Pierce Faculty Delays No-Confidence Vote

A panel of Pierce College faculty has postponed for six weeks a vote of no confidence in the school’s president, Lowell Erickson.

“We’re not dropping this thing,” said Ron Smetzer, head of the Pierce College Academic Senate. Members of the senate are seeking greater clout in college decisions.

“If in six weeks members of the senate feel that progress is not being made toward resolving their gripes, there could easily be a vote of no confidence.”

The senate has no direct power over the president, but can make recommendations to the community college district.

Erickson signaled that he was willing to cooperate, saying he plans to work with a senate ad hoc committee to “develop a statement that will lead to greater input from the faculty.”

Some faculty members had accused Erickson, who was appointed by the district in 1991, of failing to consult them on issues crucial to the entire campus and staff, Smetzer said.

“The budget problem has been enormous, we have a phone system for which the installation has dragged on and plenty of other bones of contention for the faculty,” Smetzer said. “And they just get more and more sore when they feel left out of the decision-making process.”

The proposed vote comes as Pierce faces its worst-ever financial crisis--a time of canceled programs and maintenance cuts at the second largest community college in Los Angeles. Members of the senate also have complained about the lack of air conditioning in most buildings and Erickson’s decision to offer limited summer school.

“Those are all stresses that are affecting people,” Smetzer said. “When they start to add up, some people want to hang somebody.”