Coronavirus

For the upcoming winter quarter, UCLA will continue to offer primarily remote-only instruction, following the protocols that were put in place for the current fall quarter. There will continue to be a limited number of exceptions that will allow in-person or hybrid instruction in courses necessary for training students for essential workforce positions. Read more information here.

Safety protocols put in place as a result of COVID-19 have forced UC campuses to reduce the number of students living and learning on campus, and required more students to live at home with their families or in nearby communities. UC’s financial aid policy accounts for the total cost of attendance, of which housing expenses are a major factor. Therefore, a change in living situation could entail an adjustment to a student’s financial aid package.

Read more information on financial aid adjustments due to COVID-19 here (PDF).

UC Berkeley's planning for the spring semester will be very similar to that of the fall semester, write Chancellor Carol Christ and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Paul Alivisatos in a letter to the campus community. UC Berkeley will begin the semester with fully remote delivery of instruction for at least two weeks. This will allow any students returning to campus to self-sequester for 7-10 days. After that, the considerable majority of classes will continue to be delivered remotely, including all large courses. Students will not be required to take in-person classes or to be present on campus for the spring semester.

Read the full letter here.

In order to comply with Santa Barbara County, California Department of Public Health, and University of California guidelines, UC Santa Barbara has decided to offer nearly all undergraduate fall courses via remote instruction, and to limit undergraduate student housing for fall quarter to only those students with special circumstances. UC Santa Barbara recommends that all other undergraduate students stay home to receive remote instruction. Full refunds will be offered to undergraduates for fall housing contracts. These contracts will be honored in winter quarter or whenever UC Santa Barbara is able to have undergraduate students move in.

Read the full letter from Chancellor Yang here.

UCLA will further curtail its plans for in-person instruction for the fall quarter and greatly reduce the amount of student housing offered, in accordance with directives issued last week by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, campus leaders announced today. Read further details here.

Changes include fewer in-person classes, single-occupancy rooms in residence halls and daily symptom checks. Read more on UCLA’s site.

Given the increase in COVID-19 positive cases in the county, state and local community, as well as it being unlikely that there will be a dramatic reversal in the public health situation before fall semester instruction begins on Aug. 26, UC Berkeley has made the difficult decision to begin the fall semester with fully remote instruction. However, the campus continues preparations to implement hybrid and/or flexible modes of instruction as soon as public health conditions allow.

Read more: UC Berkeley to begin fall semester with remote instruction

With the fall 2020 semester now beginning remotely, a new UC Berkeley program that a campus official calls an example of ‘Berkeley at its finest,’ is providing an extraordinary $4.6 million in support for students who will attend class, do assignments and take tests from home — but who lack reliable laptops, Wi-Fi and other technology.

Some 3,300 laptops and 800 Wi-Fi hot spots will be among the loaner equipment sent, starting in August, to applicants who meet the requirements of the new Student Technology Equity Program (STEP).

Read the full article: Campus, going remote, provides $4.6 million in tech to students in need