With the start of the 2020-21 academic school year less than a month away, we know that students, faculty and staff are eager to finalize fall plans. This message provides the context and information each of you needs to make your decisions about the fall quarter.
We know the virus will be with us for some time, so we must be flexible and adapt accordingly. We also know that students have expressed enthusiasm for a campus-based experience including in-person and hybrid learning opportunities in the classroom and beyond. Even if the majority of their courses are held online, students will have the opportunity to engage with small groups of classmates, get involved in research, and undertake the broader personal development that life on a college campus allows. By bringing students back to campus in a controlled manner, our goal is to offer a rich educational experience in “a new normal,” while reducing risk.
UC San Diego has been navigating the pandemic for several months. We have been planning, testing those plans and taking multiple incremental steps to position UC San Diego for the next stage: inviting additional students to learn and live on campus.
Nearly 4,500 students lived on campus during the spring. Over the summer, 3,500 students lived on campus and many critical functions staff and researchers came to work each day. We were able to ramp up operations slowly, guided by new campus protocols, daily screening requirements and quick access to symptomatic testing. Since March, there have been a small number of positive cases that were primarily contracted in the community and not on campus. Those living on campus were provided isolation housing and care until the students recovered.
During the summer, in preparation for the fall quarter, we ran a pilot testing program that allowed us to adapt testing strategies for the entire campus population and to update physical infrastructure, install wastewater monitors, and debug logistics. Our faculty modeled outbreaks under various scenarios and developed new testing protocols that are less intrusive and more easily deployable. Staff updated classrooms, housing, dining and common areas and created new protocols for student move-in.
Campus housing and in-person teaching will not open at full capacity in the fall. Current plans are to offer approximately 12 percent of our Fall 2020 courses using an in-person or hybrid modality. The remaining courses will be conducted fully remotely. Residential capacity also has been reduced. We expect no more than 7,500 undergraduates living on campus (versus a capacity of about 14,000).
Students have two important choices to make for fall quarter: where they wish to live and how they wish to take courses. Living options include on-campus housing, off-campus housing or remaining at home. Course options include in-person, hybrid (a mix of in-person and remote instruction) or completely remote. Students who live on campus may take all courses online. Students who live at home or off campus in the San Diego area will be able to come to campus for in-person instruction.
While we have put a lot of thought and effort into opening campus as safely as possible, we realize that situations can change for reasons beyond our control. We are prepared to take action to operate completely remotely if needed to safeguard our community. It is my hope that each one of you will make informed choices that make sense for you as individuals and contribute to the experience that you desire in the fall quarter.
Important Considerations
In a global pandemic, and with a society that is used to great personal freedom, it would be unrealistic to expect zero infections. We understand there will be infections on campus during the fall quarter. We have developed, analyzed and refined a plan that will lessen the potential for large outbreaks on campus and have dedicated significant resources to caring for campus residents who test positive.
We also are counting on you, the members of our campus community, to step up and commit to the processes, procedures and policies outlined below in order to keep everyone’s health front-and-center throughout the quarter. We know that individual behaviors have a big impact on virus transmission and community outbreaks. Wearing face coverings, maintaining distance, completing daily symptom and exposure screening, and periodic asymptomatic testing are examples of commitments that can reduce the likelihood of outbreaks.
The Return to Learn plan is an excellent example of collaboration between faculty and staff from general campus, Health Sciences and UC San Diego Health. Our health experts, faculty, students, and campus and health staff worked diligently to create this student-focused plan in compliance with the county public health department and the state government. The many considerations and decisions required thousands of hours of work from these extremely dedicated individuals over many months. It is important that we recognize their hard work and commitment during these challenging times.
I want to express my sincere thanks to the faculty, staff and student members of our many task force work groups. I also wish to thank the employees who have remained on campus to complete critical functions throughout the pandemic. UC San Diego is grateful for your service.
The Return to Learn Strategy
Designed by a cross-functional team of UC San Diego epidemiologists and health system and campus leaders, in partnership with the Academic Senate, Staff Association, and undergraduate and graduate student representatives, our Return to Learn plan includes three pillars: risk mitigation, viral detection and intervention.
Risk Mitigation
Our goal is to protect students, faculty and staff from exposure to the virus by increasing physical distancing, requiring face coverings, requiring the use of specialized personal protective equipment in research settings, encouraging frequent hand washing, increasing physical plant cleaning and sanitization, and reconfiguring space to lessen density inside campus structures.
