WOODLAND HILLS : Pierce to Bring Back Summer Curriculum

In an effort to boost flagging revenues and student confidence, Pierce College will return to its full summer curriculum this year. But the college plans to cut several classes from the following spring and fall semesters.

“I think when we didn’t offer full summer school last summer, a lot of students became very concerned,” said William Norlund, vice president of academic affairs at Pierce. “Some were thinking we weren’t even going to be around for them to get a two-year degree, which was ludicrous.”

Beset by a budget crisis last spring, Pierce College administrators canceled the 150-course summer school. They decided at the last minute, however, to offer 40 summer classes because of pressure from students.

In the end, the decision to shrink the summer program might have cost the school even more, as enrollment stayed low in the fall, Norlund said.

“Some of the students may have decided to go elsewhere during the summer and just stayed,” Norlund said. Like other community colleges, Pierce receives funds based on the number of students in attendance.

Pierce will probably trim 100 of its 1,800 fall semester classes and 150 of its spring classes next year to help offset the cost of summer school, Norlund said.

“I think that we’re going to have a lean fall schedule,” Pierce President Lowell Erickson said. “And the students will hopefully go into classes that are being offered and therefore raise the average class size a little. There are a lot of classes that aren’t completely filled.”

Some of the areas very likely to be cut include courses in the humanities, philosophy, arts and social sciences that often have small enrollments, Norlund said.

The summer program offers mostly the popular general education classes in areas such as English, math, chemistry, biology and psychology.