AS Plans for PCC's Accreditation

The spring semester will be a busy term for Associated Students with the priority of preparing for PCC's accreditation, set to take place in March. A group of experts will visit the campus from March 16 to 19 to examine and verify that the school's self-study - research on how the campus measures up to expected standards - is accurate and that improvements have been made since its last visit six years ago.

One notable improvement that needed to be made was the students' awareness of the student government.

"The last accreditation said that we needed to improve on student representation," said Christina Javier, president of AS. "We need a stronger representation of student government."

As a result, daily events will take place for a week prior to the visit in the Galloway Plaza near the library in order to raise students' knowledge on each individual's post in AS.

AS has already started advertising this event by handing out flyers and having members visit classrooms.

"A lot of people don't know about AS and they want to get involved," said Lauren Crisci, vice president of student services. "Community colleges aren't as unified as universities since people just take their classes and go home."

To further improve and maintain other areas of the campus, the Accreditation Steering Committee was formed in the fall 2007 semester to oversee all 12 subcommittees, each covering a certain part of campus that will be evaluated by the visitors.

Aside from accreditation, Javier also plans to present the Student Activity Fee Proposal to the Board of Trustees in May.

If the board approves the proposal, registering students will have to pay a refundable fee of no more than $10 that will be used towards student clubs and services. The exact fee amount and when it will be implemented has not yet been decided.

Javier would also like to push for a student-run and student-led recycling program, as well as continue with Club Week during the spring semester.