Classroom Visitors and Invited Guests Policy

Pierce College is committed to preserving a safe and academically-focused classroom environment, while remaining accessible to the community it serves.  The college encourages safe, supervised campus visits by members of the public for the purposes of engaging in college sanctioned events, exploring educational opportunities and making decisions about their academic future. 

For purposes of this policy, the following definitions are used:

  • Classroom Visitor is a person who has no affiliation with the Pierce College District.  A classroom visitor has never been admitted to the college and has never enrolled in classes;
  • Classroom Minor Visitor  is anyone who meets the definition of classroom visitor AND is under the age of 18;
  • Classroom Invited Guest is a person who has no affiliation with the Pierce College District, but is invited by the classroom faculty to participate in classroom activities for the purpose of student educational enrichment.

A campus visitation may be permitted with the following precautions and limitations, which are intended to protect health and safety, maintain productivity and comply with regulations. 

  1. Visitation to a classroom must be for the purpose of investigating future attendance, participating in an official college sanctioned event, or by invitation of the classroom faculty.   
  2. Classroom visitors, minor visitors and invited guests are at the discretion of the classroom faculty.
  3. Classroom visitors and minor visitors must follow the visitation request process and be granted written approval for themselves and any accompanying parent, legal guardian or adult representative of the minor visitor, before visiting a classroom.  The approval notification is to be brought to the visit and shown to the classroom faculty.
  4. Classroom visitors/minor visitors are restricted to attending one session of any individual class.
  5. The conduct of a classroom visitor, minor visitor, the parent, legal guardian, or adult representative of a minor visitor, and/or invited guest shall not interfere with the educational process or learning environment, and all are expected to abide by all operational regulations and guidelines, including safety and access restrictions.
  6. Classroom minor visitors must be accompanied at all times by the parent, legal guardian or adult representative listed on the original visitation request and subsequent approval document.
  7. The college reserves the right to revoke visitation permission at any time.

Proposed Procedures

  1. Classroom visitor/minor visitor requests must be submitted to the Pierce College Outreach Team at least seven (7) business days prior to the requested visit date.
    1. All visitors/minor visitors must submit a signed Pierce College liability waiver form with their visit request. This includes persons accompanying a minor, and any minor who is not the visit requester.
    2. The Outreach Team will clear all visit requests through the Associate Dean of Student Conduct, the Director of Security or designee, and the associated faculty.
    3. The Outreach Team will communicate all decisions by email to the requester no later than 24 hours prior to the date of the visit.
  2. Faculty are to notify Campus Safety via email at least 24 hours in advance the name, date(s) and time of visit, and classroom location for all invited guests to adhere with safety response standards.

Revised 2020-02-06