50% Jump Seen for Pierce Summer Enrollment

In a glimmer of good news for Pierce College, enrollment is expected to increase by 50% this summer over last year because of a rise in the number of classes offered, officials said Tuesday.

Administrators say the summer’s projected enrollment increase could make up for last fall’s 7% drop and a stagnant spring enrollment. If so, Pierce could receive about $200,000 in additional state funds for classes next year.

To date, 4,433 students have enrolled for Pierce’s two 1999 summer sessions--the first scheduled to begin next week. Last summer, 3,120 students enrolled for classes.

College officials anticipate that with late enrollments, the number of students attending the summer sessions could be up 50% over last summer.

The college is offering 160 classes this summer, 53 more than last summer. Most of the money to fund the extra classes, about $600,000, came from savings set aside for growth.

Administrators said the apparent success of the two summer sessions could be a sign that better days are ahead after a series of setbacks, including controversies over Pierce’s budget, a proposal to turn the campus farm into a golf course and a spate of lackluster enrollment numbers.

In the wake of Pierce’s troubles, trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District declined to renew former President E. Bing Inocencio’s contract.

But the recent selection of a new and highly touted president, Rocky Young, has heartened many at Pierce.

“There’s a whole new feeling on campus,” said Michael Cornner, dean of academic affairs and one of the architects of the two summer sessions. “There’s a feeling that maybe the dark days of the past are behind us and we are looking forward to good times in the future.”

Pierce administrators said they saved the money needed to offer the classes by following an austerity budget targeted at preserving academic integrity while skimping on the school’s physical plant.

“We cut things that were almost unthinkable: maintenance, supply budgets--everybody tightened their belts and put money into classes,” Cornner said. “Bookstore profits were used for classes, student-worker jobs have almost been eliminated. That’s how we continued to offer the classes that we offered.”

Even with Pierce’s austerity plan, Cornner and Carmelita Thomas, interim president, admitted that some required classes offered too few sections. That forced some students to wait a semester to sign up for some courses needed to graduate.

Cornner said he hopes the summer courses will make up for lost enrollment during the last academic year and start the fall term with a boom. Thomas said she was pinning her hopes on Gov. Gray Davis, who has promised to focus on education.

“At this point, it looks like we’ll make it through the year at the same level as last year,” she said. “If the governor looks at us with a more benign eye, perhaps he’ll provide more funds for additional classes next year.”