Pearson retires after 29-year career
By Sarah Cansino
IV Leader Staff, May 3, 2007
Pat Pearson, IVCC Dental Assisting program coordinator,
has announced her retirement after this semester. Pearson is a graduate of
IVCC’s Dental Assisting Program and has been a faculty member here since 1978.
Prior to employment at IVCC, she worked in general practice
for more than two years. She was also employed at an orthodontic office for
three years while she worked part-time at IVCC. Pearson first came to IVCC as an
education major and after some time decided to switch her major to dental
assisting.
At IVCC she has been able to combine her two interests of
education and dental assisting, although she does miss some of the patient
contact she had in general practice.
Due to her long-time employment at this college, Pearson
witnessed many changes both positive and negative. New updates and changes over
the years in technology and technique, she said, “have been a challenge.”
She believes student involvement has declined and that
students are coming to school with “more personal baggage” now than before.
Pearson said one reason students are less active is that more students are
working and going to school now, which is time consuming.
Some of the things she remembers about campus life earlier in
her tenure were “pep rallies and cheerleading.” Pearson has nothing “solid” set
up for after retirement but did say she will “enjoy some me time.” She also
expressed interest in working part-time.
In 2003, Pearson fought to save her program, which has
existed since 1973, when the board of trustees considered discontinuing it in to
cut costs. Pearson said she believed details of the future of the dental program
were “undecided” but that she, of course, would like to see it continue.
She said enrollment is full to capacity and the “interest is
there” from hopeful dental assisting students. Also, at the last Illinois Valley
Dental Society meeting she said the council stated that they too want to keep
the program up and running.
IVCC president Larry Huffman said the college plans to staff
the courses with the part-time instructors while considering options on revising
curriculum and hiring a full-time instructor.