SEVEN UC CAMPUSES TO START NEW TERM REMOTELY
Booster shots will be required for students and staff across system
UC Riverside and six other University of California undergraduate campuses will hold classes remotely at the start of the new term, as colleges throughout the nation wrestle with plans for a safe return after winter break amid the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Additionally, all eligible students and staff in the 10-campus UC system will be required to provide proof that they have received a COVID-19 booster shot, officials announced Dec. 21.
“The emergence of this new and fast-moving variant, coupled with student travel to and from campus and the prevalence of gatherings over the holidays, will present our campuses with a unique set of public health challenges as we begin the New Year,” UC President Michael V. Drake said in a letter to the chancellors, adding that the plan “may require campuses to begin the term using remote instruction in order to allow students to complete an appropriate testing protocol as they return to campus.”
The letter to chancellors comes as a growing number of universities and colleges push back in-person instruction after the winter break, when students are due to return to campuses from all over the state, country and world.
In addition to UC Riverside, the UC campuses that have announced a two-week delay are Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and San Diego; Davis announced a one-week delay. Many universities that are delaying in-person instruction have said campuses and on-campus housing will remain open.
UC Berkeley, which is on a semester schedule, starts later than most campuses and is monitoring the situation, as is UC Merced.
During UCLA’s delay, students and staff must participate in a robust coronavirus testing regimen and show proof of booster shots. All faculty and staff will be required to test once a week throughout the winter quarter, regardless of vaccination status, Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael J. Beck and Professor Megan McEvoy said in a statement to the UCLA community.
UC Irvine said its delay allows time for “extensive testing, retesting and sequestration following the winter recess,” spokesperson Sheri Ledbetter said.
In addition to online classes for the first two weeks of the term, UC Santa Cruz is recommending that faculty and staff hold meetings and events remotely.
Large indoor events at UC Riverside will be barred during the first two weeks of the new term as classes go remote until Jan. 17, said Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. And UC Davis will begin remotely for at least a week to give campus community members time to secure a negative COVID-19 test before returning to in-person classes Jan. 10.
The California State University system said that it is not planning to go remote. “We continue to monitor the situation, and should a pivot become necessary, campuses will make sure to communicate with their respective campus communities as soon as possible,” spokesperson Toni Moelle said.