Winter 2022 Instruction

Fall quarter has started off extremely well, with students delighted to be back on campus in person and over three-quarters of our courses being taught in person. The Return-to-Learn precautions and vaccine mandate are having the desired impact: infection rates have remained very low even as the number of people spending time on campus has risen.   

The university is grateful for all the effort that our instructors (faculty, lecturers, teaching assistants, etc.) have expended to welcome students back for the fall, especially the many students who had never before set foot on our campus. And we appreciate how flexible instructors teaching in person have been in addressing the educational needs of students as the quarter has started. Indeed, this has been an important element of making our university actively inclusive of students from populations historically less likely to pursue higher education.   

To build on our success to date, the administration and the Academic Senate are working together on a robust, yet flexible, framework that addresses the evolving nature of the pandemic and the situations of those most affected. Over the coming quarters, we will continue our transition toward an even more robust campus presence, to fully realize the many experiential learning opportunities in the classroom and beyond that can best be accomplished in person.  

Accordingly, all of our courses for Winter 2022 (excepting R-courses) are being scheduled as in-person and assigned classrooms. We will continue to have our outdoor teaching spaces available in winter quarter to augment our indoor classrooms. The campus will also keep up with our Return-to-Learn safety practices including free testing, contact tracing, consistent masking, readily available vaccinations, and the use of Corsi-Rosenthal air filter boxes in our classrooms.   

In addition, each instructor-of-record still has the usual flexibility available to them to incorporate digital and distance educational methods into the pedagogy for up to half of the instructional hours of a given course, in order to produce the best possible learning outcomes for all students. Our instructors are also encouraged to continue the compassionate and flexible approaches they have shown towards meeting student needs and to continue using pandemic-resilient teaching methods.   

We recognize that, even with booster shots arriving and vaccinations likely to become available for younger populations, some instructors may still encounter situations where ADA, health, caregiving, or equity issues impact their work situation. For issues related to ADA or personal or family health, we encourage instructors to consult with the DCC office, being aware that course schedules get finalized by October 27. We also encourage impacted instructors to work closely with their department chair or dean, because a variety of work modifications can be employed to address ADA, health, caregiving, or equity issues.   

Again, the start to fall quarter has been impressive, thanks in large measure to our instructors’ efforts, and we look forward to further strengthening the sense of presence and campus community during the winter quarter.   

Below are some resources that we hope will be useful in preparing for winter:  

KeepTeaching site with information about transitioning to in-person instruction: https://keepteaching.ucsd.edu    

Pandemic-resilient teaching resources:   
https://keepteaching.ucsd.edu/fall-2021/index.html    

Senate policy on distance education courses:   https://senate.ucsd.edu/media/395276/policy-on-distance-education-courses.pdf

Disability Counseling and Consulting Office:    https://blink.ucsd.edu/sponsor/hr/divisions-units/disability-counseling-and-consulting.html  

With best regards,

Elizabeth H. Simmons
Executive Vice Chancellor

Tara Javidi
Chair, Academic Senate, San Diego Division