It has been nearly a year since the community voted to support
Measure E for the upgrade and expansion of Gavilan College
facilities.
It has been nearly a year since the community voted to support Measure E for the upgrade and expansion of Gavilan College facilities. It’s a good time to take stock and report back to the voters on our progress. The first series of bonds has been issued ($39 million out of a total of $108 million approved), and we have begun to assemble the team and information we will need to proceed with the work.
A Citizens’ Oversight Committee has been seated and has started to meet to monitor Measure E expenditures. A district growth analysis has been completed, forecasting enrollment growth for every section of our district for the next 30 years. The project management firm (Kitchell) and lead architect (BFCG), which will be carrying out the physical upgrades, have been hired.
A consultant has prepared a draft report on possible uses of the golf course land, which will be evaluated and used to assist in determining the best use of that resource. Cedar Enterprise Solutions has been contracted to upgrade the technological systems for the college through a process called ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). This will add such student services as Web-based registration and grade access and will increase the efficiency and accuracy of college operations.
We have been investigating future campus sites in both Coyote Valley and Hollister, and will now proceed with an Environmental Site Review on specific parcels under consideration in Coyote Valley. As new information, opportunities for contractors and vendors, and activities of the Citizens’ Oversight Committee become available we will continue to post them on the Measure E webpage:http://www.g avilan .edu/bond.html
In addition to Measure E, we are working on a number of changes to improve academics and meet student needs. Enrollment numbers are up 3 percent this spring over the same time last year, thanks in part to changes such as the move to a “block” schedule. We have added a Japanese language class and will continue to explore expanded foreign language offerings.
An extremely exciting initiative, which will pilot in fall 2005, is the Gavilan College Transfer Institute. The Transfer Institute will provide a guided academic program for those students who plan to transfer to a four-year university and who have the academic skills to do transfer level work in both math and English. Students who are accepted into the Transfer Institute will receive early registration services, a two-year plan of transfer preparation, continuous monitoring of their progress and transition services.
We are also working to address the needs of underprepared students. Like other community colleges and state universities, we find that many entering students are not ready to do college-level work. We are developing a program, separate from our regular college curriculum, of non-credit classes that will help these students to obtain the basic skills they need to enroll in college classes and succeed. Other noncredit programs are under development: a seniors program, health and wellness and noncredit English as a Second Language will be rolled out this year.
Thanks to the community once again for their support of Gavilan College. We invite everyone to visit the campus for our second annual “GavFEST” on April 30 to explore the many wonderful opportunities Gavilan College has to offer.
Steve Kinsella, a Morgan Hill resident, is president of Gavilan Community College. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at
ed******@mo*************.com
or 408-779-4106.
