Classroom Guidance for Fall ‘21 In-Person Instruction

Dear Colleagues,

As vaccination rates continue to rise and COVID-19 infection rates fall, the Centers for Disease Control and the State of California and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) are releasing additional guidance that removes requirements for distancing and masking in certain lower-risk situations.

Following the guidance from the UC Office of the President, we continue to plan for Fall 2021 teaching to be primarily in-person with regular indoor classroom occupancy. This is consistent with the latest scientific modeling by our own public health team, led by Dr. Natasha Martin, which shows that our current 82% vaccination rate for on-campus students and employees, combined with our wastewater monitoring and other safety measures, will reduce the possibility of on-campus transmission to negligible levels. The modeling assumes double-occupancy of rooms in residence halls, classrooms used at full capacity, and indoor masking only by unvaccinated individuals.

The Centers for Disease Control regularly updates its guidance regarding vaccine safety and efficacy, most recently reiterating that fully vaccinated individuals are able to return to activities that were restricted during the pandemic, including no longer needing to wear masks under most conditions.

Effective June 15, 2021, the California Department of Public Health issued new guidance regarding masking requirements, aligning with CDC recommendations and providing information about higher risk settings where masks are required or recommended to prevent transmission to persons with higher risk of infection.

UC COVID-19 VACCINATION MANDATE
The UC Office of the President is finalizing a policy to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all faculty, staff, academic appointees and students accessing facilities at any UC campus this fall, facilitating a return to in-person operations. While questions remain regarding details of how the UC vaccine mandate will be implemented, we expect the mandate to go into effect before the Fall term. UCOP is now convening a working group to make recommendations for implementation of the vaccine mandate. Details will be shared as soon as they are available.

FALL CLASSROOM GUIDANCE
As we plan for Fall instruction, we have been carefully monitoring the evolving guidance from CDC, California Department of Public Health, UCOP, our own infectious disease and medical experts, and are now issuing the following updated guidance:

Only unvaccinated persons (faculty, staff, and students) will be required to mask in classrooms (guidance regarding masking in other spaces will be issued separately).
Classrooms will operate up to full-capacity with no physical distancing requirements.
Those who have been fully vaccinated may still voluntarily mask indoors if they wish to. It is important to note that many people will wish to continue masking due to underlying health issues, non-covid health concerns, allergies, psychological comfort, or just out of an abundance of caution.
Given that there are many reasons for an individual to be masked indoors, we should all be careful not to make assumptions about, draw attention to, or stigmatize individuals who continue to mask indoors.
Failure of unvaccinated students to mask indoors will be handled via student conduct protocols. Mechanisms for identifying masking requirements for individual students are being developed by the UCOP workgroup and will be communicated once they are finalized.

Answers to other frequently asked questions can be found here.

UC San Diego has maintained a low rate of COVID-19 infection on campus, in large part because of our reliance on data, scientific and medical expertise, our comprehensive Return to Learn program, and because of the exceptional cooperation, flexibility, and compassion shown by campus community members. We look forward to having even more people living and working together on campus during Fall Quarter 2021.

Thank you, and have a wonderful summer!

Elizabeth H. Simmons
Executive Vice Chancellor

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