"That's the area that's as close to pre-pandemic as anywhere," Hueg said. Courses with more hands-on components, like STEM classes with labs, are the most likely to be back. How many classes are currently operating on campus varies by department. Students in a microbiology class conduct experiments at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on Sept. The Foothill-De Anza Community College District could require faculty to return in the future, Pennington said, but added that no decision has been made. ![]() We expect more faculty to get involved in face-to-face (teaching) again in the winter as we demonstrate that it's happening safely and effectively." "It was really dependent upon faculty feeling comfortable doing it. "We really relied on asking faculty who wanted to come back to take the lead," Hueg said. According to Hueg, administrators didn't feel a mandate was realistic given the uncertainty around the pandemic. Interactive components like labs can also be a challenge.įoothill gave instructors the option of whether to return to campus. She decided to teach on campus this fall because connecting with students and building a sense of community is more difficult online. "It seems like the students are really excited to be back in the classroom." This is what we're going to do and we're going to make it work," Parikh said. Students are doing a "wonderful job," Parikh said, adding that she hasn't heard any complaints. "We're confident we can serve our students who are vaccinated and masked and do a very safe job in providing face-to-face instruction," Hueg said.Įngineering and physics instructor Sarah Parikh is teaching all of her classes in person this quarter and said that thus far she has seen full compliance with masking and other safety requirements. If students are dropped, the college has some remote classes starting later in the quarter into which they can switch.īeyond masking and vaccinations, Foothill is also requiring students to fill out a daily online health questionnaire and is trying to put larger courses in rooms so that students have enough space to spread out. Now, the goal is to make both the physical and virtual spaces attractive options. The rest of the college's courses are virtual, some using live videoconferencing, while others are partially or fully asynchronous using prerecorded lectures.Įven before the pandemic, 51% of Foothill's enrollment was online, said Simon Pennington, the associate vice president of college and community relations, marketing and communications.Īccording to Hueg, the college has long invested in online instruction, and that accelerated during the pandemic. This quarter, 18% of instruction is face to face, with another 9% utilizing both in-person and online components, Hueg said. ![]() Students are now returning to campus for classes ranging from piano to engineering. Up until this point, the campus has been largely closed, except for allied health programs like respiratory therapy and pharmacy technology that have been running in person throughout the pandemic, Associate Vice President of Instruction Kurt Hueg said. ![]() Photo by Magali Gauthier.įoothill resumed face-to-face instruction this week, with 3,180 out of roughly 11,500 students expected to come to campus sometime during the fall quarter. Tish Damrose conducts an experiment in her microbiology class at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on Sept.
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