Viral Detection
Our goal is to detect virus occurrences before they can lead to a significant outbreak by screening students, faculty and staff daily, offering free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing at Student Health and UC San Diego Health locations, monitoring outbreaks in the greater San Diego area and monitoring wastewater on campus.
Intervention
Our goal is to isolate and care for individuals who test positive, notify those who may have been exposed to the virus and trace close contacts to minimize continued potential exposure.
As we enter the seventh month of this global pandemic, we have learned much about how this virus is transmitted and what works and does not work in preventing its spread. These three pillars have guided the following necessary changes. These changes will provide the best opportunity to invite additional students to campus in the coming quarters.
Required Daily Screening
Mandatory Student Testing
All undergraduate and graduate students coming to campus for educational, research, co-curricular, recreational or social activities (including all students living in university-owned housing) will receive free testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Required testing will take place twice per month with each test at least 12 days apart and with no more than 16 days between tests. For clarification: “educational activities” includes attending a class as a student, but not as an instructor.
Testing for Staff, Academic Appointees, and Student Employees
All UC San Diego staff, academic appointees and student employees, whether they are reporting to campus or any other physical UC San Diego location for work or working remotely, will be offered voluntary, free testing for SARS-CoV-2 at the UC San Diego Health system. Employees working on campus are strongly encouraged to test regularly, ideally every 12 to 16 days.
Campus-wide Aggregate Test Results
Environmental Monitoring
Research has shown that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in wastewater three to five days before it shows up in periodic population testing. Therefore, we are testing wastewater output at various locations on campus. This allows us to test targeted areas in a timely manner, and adapt our population testing strategy if needed.
Face Covering Policy Update
Experts in virus transmission have recommended wearing tighter fitting face coverings in spaces outside our primary residences to lessen the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Anyone coming to UC San Diego is required to wear a face covering while on campus in all spaces where people are in proximity of one another, both inside and outside. Campus residents will receive a free mask as part of the move-in and testing process. Off-campus residents will receive a free mask as part of initial testing in September. A variety of face coverings are available for purchase in the UC San Diego Bookstore and at Sunshine Market.
Physical Space Updates
In-person classes will be kept small to provide enough space for physical distancing within each classroom. We also are taking advantage of San Diego’s good weather and planning to hold some in-person classes outdoors.
Academic buildings, residence halls and retail and dining facilities have been reconfigured to provide one-way traffic into and out of spaces. Acrylic barriers, cashless transactions and near-field-communication-card readers will be utilized to limit contact between people. Prepackaged food products will be offered, and mobile ordering and take-out will be encouraged. Limited outdoor seating options will be offered based upon San Diego County Public Health orders.
Building ventilation has been augmented to circulate fresh air from outside, hand sanitizer dispensers are placed at the entrances of all dining and market locations, and all buildings will be cleaned and disinfected frequently throughout the day.
Campus Housing
UC San Diego does not have traditional college dormitories. Our residential unit format includes suites and apartments. All campus residential occupancy will be limited to one student per bedroom. Visitors to residential units are not allowed.
Residents will undergo testing for SARS-CoV-2 upon arrival. For undergraduates, testing will be conducted in two stages. After the initial test, students living in residential units will wear face coverings at all times except for when alone in their bedroom and in the shower. After everyone has arrived, there will be a second test. Once a second negative result is received by all students within the unit, they are no longer required to wear face coverings within their unit.
Once all units have cleared this hurdle, ‘residential pods’ will be formed by combining smaller residential units within the same building. Residents within a ‘pod’ will be able to visit each other in their units without masking, enabling small-group social interactions.
Undergraduate move-in will be staggered over a 10-day period lasting September 19-28. Students have already started signing up for their move-in date/time. During the move-in period, all dining will follow a “to-go” model in accordance with the San Diego County Public Health order.
In the event a student living in on-campus housing tests positive for SARS-CoV-2 at any time during the academic year, they will be moved to designated on-campus isolation housing, where Student Health and Well-Being Services will provide care, and Housing Dining Hospitality will ensure basic needs such as food delivery are met. We have 300 beds available for asymptomatic quarantine and another 300 beds available for symptomatic isolation for our campus residents.
