Coronavirus
Fresno-area community colleges will remain online in the fall, officials confirm
Fresno-area community colleges, keeping in step with colleges across the state, made an official announcement Friday that the fall 2020 semester will be primarily online, officials confirmed.
College presidents from Fresno City, Clovis Community, Reedley College and the Madera and Oakhurst centers are recommending programs and courses that are not able to transition online.
Those courses, which may include nursing, welding, and police and fire academy classes, will practice social distancing and take other hygienic measures to quell the coronavirus spread.
Don Lopez, vice president of instruction at Fresno City, said some courses will be a hybrid of sorts.
“In some cases, students would take part of the class online and then come to campus for the hands-on component.”
Instructors may split the course by days, so there are fewer people in the room. Ten students may come on Monday, then 10 on Friday for example, he said in a recent interview.
The announcement comes after Tuesday’s news that the 23-campus California State University system will remain mostly online in the fall.
Similar to community college planning, there will be exceptions, and those classes will follow health guidelines, officials said.
A task force at Fresno State is expected to deliver an implementation plan for fall later this month, which will cover operational needs such as what on-campus living can look like, recommendations for athletics, counseling, and student support services, among others.
Fresno State has lost about $13 million in revenue for the current year, President Joseph I. Castro said Thursday, and along with State Center, is preparing for budget cuts after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his revised 2020-21 state budget.
Under the new budget, the CSU would take a $398 million cut from its planned funding, and summer financial aid would be reduced by $6 million. Community colleges would see an $11.4 million reduction for food pantries and a $6 million decrease in support for undocumented students.
Castro called the revisions “sobering although not expected.”
He said Fresno State lost revenue this spring from dining, housing, parking, athletics, the Save Mart Center and other auxiliary operations.
The university has put a freeze on non-critical hiring, Castro said, and he’s asked each vice president to develop a budget reduction plan for 2020-21.
College officials will still have to wait until early fall to understand just how much their budgets will change, as the state delayed the assessment of tax receipts until August amid the pandemic.
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.
.jpg)
Comments