Almost from the beginning of the pandemic, higher education leaders, scientists and political leaders clearly understood that returning to a normal post-pandemic life was most likely years away. But I knew, for College of the Redwoods, the timeline had to be significantly shorter if we were to secure our long-term financial viability and retain students.

The widespread availability of a vaccine gave me hope that, despite the ambiguity, we could move closer to some kind of normalcy. It was then that the College of the Redwoods administration announced our plans to return to in-person administration and services on June 1 and expand the number of face-to-face and hybrid classes in the fall.

We understand that this may cause some anxiety among staff and the community, so I want to share a few of the actions we are taking to make sure our learning and working environments are safe when we return to in-person operations.

• With the exception of students living in our residence hall students, we are not requiring students to be vaccinated. Nor are we requiring employees to be vaccinated when they return to work on campus. However, all students, staff, and outside contractors must wear masks or face coverings on our campuses. All traditional, in-person classes will be off-limits to students who refuse to wear face coverings or masks. They will instead have the option to continue taking online classes.

• Students and staff must maintain six feet of social distancing at all times on our campuses, whether indoors or outdoors. This means we will need to reduce the number of students in our classrooms to adhere to CDC and local health department social distancing requirements.

• We will update the HVAC system filters in our buildings to the recommended MERV 13 rating, purchase air purifiers for classrooms and office areas, place outdoor seating and tables throughout our campuses for open space social distancing, install physical barriers such as Plexiglas in workspaces, and increase our supply of PPE.

• We will also hire additional custodial staff to enhance our classroom and work space sanitization efforts. We will increase the number of public safety officers for our various locations to support our mask and social distancing protocols and to help with contact tracing.

None of this has been easy and I want to thank CR’s faculty and classified unions, our academic senate and all of our managers and administrators for working together to reopen our campuses. It was clear in our discussions that we all want to get back to doing what we do best—providing exceptional, high-quality education opportunities and services to our community. 

Finally, let me take a moment to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. A May 1 CNN story announcing that the US has fully vaccinated more than 100 million people against COVID-19 quotes the Dean of Brown University School of Public Health in saying, “…we can confidently say the worst is behind us…I think we are in much better shape heading forward.”

But the story also warns us that a spread of the new COVID variants and the slowdown in vaccinations could threaten the positive outlook.

We have all seen first-hand how disruptive outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus can be to our communities. Not only are there possible long-term impacts to our health, outbreaks can also cause school shutdowns, business closures, and severe economic hardship for the most vulnerable in our communities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leading scientists, and medical experts confirm the vaccines are safe and effective. They are also 100% free for everyone 16 years old and up in California’s 58 counties. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to get vaccinated to protect yourselves and our community against the harmful effects, both economic and physical, of the virus. Widespread vaccination is the fastest and most efficient way for us to ensure that our College and the community remain “Open for Business”.

I am proud to work with faculty and staff who are committed to doing all they can for our students. Please feel free to send me an email to let me know what else CR can do to support the community. (keith-flamer@redwoods.edu)