In-Person Campus Events
To reduce opportunities for the spread of COVID-19, any event originally scheduled to take place in person on campus through December 31 must be presented in virtual format, rescheduled for a future date or cancelled. An FAQ has been developed to provide further support to our campus community. Please direct any questions regarding this temporary policy to VCSA@ucsd.edu.
As changemakers, our students want to engage with one another, the broader campus community, San Diego and the world. Knowing this, we have developed numerous virtual and remote forums to ensure students will have access to authentic community-building experiences; remote leadership, service and employment opportunities; world-class health and well-being resources; and the ability to simply have fun together.
Academic Programming
UC San Diego currently is planning to offer about 12 percent of our Fall 2020 courses using an in-person or hybrid modality. These courses primarily are lower division classes, graduate seminars and research or studio-based courses. Any in-person class will have fewer than 50 students and be at 25 percent or less of the classroom’s capacity. We are tracking enrollments, classroom space and course modality changes in real-time, and working with departments and colleges to make adjustments that enable instructors and teaching assistants to choose their preferred teaching modality while giving our students access to the classes needed for timely academic progress.
As fall approaches, the Teaching + Learning Commons and our keep teaching website are ready to assist faculty with refining their remote course elements. We also will sustain our departmental technology liaison program to provide instructors with discipline-specific assistance during the academic year. Units interested in developing fully online courses or requesting R-course approval for key offerings are encouraged to consult the Digital Learning Hub.
For flexible and robust access to remote instruction, Information Technology Services is upgrading the Wi-Fi in residence halls and improving classroom technology to support hybrid and simulcast courses. The Computer Lab Lookup is continually updated as we strategize on providing students access to campus computer labs for remote instruction and our Laptop Loaner Program allows students to request a laptop, hot spot or other technical hardware or support.
Research
UC San Diego began carefully ramping up on-site research and creative activities in early June in alignment with San Diego County Public Health requirements for augmented hygiene and social distancing. Several hundred programs are open with faculty, staff and students resuming their activities while ensuring an on-site population density of no more than 25 percent of pre-COVID personnel. UC San Diego is looking forward to students returning and engaging in research in the fall.
Employees
With the return of students for the fall quarter, some—but not all—student-facing staff may be asked to return to on-campus work. Staff will be contacted by their vice chancellor (VC) or supervisor, who will work closely with individuals to develop a plan for returning safely.
All proposals for staff to return to campus for work will be reviewed and endorsed by the Emergency Operations Center before final review by the unit’s VC. Only after VC review and approval of the plan will employees be permitted to return to on-campus work.
Staff who have not received communication directly from their supervisor or VC about returning to on-campus work should continue to work remotely through December 31.
Academic appointees should likewise continue working remotely except while teaching in-person in an assigned classroom, undertaking scholarship as part of an ORA-approved Return-to-Research plan, or working under a Return-to-Campus work plan approved by their vice chancellor.
Our Community Health
Recent reports about college campuses around the country that have suffered significant outbreaks of COVID-19 have been troubling. I want to assure our entire UC San Diego community that we have taken tremendous care both in planning and in practicing for your return to campus. Our strategies to mitigate risk, detect the virus and intervene when positive cases occurred during the spring and summer were successful.
To date, more than 4,500 graduate and undergraduate students and 3,500 employees have been living and working on campus throughout the spring and summer quarters. Since March, there have been a small number of positive cases, primarily contracted in the community and not on campus. UC San Diego’s screening, testing and clinical care have been successful in early detection and in handling cases as they arise.
UC San Diego is unique in the amount of space available on our campus; our expertise in prevention, viral monitoring and healthcare; and in our particularly bright and socially responsible scholarly community. While we need to remain vigilant and flexible, we are committed to detecting potential outbreaks early and mitigating them as they occur.
Flexibility
This pandemic has shown us that the public health situation can change quickly. It is prudent for us to remain flexible and understand that the university’s plans may change as the pandemic evolves and the state of California’s reopening plans are implemented and assessed. UC San Diego will notify our campus community of any changes to their learning, living and/or working environments as appropriate. In all decisions, the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and local communities will be paramount.
Thank You
I have often said that I am incredibly proud of our students, faculty and staff for their resilience, innovative thinking and willingness to try new ways of engaging. Throughout the pandemic, UC San Diego’s spirit of collaboration has been demonstrated and reinforced in nearly every corner of our academic enterprise. Thank you for your efforts, your adaptability and your courage to explore, learn and grow. UC San Diego values every one of our dynamic, resourceful and brilliant community members.
