At Pierce College, Bigger Isn’t Necessarily Better

*Four times recently, articles have appeared in the Valley section about Pierce College and its president, Mary Lee. Each one emphasized the college’s need for money. They described cutting courses to save money, adding needed courses to attract more students, commercial enterprises such as a golf range.

Mary Lee, judging by past performance at Valley College, is the best college administrator in the L.A. Community College District, so she will probably pull Pierce out of the financial mess it’s in. But even she ignores certain facts that influence Pierce and other community colleges.

1. The Woodland Hills Homeowners Assn. is not concerned with Pierce College students, their education or their well-being. It is concerned with property values. And if closing the college would double these values, it would advocate closing the college tomorrow.

2. There is no such thing as the Pierce College Farm. Rather, one of the major contributors to the fiscal difficulties of Pierce College is the misuse made of about two-thirds of the 427 acres mislabeled “the farm.” It is land devoted to nine disparate programs offering 60 courses (in spring, 1994), from floristry (is that flower arranging?) to equitation, or horseback riding. These programs attract a few hundred students, most part time, of the 15,000 enrolled at Pierce. While taking up more than 50% of the land, these “agricultural” programs account for less than 4% of the enrollment. And the college is allocated money on the basis of enrollments.

A million dollars could probably be saved each year by just doing away with these programs, reassigning or dismissing the agriculture faculty and getting rid of the small herds of cattle, swine, sheep and horses.

Eventually, college administrators everywhere should face the fact that bigger is not necessarily better. In all California community colleges, the grade W, for “withdrew,” is the most common. At Los Angeles community colleges, including Pierce, Valley and Mission colleges, thousands of Ws are assigned every semester. Could that not be interpreted as a sign that the colleges are doing something wrong in course offerings, advising or teaching? Let’s not worry about getting more students. Let us be concerned with satisfying the needs of the students we already have.

M. STEPHEN SHELDON

Studio City