Gavilan College anticipates an increase in enrollment this
year.
Gavilan College anticipates an increase in enrollment this year. Classes are already filling up at the main Gilroy campus and both off-campus sites with students taking on larger class loads.
With fall classes scheduled to start Tuesday at all sites, the familiar registration lines have formed outside the college admissions office. This year, however, Gavilan College students have an option: instead of waiting in line, they can call GavNOW and register for classes by phone.
GavNOW is the new phone registration system that will allow students to register, add, or drop classes, select “credit” or “no-credit” options, check their schedules, and see if a class is open or closed, all with a simple phone call.
GavNOW is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Anyone may call to see if class sections are open. To register for a class, students must have already submitted an application.The number for GavNOW is: 846-3729.
Gavilan is expected to achieve a growth rate of 5 percent, the fifth highest among the state’s 73 community college districts.
Registration so far is up by 331 students compared to the same time last year, according to Marty Johnson, vice president of instructional services.
As of Wednesday, 3,832 students were registered for classes. Last fall 6,401 students were registered and last spring there were 5,936.
While that sets the school up for a significant 16 percent enrollment increase, more students are enrolling earlier in the process, so enrollment is expected to slow down significantly as registration comes to a close in two weeks. Students are signing up for classes sooner because there are 100 fewer classes available this fall than last fall due to budget cuts made by the state.
“What (the increased enrollment) shows us is that people are interested in coming to this school,” Johnson said.
Even if Gavilan achieves a 5 percent growth rate, school officials only expect be awarded a “growth bonus” for half that amount.
“The state of California has not allocated enough money for it to fully fund the growth rate of community colleges,” said college President Steve Kinsella.
He said this is the third such annual shortfall in a row.
The 2.5 percent in bonus funds, based on the state’s 5 percent growth prediction, is the maximum, regardless of Gavilan’s actual growth. This could translate to lost growth funds should Gavilan fall short of expected growth one year and exceed expected growth the next.
For example, if Gavilan’s actual growth rate for this year is 3 percent, the funds for that extra 2 percent growth will not be held over for the future, Kinsella said. Then, if Gavilan grows more than what is predicted, it would not receive extra funds to cover the difference.
Gavilan will still receive base funding according to the number of students enrolled.
Gavilan’s campus in Morgan Hill is located in the Community and Cultural Center at Monterey Road and East Dunne Avenue.
To accommodate all potential students, Gavilan officials are planning future facility development with the help of the Gilroy community.
Gavilan recruited a community advisory group to sound off on some tentative project plans.
Kinsella and Trustee Leonard Washington met Saturday with the group, which will help the college develop projects on the Gilroy campus as well as the off-campus sites in Morgan Hill and Hollister.
About 20 of the 45 invited community members showed up for the meeting, and Kinsella called the group a good representative cross section of community interests.
The next community advisory board meeting will take place on Aug. 23.
