during its third meeting of the semester on Monday over Zoom discussed the main pool being out of order.

Vice President for Student Services Jason Cifra said Pierce is able to use the smaller pool until the end of the semester. However, with the smaller pool going to be used more often, it will require more maintenance.

“This is not going to be a two week resolution. This is not going to be even a year and a semester and half solution,” Cifra said. “It’s pretty badly damaged. Our deck has fallen and it's really a bigger discussion about structural integrity.”

Cifra also said a heater is needed to combat the summer weather and the water is good for the activities.

Athletic Director Susan Armenta said that she had received a request from Reseda High School to use their tennis courts for tennis season.

“If we’re letting them use our facilities, we hope and ask that they let us use theirs,” Armenta said.

Armenta said that the college should be vigilant of the facilities that they oversee, and to take on anything that needs to be addressed.

In other news, OER Liaison Clay

Gediman discussed that Pierce has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the state for the Open Education Resources/Zero Textbook Cost (OER/ZTC) program.

“This is the first of several funds that will be awarded, so this is only the beginning and that this is the initial phase,” Gediman said. “And what they want to do is support faculty as they create a master class in a particular course in a shell, then share that shell with other faculty in the department so that anyone who wants to teach this class can do so.”

Articulation Officer Cristina Rodriguez shared her report on some classes that were now available for UC transferable units for the IGETC general education pattern.

“Some classes in the Addiction Studies department were approved for UC transfer retroactive to fall 2022,” Rodriguez said.

“Unfortunately, CAOT 32 was denied despite similar courses that were taught at Berkeley City College and Los Angeles City College respectively.”

The next Academic Senate meeting is on Nov. 2 at 2:15 p.m. on Zoom.