After conferring to the SMCCCD Board of Trustees, the Academic Senate and student leaders across the district, Chancellor Michael Claire passed down the decision to make the Fall 2020 transition online effective until Dec. 31 2020.

In the  letter written by the Chancellor in the SMCCCD website, he expressed his insights with the said decision following the announcement of making the summer 2020 term online,

“We join other districts and systems (including the CSU) in hoping for the best but planning for the worst,” said by Chancellor Michael Claire.

In an email with Cherie Colin, director of Skyline College’s community relations and marketing, she said that no predictions have been made yet on how it will affect the fall 2020 enrollment.

“We’re simply not sure how enrollment will shake out this fall,” Colin said. “The pandemic is certainly an unprecedented event like we’ve never seen before, therefore we have no benchmarks to predict what might happen with enrollment.”

However, she revealed that enrollment is likely to increase when the unemployment rate is high.

“Traditionally, when the job market is down, enrollment increases, although we simply don’t know what to expect with this situation,” Colin said, explaining that enrollment could escalate with people preferring to stay closer to home and take classes locally or online rather than moving away to a university.

International Students

International students also share the same plights local students are struggling with computer access, internet speed, transitioning to online, keeping up with classes, etc. In addition to that however, international students are missing the physical family support and are also worried with their living costs with the pandemic affecting their home country’s financial situation.

Some students were also able to go back to their home countries and have their schooling done online.

“Most of them have been able to continue their classes online with their laptops/tablets and internet access,” Colin said.

“They do have to pay attention to the time zone difference,” she added.

The spring semester Study Abroad program was suspended March 3 and had students go back to the U.S. It was also said that they have received a pro-rate refund and are continuing their coursework remotely.

All summer Study Abroad Programs have also been suspended and have their deposits refunded.

Some students interested in the fall 2020 Semester Study Abroad program in London, United Kingdom have their $450 deposit submitted. They are also said to receive a full refund if the program will be canceled.

Summer 2020 

Despite the pandemic disrupting face-to-face instruction this semester, summer semester enrollment rates remain steadfast with increased enrollment compared to last year’s statistics.

There are  7,084 enrollments as of May 15 9:29 a.m., which is 16% higher at this point compared to 6,099 enrollments last summer.

“We don’t know where it will end up, but this is good news so far,” said by Colin.

Students, Faculty and Staff

Depending on the number of students enrolled in the fall 2020 semester, the number of classes may be affected.

“We do manage classes closely for the efficiency of the college,” said by Colin. “If classes are low enrolled, we may combine sections or cancel sections.”

With the classes for the summer and fall semester transitioning online, the college offers robust training for the professors teaching online.

“We are offering robust training for faculty members throughout the summer to provide them with all the tools they need to teach online and at a level reflecting the high-quality of education students deserve,” Colin followed.