We got BIG plans for the semester!
We made it to Week #2 of Fall Semester! The first week was quite eventful on campus. We saw a few cases of COVID-19, took precautionary measures, canceled some of the scheduled activities and worked on increasing capacity for testing, contact tracing and vaccination on campus. We are in regular communication with the Department of Health of Stanislaus County to determine our course of action. We will be able to offer free testing on West campus soon! If you've been thinking of getting vaccinated and have been unsure where to go, you now have the option on campus! And it's FREE!
We started the first week of school with our Full Time Equivalent student (FTES) at 4,941. Thanks to your efforts to add students to your classes where possible in order to increase access, we saw the FTES peak at 5,234, a gain of nearly 300 during the first three days. As of his morning, our FTES is at 5,181 and we still have 2,869 students on the waitlist! The enrollment numbers are comparable to what we had last year. However, there has been a significant drop in enrollment from Fall 2019. As we keep up our efforts to increase access, we will take the unmet demand into consideration to plan our future schedules to regain the lost enrollment.
Talking about planning, I mentioned during Institute Day that we will embark upon developing our strategic plan for 2021-2026 during this semester. The Strategic Plan will be developed by a workgroup comprising of members from a broad spectrum of areas across the campus. The members will represent divisions and departments as well as functions and employee groups. The workgroup will meet no more than three times during the Fall 2021 semester to share their thoughts about the strategic directions of MJC. Planning, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness will lead the development of the Strategic Plan. An external consulting firm will help PRIIE in the plan development process. The Strategic Plan will be a living document that will set the course for the institution in the upcoming years. We will discuss the details of the strategic planning process in our first College Council meeting. In preparation for the Strategic Plan, I encourage each of you to think about the strategic directions for your area of work. In this period of rapid change, we need to anticipate the opportunities coming our way and align our physical, fiscal, and human resources to reach our strategic goals.
Finally, mark your calendar for September 19, 2021. We will launch our Centennial Celebration on that day! MJC has been a proud member of this community for the last 100 years. We will celebrate our success and share our stories as we look forward to the next century! Please join me on September 19! Details will follow soon.
Go Pirates!