Gavilan College students prepare for return to campus this fall

Majority of general education classes will remain online

Gilroy resident Eddie Trevizo works on the final assembly of an aircraft engine at Gavilan College’s aviation maintenance program
Photo by Robert Airoldi

By Staff Report

Gavilan College has posted the class schedules for summer and fall 2021, and begun registering students. Although the summer session remains entirely online, fall 2021 will offer both in-person and online options.

“We are excited to begin bringing students back to campus — carefully,” said Superintendent/President Dr. Kathleen A. Rose. “We know that with the pandemic and disruption of the past year, many students took a year off from pursuing their higher education goals. We’re ready to help them come back.”

The majority of in-person offerings will include classes with an emphasis on hands-on learning, such as cosmetology, nursing, HVAC, and aviation maintenance. However, students will also be able to choose in-person sections in English (both Gilroy and Hollister), child development, anthropology, English as a second language (Hollister), golf, karate, music, swimming, tennis, theater, and welding (at San Benito High School.) Athletics programs will also be on campus in the fall.

The college’s Emergency Operations Committee has been meeting regularly to plan the return to campus, which will occur in stages correlating with Santa Clara County protocols and the state’s tiered system. The stages go from most restrictive (Stage I) to normal, unrestricted operations (Stage V). The stages in-between include such measures as mask-wearing, restricted access to campus, reduced occupancy levels, enhanced sanitization and cleaning, self-screening and measures to enable contact-tracing in the event of a positive case.

Since the start of the pandemic, Gavilan College has been operating primarily online. Students have been able to borrow laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots, participate in drive-through food distribution, engage in Zoom forums, and get help from peer mentors at the Virtual Welcome Center, and from online counseling, tutoring, and tech support.

Although many students and faculty are anxious to resume life in person, the college recognizes many are taking a more cautious approach. Most general education classes will remain online, with robust support provided. The schedule of classes, application for admission, financial aid access and Virtual Welcome Center can be found at www.gavilan.edu.