My February 12 column spoke to how much the pandemic has affected our College. I discussed how our transition from being a primarily face-to-face institution to a predominantly virtual environment has affected our enrollments, caused great uncertainty in our budget, and exacerbated an already widening student equity gap.  

In spring 2021, our enrollment was down approximately nineteen percent and this included significantly fewer of both new students and continuing students. Moreover, we saw many students withdraw at some point during the semester because the pressures of online education during a pandemic were too much for them. In addition to overall lower enrollments, we have seen a shift in the demographics of our students, which signals a troubling educational decline for marginalized communities.

It is abundantly clear to CR’s administration that we must transition to a new operational normal as soon as possible if we are to reverse this trend and welcome students back to campus. I believe that making it easier for our community to attend classes will also contribute greatly to our region’s economic recovery. I am pleased to say that College of the Redwoods will look very different in fall 2021.

I want to point out that several of our faculty have continued to teach face-to-face throughout the fall and spring and many of our classified staff and managers have worked physically on our campuses since the pandemic began a year ago. Those faculty and students, thankfully, have remained healthy and safe while doing so. I believe that it is due to the faculty and staff’s commitment to ensuring that our COVID protocols have been followed and by the mitigation efforts that we have taken to support safe instructional practices.

Although details must be finalized, we are planning to expand our in-person and hybrid (a mix of online and in-person) course offerings next fall semester. We will also begin offering more in-person administrative and student support services on June 1, 2021. This is not to say that we will be fully back to normal, but campus will feel much closer to normal than it did one year ago.

We face two challenges as we begin our transition back to standard operations, but I believe that addressing these challenges will lead to better outcomes for many students. First, we have to plan our future class schedules to accommodate students with differing educational needs. For some students, a virtual learning environment is just not possible, either due to access to technology or learning style. However, we also want to accommodate those students who have found that they prefer the online model. This means we will offer a greater mix of online, in-person, and hybrid classes than we have in the past.

Secondly, COVID-19 has forced us to look at our physical classrooms and office spaces and make accommodations to create a safe learning and working environment. 

I know that reopening our campuses will prove challenging. However, President Biden’s March 11 address wherein he announced that he is directing “all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults — people 18 and over — eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1” gives me hope that light is indeed at the end of the tunnel. Clearly, offering vaccines to every adult in Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity counties is a game-changer for us and will make our campuses safe for all modalities of instruction.

I want to thank the College of the Redwoods Faculty Organization, the California Schools Employee Association Chapter 509, the Academic Senate, and the Management Council for working with the administration to reopen our campuses in the fall. I am hopeful that we will be able to use our fall reopening success to form a foundation for a further expansion of classes and services in spring 2022.

Our summer and fall classes schedule is available for viewing now. Students will be able to start registering for classes on April 5.