College of the Redwoods plans to bring many courses and support services back for in-person instruction this coming fall semester. The college has been looking at how to safely bring students and staff back on campus since transitioning to online learning at this time last year due to the COVID-19 situation.

“This past year was extremely challenging for CR and its students as we were forced to completely alter how we deliver instruction and services,” said President Keith Flamer. “It also gave us an opportunity to grow our distance education function and cement its value in the institution and student experience.”

The college, working with the public health department, was able to offer vaccinations to all employees in early March and expects most support staff to return full time to campus on June 1st. Summer session classes will continue to be primarily online, with some Career Education classes remaining in-person, but in the fall the college believes students will be able to choose between face-to-face, online, or hybrid (combination online and on-site) offerings throughout all disciplines.

 “We now see how much this transition from face-to-face operations has greatly limited access to our curriculum and essentially exacerbated an already widening student equity gap,” said Flamer. “The vaccination protocol and our ability to mitigate the risks associated with COVID-19 exposure and to keep our employees safe, allows us to increase the number of face-to-face or hybrid classes and expand our in-person administrative and student support services.”

Student and Business Services such as Counseling, Financial Aid, Tutoring, Library Services, and Food Services will all be included in the district’s modified in-person plans.

CR will continue to assess ongoing public health conditions, which may affect decisions regarding in-person services and business functions for this fall.

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