AACC will offer at least 20% of its course sections on campus in the fall, while at least half will remain online only.  

The courses with on–campus sections are mostly developmental courses and 100-level classes. 

In addition, faculty and deans may elect to bring up to another 30% of classes back to campus for face-to-face or hybrid learning, AACC President Dawn Lindsay said in a video message. 

In a hybrid course, students study online and meet sometimes on campus. 

“We will increase the number of in-person classes we offer to meet the needs of the students who dropped out, opted for a gap year or prefer a face-to-face experience,” Lindsay said.  

The college closed last March because of the pandemic and moved all of its courses online. This semester, however, about 2,000 students are taking courses on campus, mostly in nursing and other medical fields, and in culinary and studio arts.  

“Masks will be required in the classrooms,” Executive Director of Strategic Communications Dan Baum said. “The plan is to follow whatever guidelines are best for health and safety.” 

Classrooms that open will be large enough and class sizes will be small enough to allow students to social distance, according to Vice President for Learning Mike Gavin.  

“There are likely students who choose to attend because they like face-to-face and at the same time there are students who choose online,” Baum said.  

Jared Daniels, a third-year fitness and education student, said he is looking forward to getting back on campus. 

“Online learning is a challenging experience,” Daniels said.  

Still, not everyone is ready to take in-person classes again. 

“I think it’s not a good call to go back to campus in the fall because COVID isn’t officially 100% done,” first-year environmental science and biology Audrey Frye said.