Employee Recognition Event 2021 - 25 Years of Service

Terry Green

Faculty Counselor/Advisor - EDI CARES

Who is Terry Green?

Some of you may know Terry as the “Voice of the Raiders” for Pierce Athletics or Terrence, the name his mama gave him. For our TRIO students, Terry is their advisor who is always there whenever they need. Terry works tirelessly to support our most resilient and most powerful first generation and low income students as they navigate college and beyond, and is always willing and ready to advocate for students. Terry is a valuable asset and diligently serves students to choose classes, provides assistance and guidance with the transfer process and teaches College Success classes. He is also committed to helping students find money to attend college, and is knowledgeable on topics from financial planning to budgeting. Terry is a man of many talents. Here at home in EDI CARES, or “Wakanda,” we know him as DJ Terry, i-Terry or T-money!

Learn more as Terry shares his Pierce College story…

I began my journey as a student at Pierce, getting involved in athletics, clubs, writing for the Pioneer, etc. After graduating from Pierce College, I transferred to Washington State University.  When I finished my fall quarter of student teaching, I returned to Pierce in January 1995 and started working in the Alternative Learning Center, where I first took classes at Pierce.  I worked with the Reading and Study Skills Program during the day, and in the evening I taught Reading, Study Skills, ABE, GED, & HSC classes. I also started advising part-time in the advising center. Over the years, I am grateful to be a part of many firsts here at Pierce College. In Fall 2001, I was selected to help start our very first TRIO Student Support Services grant at Fort Steilacoom where our college’s first Supplemental Instruction program began. I was part of creating and teaching our first College Success class, which implemented financial literacy and university transfer and…yes, even our very first hybrid College Success class. Who would have ever thought that twenty years later, we all would be teaching hybrid or online classes!

What I value and treasure most is spending time with our students. Whether it is  helping them with career counseling, financial empowerment, and transfer planning, or being their club advisor. My passion is to help them realize all their possibilities as they find their own path. I love when alumni stop in to see me over 10-15 years later to thank me, and when former students send their kids or family to Pierce to see me so I can also be there for them. Here at Pierce, everyone I have worked with I consider family.

José Nieves

Safety Officer

José Nieves received his AA in Criminal Justice from Pierce College in 1996, the same year he started working for the college as a full-time Security Guard. He’s been with Pierce College ever since, working in a variety of safety- and security-related roles. During his career with us, he not only obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, he continued his Army career and training (reserve and active duty), working in military intelligence, CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives) operations, detainee operations, and logistics. He served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in the mid-2000s.

In 2014 José became the District Campus Safety Program Manager, focusing on college-wide emergency management planning and Campus Safety Officer training. In 2016, he was promoted to District Manager of Campus Safety, supervising the Campus Safety teams on both campuses. After Chris MacKersie’s departure, José served as the Interim Director of Campus Safety from March 2017 to April 2018, when Jeff Schneider joined the college.

Since April 2018, we’ve been thrilled to have him as a member of the HR team, serving as Pierce College’s District Health and Safety Specialist. In this role, José has been instrumental in ensuring the college is in compliance with regulatory requirements from agencies such as the EPA; state and local health departments and L&I (DOSH). He has also implemented a districtwide safety program as well as revitalized the college’s Safety Committees.

In early 2020, in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, Pierce College implemented its Incident Command System or ICS team, which is a FEMA management structure for coordinating an institution’s emergency response efforts. José serves as a key member of that team, which continues to meet twice per week.

Pierce College benefits from José’s subject matter expertise as well as his thorough and collegial approach to his work. Thank you, José, for 25 years of service!

Kristi Samuelson

Digital Printing Operator

Here is what her supervisor, Bryan Torrell, has to say about Kristi’s time at Pierce College:

Kristi has worked in the Pierce College Print Shop since 2003. She offers a warm welcome to all Print Shop customers that frequent the shop. Kristi provides full production, high quality black & white and color copy and printing for faculty and staff from various departments within the district. Kristi was part of the college’s call center during a period of high call volumes earlier this year, and is currently assisting with answering phones and messaging with IT staff, directing students and others to the appropriate source of information for what their needs are. Kristi has been with Pierce College since 1995, working with Disability Support Services starting in Oct. 1995, then moved into WorkForce Development in 2002-03, and has worked in the college’s print shop from 2003 to present.

Anne White

Dean of Enrollment Services, Registration, and Financial Aid

Over the last quarter century, Anne White has been a phenomenal influence that has maintained so many of the core systems that students rely on to enter, progress through, and transition beyond Pierce College.

She began her career at Pierce in January 1994 as a temporary, hourly project manager at Fort Lewis and transitioned to the district role of registrar in May 2008, then, ultimately, to the dean of enrollment services & financial aid/registrar. 

From the yesteryear days of processing registration by hand (oh, we still do that sometimes?!), to maintaining student elements of the Legacy SMS system as it crumbled away, to being a leader in the implementation of Starfish and ctcLink, Anne’s leadership has been at the center of facilitating admissions, enrollment, registration, graduation, and transcripting, not to mention financial aid! This has included the perpetual development, clever hacking, and complicated maintenance of systems that have not always lent themselves to advancing equitable student success. Even in the face of these challenges, Anne has always sought the student-centered solution and explored innovation at the department, institution, and state-levels to navigate thousands of pages of policy, regulations, and compliance expectations in order to remove barriers.

Further, she has lent her expertise and leadership to many of the college’s essential committees, including the Student Advancement Council and, quite notably, the Accreditation Steering Committee in 1997 that helped fundamentally transform our work with outcomes and institutional effectiveness!

Anne is nothing short of the personification of “institutional knowledge.” Her recollection and understanding of policies and each of their iterations and implications is nearly unparalleled; and her view to the future is inspired. From challenging traditional conceptions of grading, to continuing to transition systems, to emerging from ctcLink conversion with only bumps and bruises, Anne is an inspiration of institutional resilience whilst maintaining compassion for her team and a steadfast commitment to the Pierce College mission. 

Today, Pierce College celebrates 25 years with Anne and we look forward to her leadership for the next 25 (which will undoubtedly include the next conversion to a post-ctcLink world)!

Thank you, Anne!